Funeral ceremonies held for victims of military helicopter crash

ANKARA/TOKAT

Funeral ceremonies were held on July 7 for four victims of a military helicopter crash in the Black Sea province of Giresun that killed a total seven soldiers and civilians while wounding eight others. The helicopter was carrying top soldiers and is believed to have crashed due to unfavorable weather conditions.

The Sikorsky S-70 helicopter was carrying 15 people, including Gendarmerie Region Commander Brigadier Mustafa Doğru, Region Commander Executive Officer Col. Ünal Bayhan, Provincial Gendarmerie Deputy Commander Lt. Col. Saadettin Şahin, Gendarmerie Staff Sgt. Cemalettin Çoban, Gendarmerie Specialized Sgt. Adem Kara, Pilot Cpt. Hilmi Özer, Pilot First Lt. Yüksel Kandemir and Gendarmerie technician non-commissioned officer Muhammet Bedek, along with the wives of the military personnel and three children. They were returning from an Eid al-Fitr visit to military posts and the families of fallen soldiers in the region.

Şahin and Özer were killed in the accident, in addition to Doğru’s wife Nuran Doğru and daughter Berrin Doğru, Bayhan’s wife Didem Bayhan and Kara’s wife Sema Kara. 

A funeral ceremony was held in Turkey’s Black Sea province of Tokat for Nuran and Berrin Doğru but Mustafa Doğru could not attend the ceremony as he is being treated at the Gülhane Military Hospital (GATA) and was reportedly in critical condition.

Three other daughters of the couple, 27-year-old twins Şükran Çetiner and Nurdan Çabuker, and their 21-year-old sibling Nihal Doğru, were at the ceremony alongside 5,000 locals, politicians and officials. 

Meanwhile, a funeral was held in the nation’s capital for Şahin and his wife Nihal Şahin, with the attendance of their two daughters, Pelin, 14, and Selin, 17.

The funerals for Özer, Sema Kara and Didem Bayhan were held on July 6 in their hometowns of Kahramanmaraş, Erzincan and Ankara, respectively.