11 Soldiers Died in PKK Attack
An attack of the militant Kurdistan Workers Party on the Tekeli gendarmerie outpost in Şemdinli in the early morning hours of 19 June left eleven soldiers dead. The Şemdinli border unit is in the province of Hakkari on the border to Iraq. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the Chief of General Staff, General İlker Başbuğ, went on site to investigate the situation.
In a ceremony for the killed soldiers, Prime Minister Erdoğan said, "Certainly, our grief is enormous. Our sorrow is as high as the mountains. Yet, we will not bow. Even in the glowing fire we will bury our grief within our hearts, we will not show our tears. We will not make those traitors happy today".
The attack
A group of PKK members attacked the Tekeli gendarmerie outpost close to Şemdinli in the province of Hakkari on the south-eastern tip of the country close to the Iraqi border. The General Staff announced the death of eight soldiers, 14 were injured in the attack. Additionally, 12 PKK members were killed. Subsequent to the announcement, the number of slain soldiers rose to nine. Furthermore, two soldiers were killed in a military operation after the attack in an explosion of a land mine.
The names of the killed soldiers are Mehmet Ali Tosun (Aydın), Sabahattin Demir (Muğla), Oğuz Yelken (Edirne), Mustafa Kayın (Edirne), Ramazan Erdem (Zonguldak), Mutlu Saydam (Sakarya), Ömer Kara (Mersin), Elhas Altındere (Kahramanmaraş), Hüseyin Köksal (Ankara) Yusuf Pazar (Ankara) ve Süleyman Ballan (Konya).
Addullah Tosun, father of killed 21-year-old Mehmet Ali Tosun, said, "He was thinking about taking a holiday and coming here. But now his lifeless body will come. The terror should finally end".
Soldier Köksal had less than six months left until his discharge from military service. President Abdullah Gül attended his funeral service in Ankara. Slogans against the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) were shouted during the ceremony.
After the funeral of 21-year-old Pazar in Ankara, 5,000 people gathered for a protest march. Killed soldier Saydam had 56 days left until his discharge. He was buried in the province of Sakarya east of Istanbul in a ceremony attended by 2,000 people.
Elmas Kara buried her son in Mersin on the eastern Mediterranean coast. She exclaimed, "Why have you died, my son? You are the toll for what? Can you tell me, commander?"
Yaşar Demir buried his son in Muğla (Aegean Sea). He said, "I sacrificed one of my two sons to the country. I will sacrifice the second one too. But I call on the Prime Minister and on the President - stop that bloodshed".
Three PKK members died
The People's Defence Force (HPG) as the armed wing of the PKK announced the death of three of their members. Fırat News Agency (ANF) listed the names of the killed PKK members as follows: Kenan Geyik (* 1982 in Bitlis), Fuat Yılmaz (* 1986 in Van) and Necati Güneş (* 1986 in Van). The PKK declared that attacks will be spread to all cities unless the military operations stop.
Ceremony in Van
A ceremony for the killed soldiers was held in Van on Sunday (20 June). The bodies were brought to their hometowns afterwards. The ceremony was attended by the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Çiçek, Chief of General Staff İlker Başbuğ and all force commanders.
15 ambassadors of member states of the European Union were also present at the ceremony. They had come to the city for the Fegiye Teryran Cultural Festival. (EÜ/EÖ)