11 March 2010 / TODAY’S ZAMAN, İSTANBUL
Funeral ceremonies were held yesterday for two soldiers who were killed in separate mine explosions in the eastern province of Hakkari early this week. Thousands of people, including senior military and administrative officials, attended the ceremonies.
The funeral of Pvt. İsa Keskin, 21, was held in his hometown of Vezirköprü in the Black Sea province of Samsun. He was the 32nd soldier from Vezirköprü to have been killed. Emotions were heightened during the ceremony when Keskin’s 2-year-old son touched his father’s coffin, unaware that he was dead. The other funeral ceremony, for Onur Ayaydın, 21, was held in İstanbul’s Ataköy neighborhood. Ayaydın’s father, Zafer Ayaydın, said: “The death of my son was dictated by God. We are honored. We will be praying for him.” Dozens of Turkish soldiers have been killed in mine explosions. The mines are believed to have been planted by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been waging a bloody war in Turkey’s Southeast since 1984.
