Funeral held in Turkey's east for soldiers killed in Da?l?ca attack

A funeral has been held in Turkey?s eastern province of Van, attended by Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu, after 16 Turkish soldiers were killed in a roadside bomb attack by outlawed Kurdistan Workers? Party (PKK) militants in the nearby province of Hakkari on Sept. 6.

Two separate ceremonies were held for 10 killed soldiers, each for a group of five soldiers, in the Van Gendarmerie Fleets Command on Sept. 8. The bodies of the six other soldiers were sent to the Ankara Forensic Institute in the early hours of the same day.

In a speech delivered at the ceremony, Davuto?lu praised the soldiers for their heroism but he struggled to finish the speech out of sorrow.

?Today is the day of fellowship. For God?s sake, all the blood of our soldiers spilled for the unity and integrity of our country will be accounted for,? he said. 

The soldiers killed in the deadly offensive in Hakkari?s Da?l?ca district were identified as Lieutenant Colonel ?lker Çelikcan and soldiers Özgür Yatakdere, Tolga Artu?, Adnan Ergen, Resul Co?kun, Tayfur Hançer, Mustafa Özdemir, Cihan Aksar?, Fatih Duru, Cemre Salih Gözen, Tu?rul Köseo?lu, Muharrem Öksüz, Okan Ta?an, Harun Saltal?, Deniz Göçkün, and U?ur Y?ld?z.

The U.S. Embassy in Ankara also condemned the Da?l?ca attack, saying ?We stand with Turkey in the fight against terror and repeat our call to the PKK ? renounce violence and return to the peace process.?

At least 16 soldiers were killed and several others were injured after PKK militants detonated a bomb placed under a road connecting Hakkari?s Da?l?ca and Yüksekova districts at the time two guarded military vehicles were passing by on Sept. 6, the Turkish General Staff said in a written statement around 5 p.m. on Sept. 7.

The...