Fallen police officers laid to rest

Three police officers who were killed in attacks by outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants over the weekend in southeastern Turkey have been laid to rest.

Soner Y?ld?r?m, 24, a police officer killed by PKK militants on Sept. 13 in southeastern ??rnak province, was laid to rest in the Black Sea province of Trabzon on Sept. 14. 

He was laid to rest in Trabzon's Tonya district on Sept. 14 after a funeral prayer held at the ?skenderli Neighborhood Merkez Mosque.

Apart from his family and friends, Trabzon Gov. Abdil Celil Öz, Trabzon Mayor Orhan Fevzi Gümrükçüo?lu, Garrison Commander Gendarmerie Colonel Okçin Ak?it and Police Chief Murat Köksal attended the funeral. 

One of Y?ld?r?m's relatives, Ay?e Bekta?, voiced her protest against Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputies during the funeral. She said they did not want to see AKP deputies at the funeral because university students who graduated from education faculties were forced to become police officers since the government does not appoint them as teachers. A group of people applauded Bekta? to support her statement.   

Police officer ?ahin Altm??, who was killed in the same attack in ??rnak, was laid to rest in the eastern province of Malatya on Sept. 13. Another police officer, Ali Öztürk, who was killed in a PKK attack in southeastern Diyarbak?r's Silvan district on Sept. 13, was laid to rest in Diyarbak?r's Çermik district on Sept. 13. 

A total of three police officers were killed and seven were wounded on Sept. 13 in two separate attacks by the PKK in ??rnak and Diyarbak?r. PKK militants detonated a bomb-laden vehicle in front of a police checkpoint in ??rnak early in the morning, killing Y?ld?r?m and Altm?? and wounding five others. Two...