Two police officers killed after clashes with PKK

One special operations police was killed April 18 in attack staged by outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants in the eastern province of Van, while another officer succumbed to his wounds at Gülhane Military Academy Hospital (GATA) some 17 days after being shot in the head in the Nusaybin district of southeastern Mardin province.

A special operations police, identified as 26-year-old Hakan Yurto?lu, was shot in the head during operations against PKK militants in Nusaybin on April 1. He succumbed to his wounds on April 19 at GATA, where he had been receiving treatment for the last 17 days. 

Reports indicate Yurto?lu's funeral ceremony will be held at GATA on April 20, after which his coffin will be sent to his hometown of Sivas.

In a separate incident in the afternoon of April 18, a special operations police, identified as 38-year-old Abdullah Deliba?, was killed in clashes with the PKK in the ?pekyolu district of eastern Van province. 

Two police officers were wounded as security forces raided a house at the Hac?bekir neighborhood of ?pekyolu at 5:30 p.m. on April 18 upon receiving an intelligence report. However, clashes erupted when militants sheltering inside the house returned fire. 

While Deliba? succumbed to his wounds at Yüzüncü Y?l University's Dursun Odaba?? Medical Center, reports fall short on detailing the other wounded soldier's health condition. 

A funeral ceremony was held at Van, after which the officer's coffin was sent to southeastern Gaziantep province in order to be transferred to his hometown of Kilis near Turkey's border with Syria. 

Meanwhile, according to a report by Do?an News Agency citing "websites close to the PKK," a purported senior PKK figure was killed in Turkish...