Bodies of mother, baby martyred by PKK reach hometown

By Hikmet Temes, Sayim Harmanci, Ulas Guven

HAKKARI, Turkey (AA) - The bodies of a mother and her infant martyred by the terrorist PKK in southeast Turkey arrived in their hometown on Wednesday for funeral services.

Nurcan Karakaya, the wife of a Turkish solder, and her 11-month-old baby boy Bedirhan Mustafa Karakaya were martyred on Tuesday when a roadside bomb planted by PKK terrorists exploded as they moved through the Yuksekova district.

The bodies were sent to Sarkisla in central Turkey's Sivas province, where funeral services are expected within the next day.

The coffins of the mother and the baby boy wrapped in Turkish flags were taken by helicopter to Hakkari airport after a military ceremony at the Mountain and Commando Brigade Command in Yusekova, Hakkari.

Local government officials along with security personnel and political figures attended the ceremony sending off the coffins.

A second ceremony was held at Hakkari's Selahaddin Eyyubi Airport before a military aircraft carried the bodies of the mother and baby to an airport in Kayseri, from where they proceeded to Sivas.

The mother died on the spot, while the 11-month-old succumbed to his wounds at the Yuksekova Public Hospital.

The PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU -- has been responsible for the death of some 40,000 people in its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey.