Funeral ceremonies and prayers were held on Tuesday for 10 among 12 soldiers who died after exposure to methane gas during an operation in Iraq on Sunday. Further funerals were scheduled to be held for two other soldiers later on Tuesday.
Large crowds attended the funerals in the hometowns of soldiers who were looking for the missing body of a soldier slain by the terrorist group PKK when they were exposed to methane gas in a cave.
The sight of flag-draped coffins of “martyrs” has been rare in Türkiye in recent years as the PKK, which has been chiefly responsible for the deaths of a large number of soldiers and other security officers since the 1980s, dwindled in numbers thanks to counterterrorism efforts. So, it was an emotional moment for the nation as dramatic stories of each soldier captivated hearts.
First Lt. Ege Akar, a 26-year-old soldier, was among them. Son of a military family, Akar was leading a military unit seeking the body of Nuri Melih Bozkurt, also a first lieutenant, in the cave once used as a “hospital” by the PKK. Bozkurt was presumed dead in 2022 in an attack in northern Iraq where the Turkish military was conducting Operation Claw-Lock. A video of the young officer smiling as he joined other soldiers during a past operation has gone viral after the government announced his death. “I may not return home,” he is heard saying when asked if he had a message for his family before the operation.
Celalettin Uyanık, a 24-year-old private who joined the army four years ago, left behind a video of himself reciting verses from the Quran before a military operation. He told his fellow soldiers to share it on social media if he “fell a martyr one day.”
Özkan Özkanlı, a 25-year-old private, was an orphan. His correspondence with his high school teacher, released after his death, showed he was regularly donating cash to young orphaned students for the past two years.
