- Title: TURKEY: Gunfire fills the air as thousands celebrate in Turkish Wedding
- Date: 22nd July 2008
- Summary: VARIOUS OF WEDDING CEREMONY BRIDE AND GROOM HOLDING CANDLES PEOPLE HAVING LOCAL DANCES MAN THROWING MONEY AS GESTURE ON TO PEOPLE BRIDE AND GROOM HAVING A LOCAL DANCE
- Embargoed: 6th August 2008 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Turkey
- Country: Turkey
- Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
- Reuters ID: LVA7QOUJ4ODQATDQNMQ9BB6AUZ8R
- Story Text: Men carrying heavy machine guns fire into air to celebrate a wedding in south eastern Turkey The sound of gunfire marked the wedding of Mecit and Estel, an Assyrian couple who tied the knot in eastern Turkey on Sunday (July 20).
The couple who live in Belgium decided to return to their homeland to celebrate their union.
Wedding guests carrying, Russian AK47 "Kalashnikov"s, U.S.
M-16s, heavy BKC machine guns and sniper-type Cannas rifle, emptied their cartridges into air to salute the newlyweds.
The ceremony was held in the south-eastern Turkish province of Sirnak, which borders Iraq.
The presence of heavy arms among civilians is common as most of the families living in south-eastern Turkey are large scale tribes, mostly employed as paramilitary forces by Turkish government to fight against the separatist PKK group.
Each year tens of people are killed in Turkey because of incidents when people fire into air. Not only in wedding ceremonies, but also after the national football games, firing into the air is a tradition in Turkey.
The Assyrians are an ethnic group whose origins lie in what is today Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria . Many have migrated to the Caucasus, North America and Western Europe. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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