- Title: Funeral ceremony held for Turkish soldier killed in Syria
- Date: 25th November 2016
- Summary: ANKARA, TURKEY (NOVEMBER 25, 2016) (REUTERS) OFFICIALS AND RELATIVES GATHERED FOR FUNERAL CEREMONY OF LIEUTENANT, ZAFER ER FAMILY OF LIEUTENANT ER SITTING ER'S COMMANDERS AT FUNERAL MILITARY AND GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS AND RELATIVES LINED UP IN FRONT OF THE COFFIN EMBELLISHED WITH TURKISH FLAG FATHER OF LIEUTENANT ZAFER ER, MUSTAFA ER MOURNING WITH HANDS ON THE COFFIN TURKISH MINISTERS AT THE FUNERAL CHIEF OF GENERAL STAFF, HULUSI AKAR, MUSTAFA ER AND PRIME MINISTER BINALI YILDIRIM WAITING FOR FUNERAL PRAYERS VARIOUS OF FUNERAL PRAYERS BEING HELD VARIOUS OF PEOPLE PRAYING SOLDIER MOUNTING SECURITY ON ROOFTOP SOLDIERS CARRYING THE COFFIN ON SHOULDERS COMMANDERS STANDING ON GUARD AND SALUTING THE COFFIN SOLDIERS CARRYING THE COFFIN
- Embargoed: 10th December 2016 13:21
- Keywords: Turkey Syria airstrike soldier funeral Al-Bab
- Location: ANKARA, TURKEY
- City: ANKARA, TURKEY
- Country: Turkey
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Military Conflicts
- Reuters ID: LVA00159Y0OXZ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Funeral ceremony was held in the Turkish capital Ankara on Friday (November 25) for lieutenant Zafer Er, one of the three soldiers killed in a suspected Syrian airstrike near the strategic city of al-Bab.
Turkey said a suspected Syrian air strike had killed three of its soldiers on Thursday (November 24), in what appeared to be the first Turkish casualties at the hands of the Syrian government forces since Ankara launched an incursion into Syria three months ago.
The attack occurred at around 3.30 am (0030 GMT) during a Turkish-backed Syrian rebel operation in northern Syria, the Turkish military said in a statement on Thursday.
The military said 10 other soldiers were wounded in the air strike that it "assessed to have been carried out by Syrian regime forces", but it gave no details on the exact location.
There was no immediate comment from the Syrian military. But it said in October the presence of Turkish troops on Syrian soil was a "flagrant breach of Syria's sovereignty" and warned it would bring down Turkish warplanes entering its air space.
NATO member Turkey sent tanks, special forces and jets into Syria on Aug. 24 in support of largely Turkmen and Arab rebels in an offensive dubbed "Euphrates Shield" meant to push Islamic State and Kurdish militia fighters from its border.
President Tayyip Erdogan said last week that the Turkish-backed rebels were close to taking the Syrian city of al-Bab, the last urban stronghold of Islamic State in the northern Aleppo countryside.
On Friday (November 25) at least one more soldier was killed and at least five wounded in clashes with Islamic State in northern Syria, as Turkish-backed rebels pressed an offensive to take the city of al-Bab from the radical jihadist group.
The latest casualties bring the number of Turkish soldiers killed in Syria to 17 since Ankara launched a cross-border incursion on Aug. 24 to try to push Islamic State and Kurdish fighters from the border, according to Turkish media. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
