Mother, baby killed by 'PKK roadside bomb'

The mother died on the spot, while the 11-month-old child succumbed to his wounds at the hospital
Wednesday, 01 August 2018 18:14

Mother Nurcan Karakaya, 25, whose husband is a soldier, and her child Bedirhan Mustafa, were killed late Tuesday when a bomb detonated as their car passed by in the far southeastern province of Hakkari.

Turkish authorities have blamed Tuesday's attack near the borders of Iran and Iraq on militant Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which has waged a decades-long armed conflict in Turkey. They said the mother and child were targeted with an improvised explosive device on a road near the town of Yüksekova.

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

An operation to nab the assailants is under way in the region, officials said.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan attended the funeral in the family's home Anatolian region of Sivas where he comforted the bereaved husband and father Serkan Karakaya.

He once again vowed to sign into law reintroducing the death penalty in Turkey, if parliament approved it.