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President Erdoğan vows to make PKK pay for killing soldier's baby

Anadolu Agency TÜRKIYE
Published August 01,2018
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, center, and relatives attend funeral prayers for 10-month-old Bedirhan Mustafa Karakaya and his mother Nurcan Karakaya, 24, in Sivas, Turkey, Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2018.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Wednesday said PKK terrorists would "pay for the massacre" of a Turkish soldier's baby and his wife who were killed by a roadside bomb planted by PKK terrorists.

Nurcan Karakaya, the wife of the solder, and her 11-month-old baby boy Bedirhan Mustafa Karakaya were martyred on Tuesday when a roadside bomb planted by PKK terrorists exploded in southeastern Turkey's Yuksekova district.

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

"They [PKK terror group] will pay for the massacre," Erdoğan said at the funeral service of the martyred mother and her baby in Sarkisla district in central Sivas province.

The president conveyed his condolences to the martyred mother's husband and family members at the ceremonial ground.

Erdoğan reiterated his firm stance in the fight against terrorism, saying "the fight against terrorism will last until the last terrorist".

"No one has the right to disturb the peace of this nation," he added.

On the death penalty law, the president said he would approve it if it passes the parliament.

"The whole point [of death penalty law] is that when it comes to the parliament, there is no such thing as disapproving; I will approve it when it passes the parliament," he said.

Also, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, Social Services and Family Minister Zehra Zumrut Selcuk attended the funeral ceremony.

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.