MALATYA
A formal ceremony was held on Monday for eight police officers who were killed in a road-side land mine blast in eastern Bingol province on Sunday.
Turkish Interior Minister Idris Naim Sahin, National Defense Minister Ismet Yilmaz, Development Minister Cevdet Yilmaz, Commander of Turkish Gendarmerie Forces Gen. Bekir Kalyoncu, several lawmakers of the Turkish Parliament and families of the martyrs attended the ceremony at Malatya Airport on Monday.
Speaking at the funeral ceremony, Interior Minister Sahin stated that security forces in Turkey did not hesitate to give their lives for the sake of the nation and the state.
"Turkey will exist eternally. The traitors will leave and lay down their weapons eventually," the Minister Sahin said.
During the ceremony families of the martyrs cried over their losses.
Following the ceremony bodies of the martyrs were sent tho their home city. They were laid to rest in their hometown.
Eight police officers had been killed and nine others had been wounded in the blast in eastern Bingol province on Sunday.
