Soldiers killed in helicopter crash honored in Ankara

ANKARA

A military ceremony was held in Ankara on Nov. 14 for three of the four soldiers killed in a helicopter crash in the eastern province of Malatya two days earlier.

The ceremony at Mürted Air Base honored army pilot Maj. Erdem Çimen and flight technicians Hüseyin Zehir and Serkan Önder, both noncommissioned officers.

Chief of General Staff Gen. Selçuk Bayraktaroğlu, senior military officers and the soldiers’ families attended.

Following a moment of silence, the soldiers’ biographies were read and prayers offered. Their bodies were then carried to military aircraft for transfer to their hometowns.

Çimen was sent to İzmir, Zehir to Hatay and Önder to Kayseri for burial.

A separate funeral was held for the fourth soldier, army pilot Maj. Orhun Pınar, at Ankara’s Ahmet Hamdi Akseki Mosque.

The bodies of all four soldiers had been flown to Ankara following a ceremony at Malatya Airport on Nov. 13.

The S-70 military helicopter crashed in the Samanköy area of Malatya’s Yeşilyurt district on the evening of Nov. 12.

The Defense Ministry said the cause had not yet been determined.

An investigation into the crash is underway.