ANKARA — Turkish media reported that Kevser Elturk, also “Ekin Van” was a “PKK terrorist” who was killed on Aug. 10, during a gun battle with Turkish forces in a rural area of the Varto district – Gimgim, Today's Zaman reported. In reaction to the photo, pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) deputy Pervin Buldan wrote on her Twitter account that “stripping the body of woman naked after killing her is a disgrace to humanity.” HDP parliamentary group chairman Idris Baluken also likened those “who stripped the dead body of a female terrorist” as not being “different” from the Daesh (the so-called IS) "gangs who have been waging a war against the dignity of humanity.” Turkish authorities said a probe has been launched after the picture was circulated on social media. 8 Turkish soldiers killed in PKK bombing: military Eight Turkish soldiers were killed on Wednesday in a bomb attack on their vehicle in the southeast blamed on the outlawed PKK, the army said. The attack is the single most deadly strike to be blamed on the PKK since the government began waging a major "anti-terror" campaign against the Kurdish militants last month. The soldiers were killed when a remote-controlled explosive device laid by militants on a road in the Silvan district of the province of Siirt was detonated, the official Anatolia news agency said. The army confirmed the toll in a statement, blaming the "Separatist Terror Organization", its customary phrase for the PKK which it never refers to by name. Seven soldiers were also wounded in the attack and military helicopters and ambulances were dispatched to the area, Anatolia said, adding that the clashes between the militants and soldiers were continuing. At least four Turkish soldiers have also been killed in two days of clashes that erupted after Kurdish militants set up roadblocks on the highway between the Lice district of Diyarbakir and Bingol province in southeast Turkey, the army said. The latest deaths came as two suspected gunmen on Wednesday were reported to have opened fire on guards outside the Dolmabahce Palace in central Istanbul, with no casualties reported. — Agencies
