Kurdish village guard and militant niece buried in the same cemetery

The remains of a PKK militant were returned to her family 11 days after she was killed in Turkey's southeastern Sirnak province as authorities awaited the closure of the funeral home of her uncle, a village guard (korucu) who was killed in the same clashes, Mezopotamya reports.

The tragic incident occurred on January 22, when the gendarmerie and village guards clashed with PKK militants in the Besta region of Sirnak province. Uncle Nimet Encu, a village guard, and niece Evin Encu, a PKK militant, were killed on both sides in the clashes.

Evin's father Hamit Encu, himself a former village guard, said authorities refused to hand over his daughter's remains to them because they needed Nimet Encu's funeral home to close first.

Father Encu said he had no news from his daughter since 2015 when she left home for the mountains as a 19-year-old.

"An ember burns where it falls, both sides are mine," he said.

Uncle and niece were both buried in their village of Gulyazi in Uludere district, Hakkari province.

Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu earlier said they had the revenge of Nimet Encu, without giving details about his niece.