Ceremony held for Turkish crash victims

Turkish leaders came together Sunday at a ceremony for 17 soldiers who died in a helicopter crash in southeastern Turkey, officials said. The Sikorsky helicopter crashed Saturday on Herekol Mountain in the Pervari region of Siirt province due to poor weather conditions, Sunday's Zaman reported. The soldiers were heading to Turkey's border with Iraq to help troops there fight against terrorists, said Siirt Gov. Ahmet Aydin. Everyone aboard the aircraft was killed in the crash, Aydin said. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, main opposition Republican People's Party leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, Chief of General Staff Gen. Necdet Ozel, Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay and many other ministers were present at the ceremony at Diyarbakir province's main airport Sunday.