Forty-five killed in Turkish wedding massacre
Masked assailants with grenades and automatic weapons attacked a wedding ceremony in southeast Turkey, killing 45 people and wounding six others.
Two girls survived after the bodies of murdered friends fell on top of them during the onslaught.
NTV television quoted Deputy Governor Ferhat Ozen of Mardin province as saying the nighttime attack occurred in Bilge village near the city of Mardin.
Some media outlets reported that a “blood feud” among families had led to the killings in a region where tribal ties and rivalries sometimes eclipse the power of the state.
Citing Mr Ozen, NTV said the motive of the attack could be an old feud between rival groups of pro-government village guards who fight alongside Turkish troops against Kurdish rebels in the region.
If that is the case, the government would come under renewed pressure to rein in the militiamen, some of whom have been linked to drug smuggling and other crimes.
Mehmet Besir Ayanoglu, the mayor of Mardin, told Channel 24 that he spoke to two survivors, both girls, who said at least two masked men stormed a house where the wedding took place. Other reports put the number of assailants at four.
“’They raided the house, we were in two rooms, they opened fire on everyone, they were wearing masks’,” Mr Ayanoglu quoted the girls as saying. The girls said they lay underneath the bodies of friends until the attack was over.
Interior Minister Besir Atalay said 45 people were killed and six others were wounded in an attack which, according to reports, lasted 15 minutes.
Ahmet Can, a relative who took the body of his nephew to a hospital said the site of the attack was horrifying.
“You could not believe your eyes, it is unbelievable,” he told Turkey’s Channel 24.
Citing witnesses, HaberTurk television said four masked gunmen were involved. The attack occurred during the wedding of the daughter of Cemil Celebi, a former village official who was among the wounded.
An Islamic cleric who was presiding over the marriage died at a hospital, NTV said. The fate of the bride and groom was not immediately known. The attack killed an entire family, including the parents and their six children, aged between three and 12.
One survivor, a 19-year-old woman, said the assailants ordered people to huddle in one room and opened fire, NTV said. Another report said the attack occurred when people were praying at the house. Some guards responded to the attack but the assailants fled, NTV said.
