Turkish officer misses own wedding over fears of Kurdish rebel attacks

ISTANBUL, Turkey—A Turkish policeman missed his own wedding party after being denied permission to leave his station in the southeast, where Kurdish rebels have killed scores of security force members, local media reported Monday.

Ahmet Karavelioglu, 25, had received the green light from his paramilitary police unit to attend the celebration in southern Osmaniye province on September 18, Dogan news agency reported.

But on the big day, his sobbing 21-year-old bride Fatma was left to welcome guests at her parents-in-laws’ alone, after Karavelioglu’s superiors decided the road from his station on the border with Iraq was unsafe for him to travel.

Video footage released by Cihan news agency showed the betrothed, in full white wedding regalia with a garland of flowers in her hair, standing weeping in the midst of dancing revellers.

Nearly 150 soldiers and police have been killed in a string of bomb and shooting attacks since July blamed on the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

The attacks, which have been concentrated in the majority Kurdish southeast, are seen as revenge for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s launch of a major “anti-terrorist” offensive against the rebels that shattered a two-year ceasefire.

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