4.45AM AEST: Relatives mourn victims of failed coup



Funeral ceremonies and prayers for those killed in Turkey’s failed military coup were held overnight in Ankara and Istanbul, where the grief-stricken relatives mourned.

“God bless the society who resisted,” said Lutfi Pala, a relative of one of the victims. “Our wish is that such coups never happen in Turkey, but it happens. They are martyrs. May God rest their soul.”

Prayers were read simultaneously from Turkey’s 85,000 mosques at noon to honour those who died.

Sela prayers are traditionally recited from mosques during funerals, although they are also sometimes performed to rally the people, as they were all night on Friday during tense coup hours.

– AP