Funeral of bomb victim

Published on Sunday 30 November 2003 00:00

HUNDREDS of mourners turned out to pay their last respects yesterday to a Scottish woman who died in the bomb attacks in Istanbul.

More than 200 people packed a small church in Ayrshire for the funeral of Nanette Elizabeth Kurma.

The 41-year-old’s husband, a Turkish national, her three children, grandchildren and other family members were among the congregation at Schaw Kirk in her home town of Drongan.

The interpreter was one of three Britons killed in the terrorist attacks last week.

In his sermon, the Rev Paul Russell, said: "In an evil terrorist atrocity such as this we naturally feel anger towards those responsible. We are right to feel the need for justice, yes, but for retaliation, no.

"That is nothing but the way of bitterness and the destruction of our own humanity."

Russell instead urged the mourners to celebrate the life of the grandmother, who left the UK several years ago to live in Istanbul with her husband.

As the mourners filed out after the Church of Scotland service, a grief-stricken elderly woman collapsed and had to be lifted to her feet.

The attacks on the British Consulate, in which Kurma died, and the local headquarters of the London-based HSBC bank also claimed the lives of British consul-general Roger Short and his PA Lisa Hallworth.