Turkey Pays Last Respects to BBP Leader
Turkey paid its final tribute yesterday to Grand Unity Party (BBP) leader Muhsin Yazicioğlu, who was killed in a tragic helicopter crash last week along with five others, with a funeral ceremony held in the Turkish capital, attended by thousands of people.
A huge crowd of people, including President Abdullah Gül, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, politicians, military staff, bureaucrats and civilians, gathered in Ankara yesterday afternoon to pay their final respects to the BBP leader. A helicopter carrying six people crashed in the southeastern province of Kahramanmaraş last Wednesday afternoon, killing all six passengers on board. The wreckage of the helicopter was found two days later by villagers between the districts of Sisne and Elmadağ.
Yazicioğlu's body was taken from the morgue of Gazi University's hospital yesterday and brought to Parliament for a memorial ceremony. President Gül, Prime Minister Erdoğan, Parliament Speaker Köksal Toptan, Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli, Republican People's Party (CHP) Deniz Baykal, Felicity Party (SP) leader Numan Kurtulmuş, Constitutional Court President Haşim Kiliç, Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ, members of the Cabinet and governors were present at the ceremony. Participants in the ceremony offered their condolences to members of the Yazicioğlu family.
Yazicioğlu's casket was later taken to the BBP headquarters in the city, where he was awaited by thousands of party supporters. A video displaying pictures and a biography of the BBP leader was shown to participants of the short ceremony there. Party supporters were seen carrying banners expressing their grief over the death of their leader. "We feel cold, great leader" and "May your soul rest in peace," read the banners.
The next stop was the city's Kocatepe Mosque, where an even larger crowd gathered to attend the funeral prayer. Hundreds of people from nearby cities came to Ankara to participate in the prayer, led by Religious Affairs Directorate President Ali Bardakoğlu.
"Our brother Muhsin was a patriot," Bardakoğlu said. BBP supporters chanted slogans to honor their deceased leader. "Happy is he who says he is a Turk" and "Martyrs never die, the country will never be divided," they shouted.
BBP officials recalled that Yazicioğlu held a religious ceremony at the Kocatepe Mosque the day he got married, nearly 20 years ago. They also threw red and white carnations on Yazicioğlu's coffin, draped in the Turkish flag.
Police stepped up security measures around the mosque, with around 3,000 security personnel being deployed in the streets. Nearby roads were closed to traffic.
Yazicioğlu was later buried on the grounds of the Taceddin Dergahi in Ankara's Altindağ district, where poet Mehmet Akif Ersoy lived when he wrote the lyrics to the Turkish national anthem.
Born in the central province of Sivas in 1954, Yazicioğlu graduated from Ankara University. He joined the MHP when he was a university student. Upon parting ways with the MHP, he formed the BBP in 1993 and served as its leader until his death. He was also elected deputy from his hometown, Sivas, in the 2007 parliamentary election. Yazicioğlu was married and had two children.
Well-respected Turkish intellectual and scholar Fethullah Gülen released a statement in memory of Yazicioğlu. "I was very saddened by the incident, because I knew him well. This is not something to do with political views or closeness. It is an important task to side with those who are close to God, Prophet Muhammad, Islam and the Quran. He [Yazicioğlu] was close to God. He was of good character and was a brave Anatolian man," the statement read.
Gülen also called on everyone to lend a helping hand to the Yazicioğlu family. "His mother's hand should be kissed. … We should tell his wife that she is our sister and help their children," he noted.
Dead body of İHA reporter sent to Sivas
The body of İhlas News Agency (İHA) reporter İsmail Güneş, who was found by search-and-rescue teams five days following the helicopter crash, was sent to his hometown, Sivas, for burial.
Güneş was found on Monday in a crevice between rocks, covered with snow. Kahramanmaraş Gov. Niyazi Tanilir expressed his grief over the crash, saying: "It was a tragic accident. … We retrieved the body of our brother İsmail last. We sent him to his hometown. I'd like to extend my condolences to those who lost their lives in the accident. May their souls rest in peace," he said. (Hamza Erdoğan, Ankara)
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