Turkey is holding a funeral in Istanbul for Necmettin Erbakan, the founder of political Islam in the country and mentor of the current president and prime minister.
Erbakan died at a hospital in Ankara on Sunday, aged 84. Reuters says he had a heart attack.
Hundreds of thousands of people gathered together to pay the last respect, NTV reports. Over a million of people were expected in Istanbul. Leaders of Islamic movements and parties from 60 countries arrived for the funeral.
Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Speaker Mehmet Ali Sahin, ministers, leaders of political parties, public figures, military authorities are taking part in the process.
Necmettin Erbakan was the first pro-Islamic premier in Turkey and was at power in 1996-1997. He resigned. His clerical party forbidden by the Turkish Constitutional Court for attempts to Islamic secular state.
Most of the former party members joined the Justice and Development Party, which has been at power since 2002, headed by Erdogan. Turkish President Abdullah Gul was one of the party’s leaders.
Erbakan has been heading the Felicity Party. His son Fatih Erbakah is expected to be the party’s new leader.
The funeral is demonstrated on the national TV live. A set of streets in Istanbul was closed for traffic. Some 14,000 police officers and snipers on roofs were mobilized to keep order.
The Red Crescent Organization set tents for medical aid.
Prayers for Erbakan were heard in 3,000 mosques of Istanbul.
