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Turkey to deliver helicopter crash bodies to Kahramanmaras today

28 March 2009 08:31 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Work is under way to deliver bodies of Muhsin Yazicioglu, chairman of Turkey’s Grand Unity Party (BBP), and five others on the crashed helicopter, to their families.
The rented helicopter was taking Muhsin Yazicioglu, the leader of a small ultra-nationalist political party, back from a campaign rally in southern Kahramanmaras province on Wednesday when it crashed.
The death of Muhsin Yazicioglu, leader of the conservative Great Unity Party, shocked his supporters before Sunday’s local elections.
Bad weather conditions, including heavy rainfall, hampered efforts to find the wreckage in a mountainous region of eastern Turkey.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan offered condolences to the families.
The military dispatched units to the site to bring down the bodies but nightfall and snowstorms reportedly hampered the effort yesterday.
Search-and-rescue efforts are scheduled for completion today and bodies will be delivered to families after forensic examination.
Yazicioglu was a leader of the far-right nationalist movement in Turkey since 1970s. His small party was not expected to make a strong showing in the polls.