28 February 2011 - 20:30

Political bureau chairman of Hamas Khaled Mishaal is to take part in the funeral procession of Necmettin Erbakan, the former Turkish premier, and Saadet party leader in Istanbul on Tuesday, an aide to late Erbakan said on Monday.

ANKARA (Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Political bureau chairman of Hamas Khaled Mishaal is to take part in the funeral procession of Necmettin Erbakan, the former Turkish premier, and Saadet party leader in Istanbul on Tuesday, an aide to late Erbakan said on Monday.

He said that Mishaal would arrive on Tuesday along with other Islamic leaders to take part in the funeral procession.

Erbakan, who died of a heart attack on Sunday at 84, was the first Islamist premier in Turkey in modern history when he headed a coalition government in 1996 but was forced to resign a year later under army pressure.

For his part, Palestinian parliament speaker Dr. Aziz Dweik, along with other Hamas MPs in the West Bank, extended heartfelt condolences to Turkey's leadership and people over the death of Erbakan.

Dweik and the MPs in a statement on Monday said that Erbakan's demise is a big loss to Turkey and the entire Islamic world.

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