"Turkey holds massive funeral for ex-Islamic PM
By BURHAN OZBILICI
The Associated Press
Tuesday, March 1, 2011; 7:16 AM
ISTANBUL -- Huge throngs of mourners converged on a mosque Tuesday for the funeral of a former prime minister who laid the roots of political Islam in modern Turkey and inspired the current government in its struggle against military-backed secular circles.
The coffin of Necmettin Erbakan, draped in a green, Islamic shroud, was surrounded by crowds that sought to touch it, and tributes to this pious figure, who died Sunday of heart failure at the age of 85, poured in from around the country and the world. The Palestinian militant group Hamas expressed sorrow, and Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, cut short a European trip to attend the funeral."
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