Former leader of Turkey dies at 85

By The Newsroom

Published 27th Feb 2011, 16:45 BST

Updated 27th Feb 2011, 20:44 BST

Former Turkish prime minister Necmettin Erbakan, the founder of Turkey's modern Islamist movement, died from heart failure yesterday, aged 85.

"We will remember him with gratitude," said prime minister Tayyip Erdogan, for many years one of Mr Erbakan's lieutenants.