Ecevit'in cenazesi dış basında

(AFP) - Thousands pay final homage to former Turkish PM Ecevit

Tens of thousands have thronged the streets of Ankara for a final farewell to former prime minister Bulent Ecevit, widely admired here for a five-decade political career of unblemished honesty, but best remembered for ordering Turkish troops to Cyprus in 1974.

An estimated 20,000 people were packed into the courtyard of the Kocatepe Mosque, Ankara's biggest, and tens of thousands more were in the surrounding streets Saturday, closed to traffic for the day.

The crowd briefly broke into boos and pro-secular chants of protest as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and ministers of his Islamist-rooted government arrived at the mosque where Turkey's entire political class, from President Ahmet Necdet Sezer on down were gathered.

Present also were former presidents Suleyman Demirel, Ecevit's arch-rival for four decades, and Kenan Evren, the former general who seized power in a 1980 coup and sent both Ecevit and Demirel to jail.

Turkish Cyprus' former and current presidents, Rauf Denktas and Mehmet Ali Talat, attended in memory of the 1974 invasion of Cyprus that Ecevit ordered in response to a coup by ultranationalist Greek Cypriots aiming to unite the island with Greece.

After the ceremony at the mosque, Ecevit was to be buried with full state honors at the national cemetary in a western Ankara suburb.

Parliament enacted a special law this week to allow the ceremony, normally reserved for former heads of state, to be held for the five-time former premier.

Early Saturday, in the first of several ceremonies, Ecevit's body was sent off with military honors from the GATA military medical academy hospital where he died last weekend at 81 after a five-and-a-half-month coma caused by a cerebral hemorrhage.

The body was then taken to the headquarters of the small Democratic Left Party (DSP), the last political formation Ecevit -- the father of social democracy in Turkey -- led until 2002.

The hearse drove slowly to the national assembly, where Ecevit was first elected in 1957 as a youthful member of the Republican People's Party, the party of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of the modern Turkish republic.

Ecevit's last stint as premier ended in 2002, when he suffered a stinging defeat against Erdogan's Justice and Develoment Party and retired from active politics.

In addition to officialdom, the crowds reflected the many facets of the popular former journalist.

Writers and artists were among those paying homage to his past as a much-loved poet whose works became popular songs.

Coal miners from Zonguldak, for many years Ecevit's constituency, were present in number, clad in helmets and overalls, to recall his stint as the labor minister who enacted the country's first laws introducing collective bargaining and the right to strike.

Ordinary people, not necessarily political followers, gathered to pay their respects to a man admired above all for his flawless record of honesty in the corruption-riddled world of Turkish politics.

Ecevit lived for most of his political career in a modest flat in a low-rise apartment in suburban Ankara and never involved himself in business.

He lived stoically through periods of hardship in not only his youth, but also during his years in the political wilderness after the 1980 coup when he was banned from politics.

The articulate, impeccably courteous Ecevit was a former journalist who, in addition to his poetry, was known for his translations of Rabindranath Tagore, Dylan Thomas and T.S. Eliot.

He is survived by his wife Rahsan, his childhood sweetheart and lifelong political companion. They had no children.

(AP) - Tens of thousands attend Ecevit funeral

Tens of thousands of mourners, some weeping and throwing red carnations, thronged the funeral procession of former Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit on Saturday.

Ecevit, a much respected political force in Turkey for almost half a century, died on Sunday after nearly six months in a coma following a stroke. He was 81.

Though he served five times as Turkey's prime minister, Ecevit is best known for ordering the 1974 invasion of Cyprus, which led to the division of the Mediterranean island but made him a hero at home. His struggle for worker rights also made him popular with the people for decades.

"People's Ecevit! Turkey is proud of you," thousands chanted as the military hearse carrying his flag-draped casket reached the headquarters of his Democratic Left Party.

Mourners carrying red Turkish flags, banners and portraits of Ecevit observed a minute of silence. Some set free white doves, the party's symbol, and one banner showed Ecevit kissing a dove.

"He was a man of peace. We will always love you, we will always miss you," said Zeki Sezer, chairman of Ecevit's party.

Earlier, a brief religious service attended by Gen. Yasar Buyukanit, chief of the general staff, was held at the military hospital where Ecevit died.

Political leaders and foreign dignitaries attended a state funeral at the parliament, and tens of thousands of mourners flocked to Ankara's biggest mosque, Kocatepe, for funeral prayers.

The burial will take place later Saturday at the state cemetery in Ankara. Parliament on Wednesday amended a law to allow prime ministers to be interred there alongside presidents.

The funeral was originally planned for Wednesday but was moved to Saturday so workers could attend, according to the wishes of Ecevit's wife Rahsan.

(BBC) - Turks bid goodbye to ex-PM Ecevit

Mr Ecevit's widow Rahsan prays at his coffin during the funeral ceremonies Thousands of mourners have taken to the streets of the Turkish capital, Ankara, for the funeral procession of former prime minister Bulent Ecevit.

A series of ceremonies began early in day to culminate in a state funeral.

Mr Ecevit, a political force in Turkey for half a century, died last Sunday at the age of 81 after almost six months in a coma following a stroke.

Mr Ecevit was probably best known for ordering Turkish troops into Cyprus in 1974 after a Greek-backed coup.

His funeral was moved from Wednesday to allow more people to attend and they began lining the streets from early on Saturday.

"People's Ecevit! Turkey is proud of you," chanted the mourners.

The crowd, some weeping, showered the hearse bearing his coffin with flowers, and many waved Turkish flags, banners and portraits of Mr Ecevit, a political force in the country for half a century.

State burial

Around 10,000 police officers are on duty and have closed roads for the funeral procession.

The square outside Ankara's biggest mosque was crammed full of people from all over Turkey, many with his photograph pinned to their chests.

A man walks past a wall adorned with photographs of Bulent Ecevit

Many Turks say they will remember their former prime minister as a modest and honest man from the political left-wing.

Following a change in the law made this week, Mr Ecevit will be buried at Ankara state cemetery, alongside the founders of the republic.

There has been some speculation the funeral of this staunch secularist could develop into a protest against the government, which has its roots in political Islam, the BBC's Sarah Rainsford reports from Ankara.

Mr Ecevit was prime minister when the EU accepted Turkey as an accession candidate and when the Kurdish separatist leader Abdullah Ocalan was caught.

But his last years in office were beset by his own ill-health and an ailing economy.

His party suffered a landslide defeat in 2002, allowing the current government to sweep to power.