Istanbul : The man who laid the foundation of Political Islam in Turkey and Former Prime Minister Erbakan, a former Turkish prime minister has died from heart failure at the age of 85.
The Anatolia news agency says Erbakan died at Ankara's Guven hospital on Sunday.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's current prime minister, who was for many years one of Erbakan's lieutenants, said: "Erbakan was a scientist who devoted his life to learning. We will remember him with gratitude."
He was a professor of mechanics, and was affectionately known as Hodja, or "teacher", by his followers as well as current and former members of his now-banned Welfare Party.
Yasin Hatipoglu, a close aide to Erbakan, said that "the world of Islam lost a great man".
Although he served only a year as prime minister before he was pressured by the military to step down in 1997, he is credited with laying the foundations for political Islam in modern Turkey.
