Ruling AKP MP Abdulkadir Yüksel dies after heart attack

ANKARA

Abdulkadir Yüksel, a ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) lawmaker for the southeastern province of Gaziantep, died after suffering a heart attack in the capital Ankara on Sept. 25, state-run Anadolu Agency has reported. He was 55.

Yüksel had immediately been rushed to the Güven Hospital after suffering a heart attack but could not be rescued despite all medical efforts.

Parliament Speaker İsmail Kahraman, Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım, Health Minister Ahmet Demircan and several party deputies arrived at the hospital after receiving the news of Yüksel’s death.

The premier stated that Yüksel had suffered from a heart attack while he was at work in parliament, and extended his condolences to the deputy’s family.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also visited the hospital early on Sept. 25 and extended his condolences to the Yüksel family.

Meanwhile, main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu also called Erdoğan and Yıldırım to extend his condolences over Yüksel’s death, the party’s press office stated.

A funeral ceremony will be held at 11:00 a.m. in parliament and Yüksel will be laid to rest in his hometown of Birecik, a district of the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa.

Born in 1962 in Birecik, Yüksel graduated from the pharmacy faculty of Gazi University in Ankara. He had acted as the Birecik mayor for 10 years and had also acted as the deputy head of the AKP local administrations.