Top general Özel's father laid to rest
ANKARA - Anatolia News Agency
Top Gen Özel (C) and prime minister and president pray at funeral. DAILY NEWS photo / Selahattin SÖNMEZ
A large group of statesmen, politicians, soldiers and citizens attended the funeral of former Col. Seyfettin Özel, the father Turkey’s Chief of General Staff Gen. Necdet Özel, in Ankara today.Turkish President Abdullah Gül, Parliamentary Speaker Cemil Çiçek, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, deputy prime ministers Bülent Arınç, Beşir Atalay and Ali Babacan, Cabinet ministers, Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli, Republican People’s Party deputy leader Adnan Keskin, high-ranking soldiers, lawmakers and former generals were present at the ceremony for Seyfettin Özel, who died at 95 on April 23.
The late colonel’s son and his wife, Kamuran Özel, received condolences with other family members at the Kocatepe Mosque in the capital. The funeral prayer was held by the head of the Religious Affairs Directorate, Professor Mehmet Görmez.
