ISTANBUL 

The last surviving head of the House of Osman, the royal dynasty that once ruled the Ottoman Empire – which ruled vast territories for six centuries, before it was replaced by the Turkish Republic – has died at age 88 in Syria.

Prince Dundar Abdulkerim Osmanoglu lost his life at a hospital on Monday in the Syrian capital Damascus, where he had been receiving treatment.

Commenting on the news, his nephew Prince Abdulhamid Kayihan Osmanoglu said: "My uncle Dundar had serious health problems and he was living in Damascus amid a war environment. We were trying hard to get him to Turkey, but unfortunately we could not."

Abdulhamid Kayihan extended his condolences to the Turkish people over Osmanoglu's passing.

*Writing by Mahmoud Barakat