Funeral held for chairman of Turkey’s largest company

ISTANBUL

Thousands of people gathered Sunday to attend the funeral held for Mustafa Koc, the board chairman of Turkey’s largest company Koc Holding.

Koc died of a heart attack on Thursday at the age of 56.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, and the leaders of opposition parties, ministers, and businessmen were in attendance of the funeral at the mosque of Marmara University Theology Faculty on the Anatolian side of Istanbul.

A farewell ceremony was also held early Sunday at the headquarters of Koc Holding in the Nakkastepe district of the city.

Koc will be buried at the city's Zincirlikuyu cemetery where there is a family plot.

Mustafa Koc is expected to be succeeded by his brother and fellow board member Ali, who built the company’s information and telecommunications group, which he ran as chairman from 2000 to 2002.