World | Other World Stories
Turkish doctor who headed fight against leprosy, illiteracy dies
Colleagues say Turkan Saylan, a doctor who battled leprosy in Turkey and founded a secularist association devoted to providing educational grants for poor children, has died. She was 74.
- AP
- Published: 11:14 May 18, 2009
Ankara: Colleagues say Turkan Saylan, a doctor who battled leprosy in Turkey and founded a secularist association devoted to providing educational grants for poor children, has died. She was 74.
The Association to Support Contemporary Life says Saylan died in a hospital in Istanbul early on Monday after a long battle with cancer.
Saylan founded the group in 1989. Since then it has provided grants to thousands of poor students, especially girls, and built schools in Turkey's impoverished regions.
Last month, police investigating an alleged secularist plot to topple the Islamic-rooted government searched the group's premises and detained several members for questioning.
Share this article
News Editor's choice
-
Mohammad launches H1N1 campaign
Shaikh Mohammad was the first one to receive the H1N1 vaccine.
-
Focus on best methods of crime investigation
International conference to also focus on anti-corruption measures
-
Muslims happy to live in the US
Warm welcome awaits visitors of any nationality despite political differences
