Funeral held for Turkey's leading businessman Mustafa Koç

Turkey's leading businesspeople and politicians made a rare show of unity on Jan. 24 to turn out in force at the funeral of the chairman of Turkey's largest industrial conglomerate, Mustafa Koç, who died last week aged only 55. 
  
President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an, Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu and main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal K?l?çdaro?lu were among the mourners at the funeral at an Istanbul mosque for the Koç Holding CEO, who died on Jan. 21 after a massive heart attack.
  
Koç was the leader of the third generation of Koç Holding founded by his grandfather Vehbi Koç in the 1920s and which now has interests in energy, finance and autos.
  
Mustafa Koç took over as chief executive of Koç Holding in 2003 after the retirement of his father Rahmi Koç, now 85, who survives his son.
  
Rahmi Koç greeted the mourners along with his younger son Ali Koç in front of the coffin draped in a banner with an inscription in Ottoman Turkish script. The coffin also bore a ribbon from the family's favorite football team, Fenerbahçe.
  
Turkey's family-run conglomerates are the mainstays of the country's economy with interests in every sector. Koç Holding alone accounts for around nine percent of Turkish exports and eight percent of its GDP.
  
Prominent Turkish businessmen also made rare public appearances at the funeral. 

"Mustafa Koç is an incredible loss. Look at the size of the crowds here," banking tycoon and founder of the FIBA holding Hüsnü Özye?in told private broadcaster NTV.
  
Mustafa Koç was respected in business circles for presiding over sustained growth at Koç Holding. But he also won admiration from Turkish opposition after a major public tension between Koç and the...