Turkish right winger dies in 'copter crash

ANKARA, Turkey, March 27 (UPI) -- Searchers found the wreckage of a helicopter carrying the leader of Turkey's Grand Union Party in a remote mountain region Friday.

The bodies of Muhsin Yazicioglu and the other five people on the helicopter were amid the wreckage, Hurriyet reported.

The helicopter disappeared Wednesday while Yazicioglu and other members of his party were returning from an election rally Kahramanmaras, the capital of a province of the same name in southeastern Turkey.

Ismail Gunes, a reporter who was on the helicopter, survived the crash long enough to send a call for help from his cell phone, Today's Zaman said.

Village guards from Sisne and Elmah made the discovery after an intensive land and air search that involved the Army and Civil Defense forces.

The Grand Union Party, also known by its Turkish initials, BPP, is a right-wing Islamist nationalist party.