Politican in Erdoğan’s ruling party dies from COVID-19

Burhan Kuzu, a former member of parliament from Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and an advisor to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has died from the coronavirus.

Kuzu had been receiving treatment for COVID-19 since Oct. 17, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Twitter.

Saygın siyasetçimiz, hukukçu ağabeyimiz Prof. Burhan Kuzu’yu, 17 Ekimden beri tedavi gördüğü COVID-19 sebebiyle kaybettik. Kendisine Allah’tan rahmet, ailesine ve camiamıza başsağlığı diliyorum. Salgın, bizi yakınlarımızdan, yeri doldurulamaz insanlardan ayırmaya devam ediyor. pic.twitter.com/kUGhI2Ylua

— Dr. Fahrettin Koca (@drfahrettinkoca) November 1, 2020

He passed away early Sunday.

In early March, the 65-year-old politician had downplayed the impact of the pandemic, saying that the deadly virus was an exaggeration of social media as he compared its effects to those of EBOLA, SARS and the H1N1 swine flu.

Ebola 1976’da 13 bin;Sars 2002’de 8 bin;Mers 2012’de 858;Domuz gribi 2009’da 8238 can aldı.Aslında yakalanan kişiler ile ölenlerin oranı Covid-19’dan daha fazla.Daha çabuk yayılıyor ama daha az öldürücü Peki neden dünya diken üstü?Sosyal medyanın abartısı dışında bir şey mi var?

— Prof Dr Burhan Kuzu (@BurhanKuzu) March 23, 2020

On Saturday, two senior Turkish government officials, Erdoğan's spokesman Ibrahim Kalın and Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu, announced that they had contracted COVID-19. Soylu has since been hospitalised.