Associated Press
In this file photo, Turkan Saylan, gestures to friends from the window of her house in Istanbul, Turkey. The Association to Support Contemporary Life says Saylan died in hospital in Istanbul early Monday, May 18, 2009, after a long battle with cancer. (AP Photo/File)
Turkan Saylan
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.
ANKARA, Turkey (AP)
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.
Saylan died in a hospital in Istanbul early Monday after a long battle with cancer, the Association to Support Contemporary Life said.
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.
May 18, 2009
Turkan Saylan
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