Brother of top OIC official dies in Greece

By Fatih Hafiz Mehmet

ANKARA (AA) - The brother of a top official at the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) passed away in Western Thrace, Greece -- a region heavily populated by Muslim Turkish minority -- early Tuesday.

Hasan Halil Ibram, 81, passed away around dawn at Sismanogleio State Hospital in the city of Komotini, after being hospitalized on Sunday, his family confirmed to Anadolu Agency.

Ibram was the older brother of Halit Eren, head of the OIC’s Research Center for Islamic History, Art and Culture (IRCICA), which is headquartered in Istanbul.

Ibram had lived in the village of Darmeni in Western Thrace's Rhodope province, and his funeral was held in the village on Tuesday.

Eren, who is also the father of Ibrahim Eren, the head of Turkish broadcaster TRT, was born in Greece and lived in the village of Darmeni before moving to Turkey.

Greece’s Western Thrace region is home to a Turkish-Muslim minority of around 150,000 people.