UPDATE - Wife of late Turkish premier Ecevit dies at age of 97

UPDATES WITH REMARKS OF HEAD OF MAIN OPPOSITION REPUBLICAN PEOPLE'S PARTY

By Firat Tasdemir, Yesim Sert Karaaslan and Jeyhun Aliyev

ANKARA (AA) - Rahsan Ecevit, wife of late Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, died at the age of 97 at a hospital in the capital Ankara, according to information received by Anadolu Agency.

Ecevit, who was also the founder of Democratic Left Party, died at the Gulhane Training and Research Hospital, where she had been receiving treatment since Dec. 26 last year.

She died at the intensive care unit of the hospital due to multiple organ failure at around 9.10 p.m. Turkish time (1810GMT).

Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the head of Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), wished God's mercy on Ecevit and extended condolences to her family.

"Her life of faithfulness, loyalty and struggle will be an example for the future generations," Kilicdaroglu said.

A number of CHP deputies and other party officials also extended condolences to the family of Ecevit.