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ISTANBUL: Mustafa Koc, the chairman of Turkish conglomerate Koc Holding and one of the country's most prominent businessmen, has died after suffering a heart attack, a hospital official said on Thursday.
The 55-year-old ran a conglomerate that owned businesses ranging from energy and automobiles to finance, accounting for close to 10 per cent of Turkey's national output and including five of Turkey's 10 largest companies.
The Koc dynasty is the most prominent among Turkey's secular business elite and has had, at times, an uneasy relationship with President Tayyip Erdogan's Islamist-rooted AK Party.
"Despite all the efforts of the doctors, we lost Mustafa Koc as a result of a heart attack which he suffered at home," a hospital official told reporters outside the American Hospital.
The Beykoz state hospital, where he was taken first, said in an earlier statement that Koc had collapsed while exercising and had received emergency treatment from a trainer and guard.
It said his heart was not beating when he arrived at 08:10 a.m. (0610 GMT) and efforts to resuscitate him began before he was transferred by helicopter to the American Hospital, a hospital run by the Koc family foundation, in central Istanbul.
Shares in Koc were down 3.1 per cent at 10.91 lira by 1031 GMT, while the main share index was 1.4 down per cent.
Erdogan expressed anger with Koc's Divan Hotel for opening its doors to protesters fleeing police during anti-government protests in 2013.
The hotel said at the time that it acted humanely and the accusations of backing the protests were unfair.
Koc Holding companies account for 9 per cent of Turkey's exports and 18 per cent of the total market capitalisation of the Istanbul stock exchange, according to an investor presentation by the group this month.
Among its companies are oil refiner Tupras, automotive manufacturer Ford Otosan, car maker Tofas and appliance maker Arcelik.
Koc had been chairman since 2003.
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