Newly elected Turkish legislator dies

Just four days after being elected into Turkish parliament a politician from a right-wing nationalist party died in a traffic accident Thursday.

Mehmet Cihat Ozonder, 60, lost control of his vehicle on his way to Ankara's airport, veered into oncoming traffic and collided with a minibus, the Anatolia news agency reported. Three passengers in the minibus were injured in the crash.

Ozonder, a professor of sociology at Ankara's Hacettepe University, was one of 70 legislators elected from Istanbul.

His death came hours before the Turkish electoral board was expected to confirm the final results of Sunday's election, which Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party won with 46.6 percent of the votes, giving it at least 340 seats in the 550-seat Parliament.

Ozonder's Nationalist Action Party increased its votes and returned to Parliament after a five-year absence, with 71 seats, according to unofficial results.

Turkey's High Election Board will now decide whether his seat will remain vacant or whether it will go to another nationalist candidate.