Turk party leader's body found in helicopter wreck

ISTANBUL, March 27 (Reuters) - Turkish searchers found the body of the leader of a right-wing political party and the wreckage of his helicopter on Friday, two days after it crashed during election campaigning, broadcaster CNN Turk said.

Members of a local militia discovered the wreckage and six bodies, including that of Muhsin Yazicioglu, head of the Grand Unity Party (BBP), in a mountainous area of Kahramanmaras province, CNN Turk reported.

At least one passenger survived the crash on Wednesday and called the authorities for help, but bad weather and difficult terrain made it difficult to reach the site, CNN Turk said.

All on board were dead when help arrived, it said. A journalist was among the dead.

Yazicioglu was heading for the central town of Sivas, which he represents in parliament, when his helicopter went down.

He founded the BBP, which combines nationalist and Islamist ideologies, in 1993.

The party came under the spotlight in 2007 when two of its members were charged in connection with the assassination of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.

The party has denied any links to Dink's killing. (Writing by Ayla Jean Yackley, editing by Tim Pearce)