Turkey copter crash survivor calls for help

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) -- Thousands of rescue workers searched the snow-covered mountains of central Turkey on Thursday for survivors of a helicopter crash as TV broadcast an injured passenger's appeal for help. A nationalist party leader was one of six people on board.

The government said there was no device on the aircraft to beam an emergency signal.

"We hope we can find them alive," Interior Minister Besir Atalay said. "We're doing our best."

The helicopter, which crashed Wednesday in the province of Kahramanmaras, was carrying Muhsin Yazicioglu, leader of the small conservative Great Unity Party as he returned from a rally before Sunday's local elections.

Authorities on Thursday released a recording of an emergency call made after the crash by journalist Ismail Gunes, who said he thought he was the only survivor.

"There is snow and fog everywhere," said Gunes of IHA news agency. "I can't speak because my leg is broken. ... I am inside the helicopter. The others are silent. ... I guess they're dead. ... My God, it is very bad."

The emergency responder tried to calm Gunes, but the journalist responded: "Can't you find our location? We will freeze here."

His employer said he was badly injured and wedged inside the wreckage.

"We fear for him, his voice was shaken and the temperatures were minus 20 degrees there last night," Orhan Sali, an official of the IHA agency, said by telephone Thursday. "We keep praying for him."

Interior Minister Atalay said authorities were unable to find the helicopter because there was no device to beam an emergency signal in the chopper. Rescue helicopters awaited clear skies to takeoff to help the search by soldiers and villagers in an area of at least 8 square miles (20 square kilometers), he said., adding that more than 2,000 rescue workers were searching for the site.

About 300 angry supporters of Yazicioglu marched toward Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's office on Thursday, accusing the government of starting the search late. The government denied the allegations.

Erdogan and his political rivals on Thursday canceled pre-election rallies after the accident. Erdogan also decided to travel to Kahramanmaras province.

The 55-year-old Yazicioglu is a prominent leader of the conservative nationalist movement in Turkey but his party was not expected to make a strong showing in Sunday's elections.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)