Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was hospitalised on Tuesday after he fainted due to exhaustion and fasting, officials and doctors said, adding that he was basically in good health and likely to be discharged soon.
Erdogan, 52, fell ill around 11 am (0800 GMT), just before he was due to appear before the parliamentary group of his Justice and Development Party (AKP) in parliament and was immediately rushed to a private hospital by his bodyguards.
"There was a drop in (Erdogan's) blood sugar due to exhaustion and fasting," Tevfik Ali Kucukbas, chief doctor at the Guven Hospital, told reporters.
"We will keep him under observation for a while. There is nothing worrying in his vital functions," Kucukbas said.
Erdogan, who does not drink alcohol or smoke, is generally known to be in good health.
His spokesman said the leader was likely to be discharged soon
"I do not think he will stay in the hospital overnight," Akif Beki told AFP.
AKP deputy chairman Dengir Mir Mehmet Firat said that Erdogan had fainted due to hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar, but was now fine.
"He has regained consciousness and there is no threat to his life," he told reporters outside the hospital.
Eyewitnesses said Erdogan was unconscious when he was brought to hospital and bodyguards had to break a window of his armoured vehicle to get the prime minister out after they accidentally locked him in.
"The prime minister's car roared in front of the hospital. The driver was unable to open the door and there was great panic," former tourism minister Irfan Gurpinar, who happened to be at the hospital to see his new-born grandchild, said.
"One of the bodyguards brought a sledgehammer and another brought a chisel and they broke the left front window and opened the door," Gurpinar said.
Another witness, Mehmet Goksu, told the NTV news channel that Erdogan was immediately put on a stretcher and taken inside the hospital as medics and bodyguards scrambled to keep his mouth open.