Turkey said goodbye to one of its iconic cinema stars on Sunday as towering actor Tarık Akan, who died recently aged 66, was buried in Istanbul.

Large crowds gathered as Akan was laid to rest in Zuhuratbaba cemetery following mid-afternoon prayers at Teşvikiye Mosque in the city's central Sisli district.

Some onlookers threw carnations from their homes as Akan's remains passed.

A commemorative ceremony had been organized to run before the funeral in Şişli's Harbiye Muhsin Ertuğrul Stage theater. Another memorial service took place at Bakırkoy Liberty Square.

Akan died on Friday at an Istanbul hospital where he had been undergoing treatment for lung cancer.

Akan -- the stage name of Tarık Üregul -- acted in his first film in 1970, at the age of 21. In the 1970s, Akın -- who measured 1.92 meters (6 feet, 3.5 inches) tall -- played the young male lead in romantic comedies.

He also took roles in political dramas and won awards such as Best Actor at the 1982 Cannes Film Festival, and Honorable Mention at the 35th Berlin International Film Festival for his role in Pehlivan (The Wrestler).

One of Turkey's leading actors in the '70s and '80s, Akan appeared in over 100 movies, including Maden (1978), Kanal (1979), Sürü (The Herd, 1979), Yol (The Road, 1982), Bir Avuç Cennet (A Handful of Heaven, 1985), Kan (Blood, 1986), Ses (The Voice, 1986), Berdel (1990), Karartma Geceleri (Blackout Nights, 1990) and Yolcu (The Passenger, 1993).

He also co-starred with famous Turkish actor and director Yılmaz Erdoğan in Vizontele Tuuba (2004).

Recently he had been involved in documentaries and TV series.

In 2002, Akan also wrote his first book, the biographical Anne Kafamda Bit Var.

Born in Istanbul in 1949, Akan was married to Yasemin Erkut; they had two sons and a daughter.