Turgut Özal

President of Turkey from 1989 to 1993

Turgut Özal (October 13, 1927 – April 17, 1993) was Prime Minister of Turkey (1983–1989) and President of Turkey (1989–1993). As Prime Minister, he transformed the economy of Turkey by paving the way for the privatization of many state enterprises.[1][2]

Turgut Özal
8th President of the Republic of Turkey
In office
November 9, 1989 – April 17, 1993
Preceded byKenan Evren
Succeeded bySüleyman Demirel
Prime Minister of Turkey
In office
December 13, 1983 – October 31, 1989
PresidentKenan Evren
DeputyAli Bozer
Preceded byBülend Ulusu
Succeeded byYıldırım Akbulut
Personal details
Born(1927-10-13)October 13, 1927
Malatya, Turkey
DiedApril 17, 1993(1993-04-17) (aged 65)
Ankara, Turkey
Political partyANAP
Spouse(s)Ayhan İnal (m. 1952, div. 1952)
Semra Özal (m. 1954)
Children3
Alma materIstanbul Technical University
Signature

Özal was born on October 13, 1927 in Malatya, Turkey. He studied at Istanbul Technical University. Özal was married to Ayhan İnal from 1952 until they divorced a few months later in 1952. Then he was married to Semra Özal from 1954 until his death in 1993. He had three children.

Özal died on April 17, 1993 in Ankara, Turkey from a suspected heart attack. He was 65 years old. Many people thought that his death was an assassination.[3] Then in 2012, experts later performed an autopsy and was confirmed that poison was found in his body.[4] The current cause of his death is a heart attack.

A trial charging retired general Levent Ersöz with his murder began in September 2013.[5]

References

change
  1. Anderson, Perry (2008-09-25). "After Kemal". London Review of Books. Retrieved 2008-12-29.
  2. Purvis, Andrew (2003-07-27). "Not Just Business As Usual". TIME. Archived from the original on 2007-12-29. Retrieved 2008-08-14.
  3. Pope, Hugh (April 23, 1993). "Thousands of Turks Join Funeral March for Reformist President". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
  4. "Turkish ex-leader's body shows poison, death cause unclear: media". Reuters. Archived from the original on 12 December 2012. Retrieved 12 December 2012.
  5. Today's Zaman, 11 September 2013, Trial into suspicious death of late president Özal begins Archived 2016-03-05 at the Wayback Machine