Turgut Özal

Halil Turgut Özal
8th President of the Republic of Turkey
In office November 9, 1989 – April 17, 1993
Preceded by	Kenan Evren
Succeeded by	Süleyman Demirel
Prime Minister of Turkey
In office December 13, 1983 – October 31, 1989
President	Kenan Evren
Preceded by	Bülend Ulusu
Succeeded by	Yıldırım Akbulut
Personal details
Born	(1927-10-13)October 13, 1927 Malatya, Turkey
Died	April 17, 1993(1993-04-17) (aged 65) Ankara, Turkey
Political party	ANAP
Spouse(s)	Ayhan İnal (m. 1952, div. 1952) Semra Özal (m. 1954)
Children	3
Alma mater	Istanbul Technical University
Religion	Sunni Islam
Signature

Halil Turgut Özal (Turkish pronunciation: [tuɾˈɡut øˈzaɫ]; 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.

Early life and career

Turgut Özal was born in Malatya. He completed elementary school in Silifke, middle school in Mardin, and high school in Kayseri. Özal studied electrical engineering at Istanbul Technical University, graduating in 1950.

Between 1950 and 1952, he worked in the State Electrical Power Planning Administration and continued his studies in the United States on electrical energy and engineering management between 1952–1953. After his return to Turkey, he worked in the same organization again on electrification projects until 1958. Özal was in the State Planning Organization in 1959, and in the Planning Coordination Department in 1960. After his military service in 1961, he worked at several state organizations in leading positions and lectured at ODTÜ (Middle East Technical University). The World Bank employed him between 1971–1973^{[citation needed]}. Then, he was chairman of some private Turkish companies^{[citation needed]} until 1979. Back to the state service, he was undersecretary to the Prime minister Süleyman Demirel until the military coup on September 12, 1980.

Political career

The military rulers under Kenan Evren appointed him state minister and deputy prime minister in charge of economic affairs until July 1982.

Motherland Party era

On May 20, 1983 he founded the Motherland Party (Turkish: Anavatan Partisi) and became its leader. His party won the elections and he formed the government to become the 19th Prime minister on December 13, 1983. In 1987 he again became prime minister after winning elections.

Assassination attempt

On June 18, 1988 he survived an assassination attempt during the party congress. One bullet wounded his finger while another bullet missed his head. The assassin, Kartal Demirağ, was captured and sentenced to life imprisonment but pardoned by Özal in 1992.

Demirağ was allegedly a Counter-Guerrilla, contracted by the movement's hawkish leader, General Sabri Yirmibeşoğlu. Two months later, Yirmibeşoğlu became the secretary general of the National Security Council. During Yirmibeşoğlu's tenure as secretary general, Özal heard about the allegations of Yirmibeşoğlu's role in the affair and forced him into retirement.

In late 2008, Demirağ was retried by the Ankara 11th Heavy Penal Court and sentenced to twenty years in prison.

Presidency era

Özal and George Bush

On November 9, 1989, Özal became the eighth president of Turkey elected by the Grand National Assembly of Turkey and the first president to be born in the Republic of Turkey rather than the Ottoman Empire.

With the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Özal made an effort to create alliances with the Turkic countries of Central Asia as well as Azerbaijan in the South Caucasus.

President Turgut Ozal agreed to negotiations with the Kurdish PKK. Apart from Özal, himself half-Kurdish, few Turkish politicians were interested, nor was more than a part of the PKK itself. A first round occurred in the early 90s. After the president’s death on 17 April 1993, in suspicious circumstances, the hope of reconciliation evaporated.

Özal supported the coalition against Iraq during the 1991 Gulf War.

In February 1991, he was made an honorary Companion of the Order of Australia (AC), Australia's highest civilian honour, "for eminent service to Turkish/Australian relations".

The ceremony marking of the beginning of governance for the first Kaymakam Eyüp Sabri Kartal in Kavaklıdere, with President Turgut Özal and Vali Lale Aytaman

Death and exhumation

On April 17, 1993, Özal died of a suspicious heart attack while still in office, leading some to suspect an assassination. His wife Semra Özal claimed he had been poisoned by lemonade and she questioned the lack of an autopsy. The blood samples taken to determine cause of death were lost or disposed of. Özal had sought to create a Turkic union, and had obtained the commitment of several presidents. His wife Semra alleged that the perpetrator might have wanted to foil the plan.

Tens of thousands of people attended the state burial ceremony in Istanbul, in which Özal was buried next to the mausoleum of Adnan Menderes, whom he had revered.^{[citation needed]}

On the fourteenth anniversary of his death, thousands gathered in Ankara in commemoration. Investigators wanted to exhume the body to examine it for poisoning. In September 2012, a court ruled that the grave be opened for another autopsy. On 3 October 2012 his body was exhumed. It contained the banned insecticide DDT at ten times the normal level. According to press reports, the "partially embalmed" remains were found to be well preserved, much to the experts' and public's surprise. It is reported that while the lower half of the body was subject to skeletonization, the upper half was preserved due to adipocere.

An autopsy report issued on 12 December 2012 stated his body contained poison but the cause of death was unclear.

Family

With his wife Semra, Özal had two sons, and a daughter. One of their sons, Ahmet Özal, was elected to parliament after the elections of 1999, but stayed out after the elections of 2002.

File:Turgut-ozal-semra ozal.jpg

Turgut and Semra Ozal at the time of marriage

See also

• Turgut Özal University
• Özal family

Party political offices
Preceded by Suleyman Demirel of Justice Party	Leader of the Motherland Party (ANAP) May 20, 1983 – October 31, 1989	Succeeded by Yıldırım Akbulut
Political offices
Preceded by Orhan Eyüpoğlu Hikmet Çetin	Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey September 20, 1980 – July 14, 1982	Succeeded by Kaya Erdem
Preceded by Bülend Ulusu	Prime Minister of Turkey December 13, 1983 – October 31, 1989	Succeeded by Yıldırım Akbulut
Preceded by Kenan Evren	President of Turkey November 9, 1989 – April 17, 1993	Succeeded by Süleyman Demirel