Former Turkish president Demirel dead at 90

Suleyman Demirel served as president and prime minister in Turkey; he also survived two coups in a time of rapid development in Turkey.

ANKARA // Turkey’s former president Suleyman Demirel, who dominated politics in his country for much of the past 50 years, has died. He was 90.

Demirel served seven terms as prime minister and survived two coups in a time of rapid development and sometimes violent turmoil.

He believed that his governments of the 1960s and 1970s deserved much of the credit for transforming Turkey from a largely agrarian society into an increasingly industrial and urban one, bringing higher living standards for most Turks.

But critics say Demirel symbolised a culture in which power came before principles, and helped entrench patronage and graft. They point to a notorious “family photograph” in which he was surrounded by relatives and associates from the business world – some of whom were later jailed for corruption.

Demirel died of heart failure and a respiratory tract infection on Wednesday at Ankara’s Guven Hospital.

In one of his last public appearances in October, Demirel said he believed he had paid his debt to the state.

“Whether it was paid back to the full – that is for the people to decide,” he said.

“My conscience is clear. I dedicated my life to the service of the people and of the state,” he said at the inauguration of the Democracy and Development Museum in his birth village of Islamkoy, in southern Isparta province, honouring his political career.

Demirel added: “We said: ‘Let’s save this country from darkness.’ We took light to the most out-of-the-way villages of Turkey. We took electrical lamps to replace gas lamps.”

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Demirel “will be remembered by our beloved people in times to come for the task he took on, the services he brought about and his political role.”

Demirel, who served as president from 1993 to 2000, launched his political career after the 1960 military coup that deposed the government of Adnan Menderes.

His wife, Nazmiye, died in May 2013. The couple had no children.

He was expected to be buried in Islamkoy after a state funeral, tentatively set for Friday, in Ankara.

* Associated Press