He
died at 2:05am on Wednesday at Ankara’s Guven Hospital of heart failure
and a respiratory tract infection, doctors at the hospital said in an
announcement broadcast on Turkish television.
Suleyman
Demirel, one of the dominant figures in Turkey’s politics for over half
a century, has died, according to the state Anatolia news agency.
He was 90.
Demirel’s wife, Nazmiye, died in May 2013. The couple had no children.
He
was prime minister several times in the 1960s and 1970s before serving
as president from 1993 to 2000. Two of his governments ended in
overthrow by military coups.
Critics say Demirel symbolised a culture in which power came before
principles, and helped entrench patronage and corruption.
Demirel
believed that his governments of the 1960s and 1970s deserved much of
the credit for a deep transformation of Turkey’s economy and society,
which saw a largely agrarian society transformed into an increasingly
industrial and urban one, bringing higher living standards for most
Turks.
They
point to a “family photograph” which pictured Demirel surrounded by
relatives and associates from the business world – some of whom were
later jailed for corruption.
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