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YEREVAN, JUNE 17, ARMNEPRESS: Suleyman Demirel, a former long-serving prime minister and then president of Turkey, has died in hospital aged 90, according to reports, Armenpress informs, citing The Guardian.
Demirel was twice toppled by the military. He was prime minister seven times through the 1960s to the 1990s and president from 1993 to 2000.
Demirel died early on Wednesday at the Guven hospital in Ankara where he had been undergoing treatment for a respiratory tract infection, a hospital official told Reuters.
Born to a farming family in the western Turkish province of Isparta in November 1924, Demirel trained as a civil engineer, according to an official government biography. He first came to power at the head of the Justice party in general elections held five years after a 1960 coup.
Known as Baba, or Dad, to his followers in Turkey’s farming heartland during his years in power, he served during a period of unstable coalitions that was brought to an end when the ruling AK party founded by Tayyip Erdoğan came to power in 2002.
Turkey now faces a return to coalition politics after the AKP failed to secure a majority government in 7 June elections, marking a major setback for a party that has held power while Turkey became one of the world’s top 20 economies.