Istanbul, June 17 () - Former Turkish President Süleyman Demirel, who was twice toppled by the military during seven stints at the head of government, died early on June 17, according to a hospital official. He was 91.
Demirel, who served as prime minister seven times through the 1960s to the 1990s and was president from 1993 to 2000, died at the Güven 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 in general elections held five years after a 1960 coup, at the head of the Justice Party.
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