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Former Turkish President Suleyman Demirel passes away at 90

Xinhua, June 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

Former Turkish President Suleyman Demirel, a prominent political figure in the country, died early on Wednesday at the age of 90, local NTV news channel reported.

Demirel died at the Guven Hospital in the Turkish capital of Ankara, where he had been undergoing treatment for a respiratory tract infection, the report said.

Demirel, who served as prime minister seven times through the 1960s to the 1990s, saw his government twice toppled by the military during his tenure of more than 10 years. He served as the country's president from 1993 to 2000, marking the peak of his four-decade political career.

Born to a farming family in the province of Isparta in western Turkey in November 1924, Demirel was trained as an engineer, the report said. He first came to power in general elections held five years after a 1960 coup, as the head of the Justice Party.

Twice deposed by the military in 1971 and 1980, Demirel was one of modern Turkey's great political survivors.

He was banned from all political activities after the 1980 coup, but the ban was repealed in the late 1980s. Demirel returned to head the government for the last time by serving as prime minister between 1991 to 1993.

He then became the ninth Turkish president in May 1993 following the sudden death of his predecessor Turgut Ozal, serving his full term until 2000. Endi