Former Turkish President Suleyman Demirel dies at 90

ANKARA, Turkey: Officials at an Ankara hospital say former Turkish President Suleyman Demirel has died at age 90.
Doctors at Guven Hospital said Demirel died at 2:05 a.m. Wednesday of heart failure and a respiratory tract infection.
Demirel , one of the dominant figures in Turkey’s politics for the past half century, served as president between 1993-2000, the culmination of a career that saw him serve five spells as prime minister — two of them ending in his government’s overthrow by military coups.
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, bringing higher living standards for most Turks.
Critics say Demirel symbolized a culture in which power came before principles, and helped entrench patronage and graft.