TURKEY EXHUMES EX-PRESIDENT FOR TOXICOLOGY TESTING
PanARMENIAN.Net
October 2, 2012 - 14:07 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - Work started early on Tuesday, Oct 2 to open late
President Turgut Ozal's grave, as part of a belated investigation into
the cause of the 1993 death of the president, Today's Zaman reports.
A criminal investigation team, a bomb disposal team, police officers
and officials from the Council of Forensic Medicine (ATK) are standing
ready at the gravesite. Heavy machinery was deployed to the area
early in the morning to carry out the work at the site, which has
been surrounded by steel walls so that it cannot be seen from outside.
The case was opened earlier this year after a number of witnesses spoke
of unusual circumstances on the day of the death of the then-president,
who was reported to have suffered from a heart attack.
The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office recently issued a warrant
to exhume the remains of the president for toxicology testing.
The prosecutor's office is also investigating a number of unusual
circumstances that came to light following Ozal's supposed heart
attack. Certain facts - such as that on the day of his death his
in-house doctor and nurse were both out, that staff were not able to
start the ambulance due to a mechanical problem, the lack of first aid
equipment at the presidential residence and other similar issues --
have led to suspicions surrounding the death of the former president.
In addition, the office is focused on inconsistencies between the
statements of Ozal's doctor and his family members regarding the
lack of an autopsy. Ozal's doctor, Cengiz Aslan, claimed that the
family of the former president did not request an autopsy, but the
Ozal family has denied this claim.
Ozal, the eighth president of the Turkish Republic, died of heart
failure in April 1993 in an Ankara hospital at the age of 65 and
while in office.
PanARMENIAN.Net
October 2, 2012 - 14:07 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - Work started early on Tuesday, Oct 2 to open late
President Turgut Ozal's grave, as part of a belated investigation into
the cause of the 1993 death of the president, Today's Zaman reports.
A criminal investigation team, a bomb disposal team, police officers
and officials from the Council of Forensic Medicine (ATK) are standing
ready at the gravesite. Heavy machinery was deployed to the area
early in the morning to carry out the work at the site, which has
been surrounded by steel walls so that it cannot be seen from outside.
The case was opened earlier this year after a number of witnesses spoke
of unusual circumstances on the day of the death of the then-president,
who was reported to have suffered from a heart attack.
The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office recently issued a warrant
to exhume the remains of the president for toxicology testing.
The prosecutor's office is also investigating a number of unusual
circumstances that came to light following Ozal's supposed heart
attack. Certain facts - such as that on the day of his death his
in-house doctor and nurse were both out, that staff were not able to
start the ambulance due to a mechanical problem, the lack of first aid
equipment at the presidential residence and other similar issues --
have led to suspicions surrounding the death of the former president.
In addition, the office is focused on inconsistencies between the
statements of Ozal's doctor and his family members regarding the
lack of an autopsy. Ozal's doctor, Cengiz Aslan, claimed that the
family of the former president did not request an autopsy, but the
Ozal family has denied this claim.
Ozal, the eighth president of the Turkish Republic, died of heart
failure in April 1993 in an Ankara hospital at the age of 65 and
while in office.