Ankara, June 17 (IANS): Former Turkish president Suleyman Demirel died early on Wednesday, according to a statement issued by the Guven hospital where he was admitted. He was 90.
Demirel, who had been in the hospital since May 13 with renal failure, died after getting a respiratory tract infection, Efe news agency reported.
During his political career, which lasted half a century, Demirel served as prime minister for five times, between 1965 and 1993, and as the ninth president of Turkey, from 1993 to 2000.
The influential politician was born in the western province of Isparta on November 1, 1924, and studied civil engineering.
Demirel's wife Nazmiye died in 2013. The couple didn't have any children.