Late Turkish President’s Autopsy Finds Poisons

An autopsy of the exhumed remains of Turkish president Turgut Ozal, who died in office in 1993, revealed the presence of four poisons, the pro-government daily Today’s Zaman reported Saturday.

Pathologists discovered the presence of the insecticide DDT at 10 times the level considered normal, as well as traces of the heavy metal cadmium and both polonium and americium, two radioactive substances, the English-language paper said, quoting the Forensic Medicine Council.

The pathologists think the poisons together were enough to kill Ozal, Today’s Zaman said, adding that the autopsy report would be handed over to legal authorities soon.

The americium and polonium would have weakened the president, while the DDT, ingested in food or drink, would have accelerated his demise, the report said.

Ozal’s remains were exhumed from his mausoleum in Istanbul’s historic Topkapi district in early October after prosecutors issued a warrant for toxicology tests.

Family members have long believed that Ozal, an ethnic Kurd who was seeking a negotiated solution to the bloody conflict with Kurdish separatists in the southeast when he died, was poisoned.

The belated autopsy was requested following a presidential palace report that ruled the death “suspicious”, citing the absence of an investigation and missing blood test results.

Inconsistent witness reports regarding the day of Ozal’s death further added to the controversy.

Ozal became Turkey’s eighth president in 1989. When he died in office aged 69, the cause of death was given as heart failure.

Fighting between Turkish soldiers and Kurdish separatists has claimed more than 45,000 lives since 1984, according to the army.