Ex-PM Mesut Yılmaz loses his life

* Photo and news: Anadolu Agency (AA)

Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish

Ahmet Mesut Yılmaz, who served as Turkey's Prime Minister in the 1990s, passed away at an İstanbul hospital today (October 30).

As reported by the state-run Anadolu Agency (AA), Florence Nightingale Hospital's chief physician Dr. Özgür Şamilgil announced the demise of Yılmaz, who was suffering from lung cancer for the past years.

On May 5, 2020, Yılmaz underwent a brain surgery with doctors saying his health status was stable.

Mesut Yılmaz, a former Chair of Anavatan (Motherland) Party, was appointed as prime minister three times between 1991 and 1999, and served as premier for a period of two years in total.

Born on November 6, 1947, the former prime minister was married with two children. He lost his life at the age of 73.

His funeral will be on Sunday at 12 p.m. at local time in Turkey He will be laid to rest place after prayers at Marmara Theology Mosque in Istanbul.

Condolences for late politician

Several politicians have expressed grief and condolences over the loss of the former premier. In a speech, President and ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, "I extend my condolences to all his family, and especially his wife."

Vice President Fuat Oktay has said on social media: "I have learned about the passing of the esteemed Mesut Yılmaz, one of our former prime ministers. May God's mercy and grace be on the late Mesut Yilmaz. I extend my condolences to his family and to all the people who loved him."

Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the Chair of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), has said, "I felt great sadness to hear of the passing of one of our former prime ministers, eminent politician and statesman Mesut Ylmaz. I wish God's mercy and grace upon him, and forbearance for his family. Deepest condolences to his family and our nation."

"I learned of the passing of Mesut Yılmaz, our former prime minister and former chair of the Motherland Party, with the greatest grief," İbrahim Kalın, Turkey's presidential spokesperson, has said on Twitter.

Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has also tweeted, "I learned of the passing of our former foreign minister and one of our prime ministers with great sadness. May God's mercy and grace be upon him, may he rest in peace. I extend my condolences to his family."

About Mesut Yılmaz

Mesut Yılmaz was the State Minister for Information (December 1983), then Minister of Culture and Tourism (1986), and Minister of Foreign Affairs (December 1987 to February 1990). Upon Turgut Özal's election to the presidency in 1989, Yılmaz became the leader of an intra-party opposition to the new Prime Minister, Yıldırım Akbulut.

Yılmaz was the leader of the Motherland Party (Turkish: Anavatan Partisi, ANAP) from 1991 to 2002, and served three times as Prime Minister of Turkey. His first two prime-ministerial terms lasted just months (in 1991 and 1996), while the third ran from June 1997 to January 1999. The first was brought to an end by defeat in the 1991 elections, the latter two by the breakdown of Yılmaz' coalition governments.

Yılmaz continued as a politician, however, serving as a deputy prime minister in a coalition led by Bülent Ecevit from 1999 to 2002. After his failure to win entry into the Parliament in 2002 elections, Yılmaz retired from politics to pursue a teaching career.

He was charged by the state public prosecutor with corruption during his tenure as prime minister relating to the privatization of Turkish Trade Bank. In 2006, the Supreme Court suspended the case for five years, so that the charges would be dropped if no similar charges arose in that period. Yılmaz announced that he would return to politics.

In the 2007 general election, he was elected as an independent member of the parliament from Turkey's Black Sea province of Rize.

(EMK/SD)