ATK autopsy report on Özal fails to persuade politicians, observers

“The report did not clear up the suspicions surrounding Özal's death. At least my suspicions remain,” stated Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdağ on Wednesday when commenting on the ATK report to journalists. “The [autopsy] report says poison was detected in Özal's body but does not explain where this poison came from. Suspicions surfaced on the day Özal died, and they continue to exist,” Bozdağ noted.

The autopsy report was completed on Tuesday and the results were sent to the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office early on Wednesday. The office is overseeing an investigation into the death of Özal, who died of a heart attack in 1993, according to official records.

The ATK said in a statement that toxicology tests conducted on Özal's internal organs and tissues confirmed the presence of poisonous substances, but members of the council were unable to reach a unanimous conclusion to officially determine that these substances were the cause of Özal's death.

Previous media reports said Özal's body, exhumed in October on the orders of prosecutors investigating his death, revealed traces of insecticides, pesticides and radioactive elements. The ATK discovered dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), which is commonly used as an insecticide and was banned in Turkey in 1980, and dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE), a DDT breakdown product which causes serious damage to the liver after being absorbed by the body, in the former president's remains. Özal's remains also contained americium and polonium. Forensic experts said the former president's body was weakened by these two radioactive chemical elements in the long run, and with the use of DDT his death was accelerated. Speculation is that the DDT might have entered Özal's body through food or drink.

The ATK report did not satisfy Özal's close circle of friends, either. Hasan Celal Güzel, a former minister of education, said the autopsy report is far from convincing. “The report has raised suspicions. Forensic experts [at the ATK] initially said poisonous substances were found in Özal's remains. Now they say they cannot conclude if the former president was poisoned. This means both a ‘no' and a ‘yes' to claims that Özal was murdered. It is evident that some individuals intervened and put pressure on the ATK to hide the facts behind Özal's death,” he said in remarks to Today's Zaman.

The former minister also called on prosecutors investigating the late president's death to further deepen the probe and act speedily before the statute of limitations in the Özal case expires. “If the case is dropped due to the impending statute of limitations, then the conscience of the people will be deeply wounded,” he added.

Former Deputy Prime Minister Ekrem Pakdemirli said the ATK should immediately take action to dissipate the suspicions it raised in people's minds after the issuance of Özal's autopsy report. “There is information pollution [concerning the cause of Özal's death]. The ATK should clarify the issue,” he said, and added that the ATK should have stated how many of its forensic experts had reached the conclusion that Özal had been poisoned and how many experts disagreed instead of just stating that a unanimous conclusion had not been reached by the council.

The results of the ATK report angered Özal's son, Ahmet Özal, who wrote on Twitter that the “deep powers” distorted the facts related to his father's death. “Deep powers are in action. Shame on them! The ones who distorted the facts will be unable to save themselves [from the reality],” he said.

Ahmet Özal is currently abroad, and he said he will call a press conference when he returns to Turkey this weekend.

In an earlier statement, he expressed concerns that the findings of poisonous substances in his father's remains may be distorted or hidden. “They are trying to play down the discovery [of poison in Turgut Özal's remains]. Who is doing this? Apparently the deep state. Even if they distort the facts, not a single man will believe that Turgut Özal was not poisoned [to death],” Ahmet Özal stated.

There have long been rumors that Özal was murdered by members of the "deep state" -- a shadowy group within the Turkish establishment of the day. Özal, known for his reformist policies that paved the way for a more democratic and liberal Turkey, was working to solve the long-standing Kurdish and Armenian issues at the time he was pronounced dead. The late president had reportedly angered his enemies in the deep state with his efforts to end the two issues, and his moves to create a Turkic union with Central Asian states.

Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Deputy Chairman Numan Kurtulmuş also voiced dissatisfaction about the content of Özal's autopsy report and said Turkey has to illuminate the shroud of mist surrounding the death of the late president if it wants to solve several unsolved murders and political assassinations. “It is clear that the [late] president did not drink all those poisons willingly. We are faced with the most concrete of dirty incidents in Turkey's past. Turkey has to solve this issue [the cause of Özal's death]. Who gave Özal the poison and whose plan was it?” he asked.

In addition, AK Party deputy Şamil Tayyar spoke to members of the press on Wednesday and said he was not satisfied with the ATK report, which he said carries traces of attempts by some to stop the investigation into Özal's death. “Some are disturbed by the facts behind Özal's death. I believe that Özal was killed. But some are trying to shelve the [investigation] file,” he stated on Tuesday during a TV program. With “some,” Tayyar said he was referring to supporters of the Ergenekon terrorist organization and the Balyoz (Sledgehammer) coup plot.

An investigation into Özal's suspicious death began earlier this year after a number of witnesses spoke of unusual circumstances on the day of the death of the former president. Certain facts -- including that on the day of his death his in-house doctor and nurse were both out, the staff were not able to start the ambulance due to a mechanical problem, there was a lack of first aid equipment at the presidential residence and other similarly unusual issues -- have led to suspicions surrounding the death of the former president.

If the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office concludes that there is no strong evidence to suggest that Özal was murdered, then it will declare a verdict of non-prosecution and stop the investigation. The case into the former president's death will be dropped in April of next year due to the statute of limitations.

Erhan Başyurt, editor-in-chief of the Bugün daily, also expressed dissatisfaction with the ATK report. He said he expects the council to explain how a man whose remains show four different poisonous substances might have died of natural causes and not because of those substances.

ATK report ignites strong reactions

The ATK findings relating to Özal's death show that there was poison in his system; however, the lack of clarity surrounding the matter has led to outrage on social media websites.

A number of critics launched a social media campaign denouncing the ATK report. They set up groups on Twitter, including “Turgut Özal” and “Özalınkanıyerdekalmasın” (Don't let Özal's blood remain on the ground), to criticize the findings of the council and to call on judicial authorities to further deepen the investigation into the death of the late president.

Followers of the groups -- already in the hundreds -- said the ATK report was far from persuading. In a message that was posted on these groups, one Twitter user said he pities the forensic experts who said they discovered radioactive elements and pesticides in Özal's remains but that they were unable to conclude that these were not the cause of Özal's death. “No report will persuade us that Özal was not killed. Our belief [that Özal was murdered] grows stronger as they work to hide the facts,” said one user. Another user ridiculed the ATK report, saying if poison exists that does not poison a man, then chocolate and chips must likewise exist that do not make people gain weight.