Turkey: Body of former president to be exhumed

A judge in Ankara has ordered the exhumation of the remains of former Turkish Prime Minister Turgot Ozal because his family claim he may have been poisoned, according to local media reports. Ozal died in 1993 of a heart attack and was buried in Istanbul. According to a government report delivered to Turkey's president Abdullah Gul last week, the circumstances around Ozal's death are 'suspicious.' ''Ozal, suffered from no serious illness and was in office when he died. His death should treated as suspicious", the report said. Ozal was a shining star of Turkish political life: first as a prime Minister from 1980 - 1990, then as head of state. He was the architect of a warming in relations between Turkey and Europe after years of dictatorship, and he launched several economic and political reforms. Islamic nationalist president Abdullah Gul told Hurriyet that the exhumation will "put an end to the mystery of Ozal's death and close the debate once and for all."