7/28/2019 12todays Zaman

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zals legacyWe lost zal, who served as prime minister and president in Turkey, on April 17, 1993.For some reason, the figures -- and surely the conservative media -- who have up until recently made reference to the political

legacy of zal in election periods now refrain from doing so. Who would be pleased with the fact that what zal did for Turkeys

democratization and development has been forgotten? It was the same conservative media that undermined the investigation

and inquiries into whether Turgut zal was poisoned to death through manipulation and supposedly humorous reports

indicating that he was poisoned but his body was not affected by it. Let us recall a recent report published in the media: The

unpublicized State Audit Institution [DDK] medical experts report notes that cadmium was slowly and gradually injected into

zals body and that the first instance of poisoning was nearly 40 days before April 17. The report also emphasizes that the

poison had rendered him unable to walk. In addition to the DDKs report, Seluk and lker nar, the witnesses in the

Ergenekon and Zirve cases, said zal was poisoned by cadmium before the exhumation of his body.

Professor Ekrem Pakdemirli, a politician and an economist, published a memoir with Ufuk Press, zaln Miras (zals

Legacy), focusing on the years he worked with zal that sheds light on an important era. Pakdemirli, who knew zal from the

years they spent at the State Planning Organization (DPT), has served as a top bureaucrat, minister and deputy prime minister

during the Motherland Party (ANAP/ANAVATAN) administration. I would like to direct your attention to Pakdemirlis emphasis on

zals death, the previous assassination attempts and the egocentrism of rival politicians like Sleyman Demirel as political

actors:

Upon returning from his trip to Central Asia, zal said he called Demirel, told him to send the technical staff handling economic

affairs because things were not going well and therefore needed some review. zal further said that, in response to this request,

Demirel told him he should not worry about the economy because he would be prosecuted for treason and that he should

therefore be worried about the trial. zal further noted that, upon this remark, his older brother was terrified and that he himself

was afraid that he would have a stroke; he had never seen his brother that horrified. Politicians were one of the groups

responsible for zals death. I believe Demirel played some role in this. If people do not feel confident, they would not attempt to

assassinate a president so easily. In addition, two people who were working in the presidential palace escaped to Canada and

Sweden. I think Sleyman Demirel should have stopped them and told them to stay. He should have interrogated these people

because the person who died was the president of this country. I think that the prosecutor, his co-workers and his family have all

been negligent in this.

zal tried to reshape the economy and politics by relying on a sort of liberalism that some called the New Right. We could cite

his flaws in the field of political liberalism and his failure to develop consistent projections on the sociological and cultural fabric.

However, zal was a very successful political actor who was able to resist the guardianship regime in the aftermath of the Sept.

12, 1980 coup dtat and reinforce the civilian administration and contribute to its integration with the world. It may not be

possible for those who ignore the legacy of zal -- who was welcomed by the people as a civilian, religious and democratic

president -- to make their own names and work as permanent and lasting.