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GUNMAN AGCA RELEASED FROM PRISON
ANKARA - Mehmet Ali Agca, who killed journalist Abdi Ipekci in 1979 and who shot and wounded late Pope John Paul II, was released after 30 years in prison.
18.01.2010 - Update : 18.01.2010
Agca, 52, will be taken to a military facility to assess his fitness for military service. In 2006, a military hospital ruled that he was not fit for the obligatory military service due to a severe anti-social personality disorder but the Ministry of National Defense did not approve it.
Agca assassinated Ipekci, editor-in-chief of the Milliyet, near his house in Istanbul on February 1, 1979. He fled from prison a few months ago, and attempted to kill Pope John Paul II while he was greeting the faithful in St. Peter's Square on May 13, 1981. Agca was arrested a few minutes after the attack.
Two years after the assassination attempt, the Pope met and forgave Agca in his cell while the gunman was serving a 19-year sentence in an Italian high-security prison.
Agca was pardoned in 2000 and returned to Turkey where he was immediately re-arrested and given a ten-year prison sentence for murdering Ipekci. Anadolu Agency website contains only a portion of the news stories offered to subscribers in the AA News Broadcasting System (HAS), and in summarized form. Please contact us for subscription options.
Agca assassinated Ipekci, editor-in-chief of the Milliyet, near his house in Istanbul on February 1, 1979. He fled from prison a few months ago, and attempted to kill Pope John Paul II while he was greeting the faithful in St. Peter's Square on May 13, 1981. Agca was arrested a few minutes after the attack.
Two years after the assassination attempt, the Pope met and forgave Agca in his cell while the gunman was serving a 19-year sentence in an Italian high-security prison.
Agca was pardoned in 2000 and returned to Turkey where he was immediately re-arrested and given a ten-year prison sentence for murdering Ipekci. Anadolu Agency website contains only a portion of the news stories offered to subscribers in the AA News Broadcasting System (HAS), and in summarized form. Please contact us for subscription options.
