  
|  | ||||||||||||
Turkey ex-PM Ecevit critically ill
 Ecevit dominated Turkish politics for nearly four decades. YOUR E-MAIL ALERTSANKARA, Turkey (CNN) -- Former Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit is in a critical condition in hospital after undergoing surgery for a brain hemorrhage, hospital and political sources say. According to the hospital in the capital Ankara, Ecevit, 80, is paralyzed on his right side following a four-hour operation to stop the bleeding and is in intensive care. A political ally, Zeki Sezer, leader of the Democratic Left Party, said on Friday Ecevit's health was improving. The former PM fell ill at his home Thursday evening after attending the funeral of a judge killed the day before in a courthouse shooting. Ecevit, who is a staunch nationalist and secularist, served as Turkey's prime minister five times and is best known for authorizing the 1974 invasion of Cyprus, which led to its division into Greek and Turkish sectors. That won him praise at home as the "Hero of Cyprus," although the island remains divided and Northern Cyprus is still only recognised by Ankara. Ecevit, who was born in 1925 Constantinople (now Istanbul), was the son of a professor of medicine and a painter. He was imprisoned twice for criticizing the military regime after the 1980 coup and banned from politics for 10 years. In 1987 he became leader of the newly formed Democratic Left Party (DSP), founded by his wife Rahsan. His popularity soared when he announced the capture of Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan in 1999. Ecevit was also the PM to secure long-coveted European Union candidacy for Turkey in 1999, culminating in the start of entry talks last year. But during his fifth term as prime minister in 2001, Ecevit was partly blamed for the economic melt-down that caused hundreds of thousands of job losses. After an argument with the president he publicly declared a "serious state crisis," sending already edgy markets tumbling and starting the worst recession for decades. CNN Turk's Kaya Heyse contributed to this report. 
|
| ||||||||||||
| © 2007 Cable News Network. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Read our privacy guidelines. Contact us. Site Map. |
 |
|
External sites open in new window; not endorsed by CNN.com
Pay service with live and archived video. 
