Mehmet Ali Ağca (; born 9 January 1958) is a Turkish assassin who murdered left-wing journalist Abdi İpekçi on 1 February 1979, and later shot and wounded Pope John Paul II on 13 May 1981, after escaping from a Turkish prison.
He was not released and the hijackers surrendered. After serving almost 20 years of a life sentence in prison in Italy, at the request of Pope John Paul II, Ağca was pardoned by the then Italian president Carlo Azeglio Ciampi in June 2000 and deported to Turkey. Following his extradition to Turkey, he was imprisoned for the 1979 murder of Abdi İpekçi and for two bank raids carried out in the 1970s.
Mehmet Ali Ağca (; born 9 January 1958) is a Turkish assassin who murdered left-wing journalist Abdi İpekçi on 1 February 1979, and later shot and wounded Pope John Paul II on 13 May 1981, after escaping from a Turkish prison.
According to investigative journalist Lucy Komisar, Mehmet Ali Ağca had worked in the 1979 assassination with Abdullah Çatlı, who “then reportedly helped organize Ağca's escape from an Istanbul military prison”.
The paper also said (on 28 November 1979) that the killing would be in revenge for the then still ongoing attack on the Grand Mosque in Mecca, which had begun on 20 November, and which he blamed on America or Israel. Beginning in August 1980, Ağca began criss-crossing the Mediterranean region. According to Ağca's later testimony, he met with three accomplices in Rome, one a fellow Turk and the other two Bulgarians.
He was not released and the hijackers surrendered. After serving almost 20 years of a life sentence in prison in Italy, at the request of Pope John Paul II, Ağca was pardoned by the then Italian president Carlo Azeglio Ciampi in June 2000 and deported to Turkey. Following his extradition to Turkey, he was imprisoned for the 1979 murder of Abdi İpekçi and for two bank raids carried out in the 1970s.
The single trial concerned the hijacking of Cengiz Aydos's taxi in 1979, robbing the Yıldırım jewelry store in Kızıltoprak on 22 March 1979 and stealing money from the Fruko soda storage on 4 April 1979.
The paper also said (on 28 November 1979) that the killing would be in revenge for the then still ongoing attack on the Grand Mosque in Mecca, which had begun on 20 November, and which he blamed on America or Israel. Beginning in August 1980, Ağca began criss-crossing the Mediterranean region. According to Ağca's later testimony, he met with three accomplices in Rome, one a fellow Turk and the other two Bulgarians.
Mehmet Ali Ağca (; born 9 January 1958) is a Turkish assassin who murdered left-wing journalist Abdi İpekçi on 1 February 1979, and later shot and wounded Pope John Paul II on 13 May 1981, after escaping from a Turkish prison.
The Pope survived the assassination attempt. ==Prison time, release, and rearrest== Ağca was sentenced in July 1981 to life imprisonment in Italy for the assassination attempt.
Following his shooting, Pope John Paul II asked people to "pray for my brother (Ağca), whom I have sincerely forgiven." In 1983, the pope and Ağca met and spoke privately at the prison where Ağca was being held.
The Pope was also in touch with Ağca's family over the years, meeting his mother in 1987 and his brother a decade later. On 9 June 1997, Air Malta Flight 830 was hijacked by two men.
The Pope was also in touch with Ağca's family over the years, meeting his mother in 1987 and his brother a decade later. On 9 June 1997, Air Malta Flight 830 was hijacked by two men.
He was not released and the hijackers surrendered. After serving almost 20 years of a life sentence in prison in Italy, at the request of Pope John Paul II, Ağca was pardoned by the then Italian president Carlo Azeglio Ciampi in June 2000 and deported to Turkey. Following his extradition to Turkey, he was imprisoned for the 1979 murder of Abdi İpekçi and for two bank raids carried out in the 1970s.
Ağca was extradited to Turkey in 2000 by benefiting from the Conditional Amnesty Law.
On 18 January 2000, the judges dismissed the charges because of the statute of limitation on the case filed for the jewelry store robbery and for "breach of the Firearms Act" (law no.
4516 on Parole and Deferral of Penalties in December 2000.
Mustafa Demirbağ, his lawyer, explained his release as a combination of amnesty and penal reform: an amnesty in 2000 deducted 10 years from his time, the court then deducted his 20 years in the Italian prison based on a new article in the penal code, and so he became eligible for parole for good behavior.
==Cultural references== Ağca's shooting of the Pope and possible KGB involvement is featured in Tom Clancy's 2002 novel, Red Rabbit, and Frederick Forsyth's novel, The Fourth Protocol.
The money-laundering conviction and 36-year sentence were overturned because of the statute of limitations for robbery, which was 7 years under Turkish law. In early February 2005, during the Pope's illness, Ağca sent a letter to the Pope wishing him well and also warning him that the world would end soon.
When the Pope died on 2 April 2005, Ağca's brother Adnan gave an interview in which he said that Ağca and his entire family were grieving, and that the Pope had been a great friend to them. Ağca was released on parole on 12 January 2006.
When the Pope died on 2 April 2005, Ağca's brother Adnan gave an interview in which he said that Ağca and his entire family were grieving, and that the Pope had been a great friend to them. Ağca was released on parole on 12 January 2006.
However, on 20 January 2006, the Turkish Supreme Court ruled that his time served in Italy could not be deducted from his Turkish sentence and he was again imprisoned. ==Later developments and release== On 2 May 2008, Ağca asked to be awarded Polish citizenship as he wished to spend the final years of his life in Poland, Pope John Paul II's country of birth.
In 2007, he converted to Roman Catholicism and was released from prison on 18 January 2010.
However, on 20 January 2006, the Turkish Supreme Court ruled that his time served in Italy could not be deducted from his Turkish sentence and he was again imprisoned. ==Later developments and release== On 2 May 2008, Ağca asked to be awarded Polish citizenship as he wished to spend the final years of his life in Poland, Pope John Paul II's country of birth.
In 2007, he converted to Roman Catholicism and was released from prison on 18 January 2010.
Ağca stated that upon his release he wanted to visit Pope John Paul II's tomb and partner with Dan Brown on writing a book. Ağca was released from jail on 18 January 2010.
However, a report from the French AFP news agency stated that "The Turkish judicial authorities still haven't explained exactly which legal resources he had access to", and former Minister of Justice Hikmet Sami Türk, in government at the time of Ağca's extradition, claimed that, from a legal viewpoint, his release was a "serious mistake" at best, and that he should have not been freed before 2012.
Ağca stated this during one of his interrogations before trial. However, when Ağca published his memoirs in 2013, his story changed completely, writing that the Iranian government and Ayatollah Khomeini ordered the assassination attempt on John Paul II. According to this new version of the events, Ağca received instructions and training in weapons and explosives in Iran, from Mohsen Rezai, under the orders of Ayatollah Jaffar Subhani and Ayatollah Khomeini.
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Page generated on 2021-08-05