As I glanced through the headlines, I noticed that the title headline appeared in several major news bulletins.At first I could not understand all the fuss over a greying middle age man who is free from prison after serving his time. I read the news and here is my take of this story.
Mehmet Ali Agca was freed from prison on thursday, nearly 25 years after he shot Pope John Paul II. Agca shot the John Paul as the pope rode in an open car in St. Peter's Square on May 13, 1981, and was captured immediately. John Paul was hit in the abdomen, left hand and right arm, but recovered because Agca's bullets missed vital organs. The pontiff met Agca in his prison cell two years later and forgave him. After serving out his twenty year prison term in Italy, he was extradited to Turkey to face some previous charges unconnected to the attempted assasination of the pontiff.
In 1980 Agca was sentenced for execution for murdering a Turkish journalist but the sentence was commuted to life in prison in 2002, after Turkey abolished the death penalty. Later he escaped from prison and surfaced in Rome where he attempted to asssinate the pontiff.
Supporters of Agca were outside the prison to greet him as they consider him a hero.
Hours after his release, Justice Minister Cemil Cicek ordered a review to see whether any errors were committed in freeing him. He said Agca would remain free until an appeals court reviewed the case.
Many Turks were outraged at the decision to free Agca, approved by local courts, and Cicek apparently was responding to widespread criticism of the release after Agca served only five years for murdering Turkish journalist Abdi Ipekci.
At the time when Agca shot the pope who did not support the communist ideolgy, there was speculation that The Bulgarian Secret Service acting for the Soviet Union may have played a part in the plot but it was never proved.
With Turkey vying for a place as a member of the European Union, special interest will now bear on how Turkey handles this case.
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