Former President Turgut Özal, died of a heart attack in 1993. Or this is how the official vulgata goes. Doubts and inferences have surrounded his death and an ongoing probe into it has now taken a new turn. Three doctors and a journalist have now been called to give evidence.

On Friday Emin Çölaþan, a journalist with the Sözcü daily, appeared in front of Ankara Public Prosecutor Hüseyin Görüþen as part of the probe into Özal's death. Çölaþan, who testified as a witness in the probe, complained about the Özal family's claims of poisoning. "I am happy that an investigation has been initiated. Özal family is making a great fuss. Whenever they want to make others feel sorry for them or promote themselves in politics, they bring to the agenda the argument that Özal was killed."

The president's private doctor declared that the former president had died of a heart attack, his wife, children and close friends later alleged that he might have been poisoned.

Prosecutor Görüþen also interrogated three doctors,professors Hilmi Özkutlu, Kubilay Varlý and Celil Çeliktaþer, about Özal’s suspicious death. The three doctors were working at Hacettepe Hospital at the time. Özal was immediately taken to the hospital after the alleged heart attack.

The prosecutor asked the doctors why they did not ask for an autopsy. “Why did you not have Özal undergo an autopsy? Who asked you not to have an autopsy?”. The doctors replied that Özal’s family did not ask for an autopsy to be carried out on the former president.

Özal had survived an assassination attempt in 1988. One bullet wounded his finger, while another bullet missed his head.

Özal’s son Ahmet Özal recently went public with the information that he had received a letter a few years ago from a man he did not identify which said his brother was asked to assassinate the former president.

Özal was certainly not loved by many, also because of his position on the Kurdish question.