ISTANBUL, Oct 2: The remains of former president Turgut Ozal, who led Turkey out of military rule in the 1980s and drove far-reaching economic reforms, were exhumed on Tuesday on the orders of prosecutors investigating suspicions of foul play in his death 19 years ago.

Amid tight security, mechanical diggers dug up his grave within a towering mausoleum in an Istanbul cemetery.

Ozal died of heart failure in April 1993 in an Ankara hospital at the age of 65 and while in office. Relatives and associates voiced suspicions he had been poisoned.

A cleric was present at the exhumation, which lasted 7-1/2 hours. Ozal’s remains were placed in a zinc-coated coffin which was wrapped in the Turkish flag.—Reuters