ANKARA - Former Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit died in a hospital on Sunday after a stroke that left him in a coma for nearly six months, Turkish media reported. He was 81.
Ecevit was a key figure in Turkish politics for nearly a half century. He was voted out of power in 2002 in part because of concerns over his failing health. His departure led to the rise of current Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan`s Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party