The Turkish terrorist Mehmet Ali Agca,
who on May 13, 1981 shot Pope John Paul II in Rome, Italy, said in a
statement to Turkish television that the order to kill the leader of the
Roman Catholic Church came from the Vatican itself.
Ali Agca was
released on January 18 this year after spending 30 years in prison for
the attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II in 1981, and the murder
of Turkish journalist Abdil Ipecki in 1979.
"The Vatican decided
on the assassination of the pope. They planned and organized it. The
order to shoot the pope was given by the secretary of the Vatican,
Cardinal Casaroli," said the Turkish terrorist.
In a statement
shortly after trying to kill the pope, Agca said he acted alone. This
newest statement is one of several contradictory statements he has made
since 1983, when he was pardoned by John Paul II when he visited him in
prison.
Today, Ali Agca is 52 and suffers from mental problems,
analysts said. Shortly after being released, he said he was "the second
Jesus Christ" and he "is rewriting the Bible." In the midst of
disconnected sentences released from the prison, Agca said: "I am the
eternal Christ."
Previously, Ali Agca said he was connected to a
group and blamed the Palestinian secret service in Bulgaria for the
attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II. When arrested in 1981,
Agca said he was a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine, but the organization denied any relationship with him.
Later,
Ali Agca said he was part of a conspiracy financed by Bulgaria,
supported by the KGB, to assassinate the Pope for his support of the
Polish movement "Solidarity." This particular statement of Ali Acga has
never been confirmed.
Arrested in Italy, initially, Ali Agca was sentenced to life imprisonment for the attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II, but received amnesty from President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi in June 2000.
On his return to Turkey, Agca was
arrested for the murder of journalist Abdi Ipecki in 1979. It is
suspected Ali Agca was sympathetic to the far-right organization Grey
Wolves. In the 1970s they fought against the leftists, as was the case
of Abdi Ipecki.
John Paul II was shot in the left hand, in the abdomen and right arm, but the bullets did not reach any vital organs. The pope spoke with Ali Agca in Rebibbia prison in 1983, when he reportedly told the mother of the Turk: "Stay calm, because I have forgiven your son."
John Paul II was shot in the left hand, in the abdomen and right arm, but the bullets did not reach any vital organs. The pope spoke with Ali Agca in Rebibbia prison in 1983, when he reportedly told the mother of the Turk: "Stay calm, because I have forgiven your son."
According Abosoglu Yilmaz, one of his
lawyers, before being released, Ali Agca was examined by psychologists
at a military hospital, who declared him mentally unbalanced and
exempted from military service. The medical report must be approved by
the Ministry of Defence.
The release of Ali Agca rekindled the
mystery surrounding the causes that were behind the attempted
assassination of Pope John Paul II, which have never been clarified. The
truth is that after three investigations and the trials of three
Bulgarians and four Turks, these links to the crime were never proven.
On
a visit to Bulgaria carried out in 2002, John Paul II said he did not
believe that this Balkan state was involved in the attempted murder.
After his meeting with the Turk in prison in 1983, John Paul II said
that Agca had little military training and did not believe that he acted
alone.
In a statement issued through his lawyers, Agca said in
the coming weeks all doubts will be cleared up about the attempt to
assassinate Pope John Paul II, including those relating to the possible
involvement of the Soviet and Bulgarian governments.
SIC: PRAVDA/RU