Bülent Ecevit, former prime minister of Turkey and poet, has died at 81. Ecevit was in a coma for nearly six months following a stroke. Ecevit was the prime minister of the government ordering a military intervention on July 20, 1974, to prevent a coup in Cyprus by Greek forces, dividing the island and setting the stage for the foundation of the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
Ecevit died a few months after his stroke.