Ali Agca will be released from prison in the next few days after serving the remainder of his sentence in Turkey for the murder of the reporter Abdu Ipekci in 1979. Initially condemned to death, his sentence was commuted to ten years.
Ali Agca served 19 years in Italian prisons for his attempted murder of Pope John Paul II in 1981. In June 2000 the Italian president, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, pardoned Agca shortly before his extradition to Turkey.
His numerous trials in Italy are well known internationally for the bogus Bulgarian connection. The Bulgarian theorem was a brilliant disinformation operation put together by Claire Sterling, Michael Ledeen, Francesco Pazienza and others. To this day the Bulgarian connection continues to be promoted by the Italian right wing, most notably by the kangaroo commission on the Mitrokhin dossier.
