International media outlets are scrambling ahead of Ağca’s release to arrange an interview with him, while Turkish journalists simply don’t seem to care. According to information obtained by Today’s Zaman from a friend of the convict, Ağca has agreed to give an international television station an interview for $2 million. The friend says over 100 international media outlets contacted Ağca, but no Turkish media did. Turkish media say because of the inconsistent and contradictory information contained in the two books he wrote in prison, for which he demanded $5 million for the copyright, what he says can’t be trusted.
Ağca is set to leave jail at the age of 52, and due to a report from the Gülhane Military Medical Academy (GATA) certifying that he has “antisocial personality disorder,” he will not have to perform his compulsory military service. It has been learned that after being released from Ankara’s F-type Sincan Prison, Ağca will travel to Italy to visit the grave of Pope John Paul II, whom he tried to assassinate. He is also reportedly not planning to live in Turkey and is searching for another country to move to with the funds he will obtain from TV interviews and the books he wrote, where he might regain some of the popularity he lost in Turkey due to his inconsistent stories. He had submitted an asylum request to Portugal in the past, but it was rejected.
Ağca’s attorney, Mustafa Demirbağ, stated in the past that his client was planning to publish one of his two books, “Mükemmel İncil” (Perfect Bible), with a famous European publishing house and that they had also made a proposal to Dan Brown, author of “The Da Vinci Code” with regard to this. Ağca also penned a book called “Vatikan Şifresi” (The Vatican Code).
In his letters written from prison, Ağca prefixed them with a note, saying, “I am speaking to all mankind as Messiah Mehmet Ali Ağca, the first universal servant and spokesperson of the one God who created the universe and directs it.” This situation made him a laughingstock in Turkey, but Ağca reportedly plans to announce his prophethood in his first interview after being released from prison.
And so the question remains whether Ağca is a professional killer or just a mental patient. After murdering journalist İpekçi in 1979, Ağca escaped from prison and fled to Bulgaria, Austria and Spain before emerging at the Vatican and shooting the pope. He was interrogated 128 times in Italy, and each time his testimony changed. After being jailed in Italy for five years, he was pardoned by the pope, then extradited to Turkey and convicted and jailed for the murder of İpekçi.
