Mehmet Ali Agca To Be Released From Prison?

The semiofficial Anatolia news agency of Turkey is reporting that Mehmet Ali Agca–the man who attempted to assassinate Pope John Paul II in 1981–is to be released from prision, possibly as early as Monday.

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Author: Jimmy Akin

Jimmy was born in Texas, grew up nominally Protestant, but at age 20 experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant seminary professor, he started an intensive study of the Bible. But the more he immersed himself in Scripture the more he found to support the Catholic faith, and in 1992 he entered the Catholic Church. His conversion story, "A Triumph and a Tragedy," is published in Surprised by Truth. Besides being an author, Jimmy is the Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to Catholic Answers Magazine, and a weekly guest on "Catholic Answers Live."

11 thoughts on “Mehmet Ali Agca To Be Released From Prison?”

  1. He served less than 6 years for murder, 2 robberies, and a prison break? In Turkey?! Is this a spoof? I remember reading an article on sentences for Driving While Intoxicated in different countries. In Turkey, it was being driven 25 miles out of town and being forced to walk back under guard. (I’ll bet that cut the recidivism rate).

  2. “Shoot the pope?! Shoot the pope?! What do you want, to go to Hell and not stand in line?” —Eddie Murphy

  3. Oh, it’s an AP story. When I read one of their stories, I have the same thought I do when standing in the supermarket checkout line and seeing a headline in one of the tabloids: “Gee, what if it’s true!”

  4. This story seems…dubious. His family and lawyer don’t know anything about it, for one thing. And what’s this about hustling him into the army to do his obligatory military service – a 46-year-old who’s spent most of his adult life in jail? Is *any* army on earth that desperate for recruit? (OK, maybe Burundi. But anyone else?)
    Thanks for the laugh, Bill Walsh. Hadn’t heard that line before.

  7. “Is any army on earth that desperate for a recruit?” Maybe they want him for cannon fodder. Or for testing body armor. Or chemical weapons. Or experimental parachutes.

  8. Why are they all saying the motive for the shooting is unknown? Wasn’t it found out that it was a communist plot, and he was the hired gun? Didn’t JPII say this while the press ridiculed the idea, and later found out it was true?

  9. Agca’s lawyer has made similar statements in the past about his client’s immminent release because of this or that technicality.
    Agca is still in prison, though.
    PVO

  10. “I’d like to know the source of Bill Walsh’s quote. That’s a hoot!”<\i>
    It’s from Eddie Murphy’s comedy album “Eddie Murphy” (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000025RS/qid=1136824939/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/002-0985127-1978420?s=music&v=glance&n=5174). It came out before “Comedian” (which had the video version “Delirious”). The quote is on track 10 “The Pope and Ronald Reagan”.
    “Why would you shoot the Pope? I guess the guy figured, ‘Hey look, I want to go to Hell and I don’t wanna wait on line with everybody else… I wanna take the Hell express…’ You walk up to the door with your ticket, they say, ‘Shot the Pope? You can go right through, man.’”

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