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Toward Election. In the end, twelve of the death penalties were commuted to life imprisonment, including that of aging (77) former President Bayar. Unchanged remained the verdicts against Menderes, Fatin Rustu Zorlu, 51, former Foreign Minister, and Hasan Polatkan, 46, former Finance Minister. Less than 24 hours after the verdicts, Zorlu and Polatkan, in white smocks and wearing signs around their necks listing their crimes, were hanged on the prison island Imrali. After the execution, the traditional hafiz (mourners) began to chant over the bodies. Menderes' hanging was postponed until he recovers.
Ever since Kemal Ataturk, almost singlehanded, built modern Turkey, the country has made impressive progress in democratic rule. It remained to be seen what effect the long trial and its grim climax would have on that progress—and on the free elections that Gursel has promised for next month.