Suleyman Demirel, 90, former Turkish leader

Suleyman Demirel, 90, a leading figure in the public life of Turkey during the last half of the 20th century, whose seven terms as prime minister and one as president won him international recognition as a political survivor, died Wednesday at a hospital in Ankara.

Trained as an engineer, credited as a builder of dams and power plants, Mr. Demirel was also known for his efforts to bring democracy and industry to a country that had fallen far behind its European neighbors to the west and was struggling to catch up.

On the economic front alone, he and his country faced daunting problems, including, at various times, massive inflation, unemployment and foreign debt.

As the holder of the top office in a country located physically and culturally between east and west, between Europe and the Middle East, Mr. Demirel was also challenged by religious unrest, concern about the Kurdish minority, tensions with neighboring countries, and conflicts between tradition and modernity. There were also two attempts on his life.

Mr. Demirel was the director of the state water works in the late 1950s under the government of Prime Minister Adnan Menderes, who was executed in 1961 after a military coup the previous year.

After his party's victory in the elections of October 1965, he became prime minister of Turkey, holding office for four years and, at the age of 41, becoming the youngest man to hold the office.

In 1969, his party won again, giving him his second term. This proved to be a period in which great public works projects were initiated, including the bridge over the Bosphorus, which spanned the strait between Europe and Asia, and held both material and symbolic significance.

After parliament rejected his budget, he resigned as prime minister but was soon back in office under a reorganized government.

A group of generals, seeking a greater role in the country's divisive politics, staged in March 1971 what was often called "a military coup by memorandum," sending an ultimatum to President Cevdet Sunay about the continuing unrest while also positioning its forces to take control.

Driven from office that year, Mr. Demirel made what was regarded as one of the most remarkable comebacks credited to any world figure. He returned to head coalition governments from 1975 to 1977 and from 1977 to 1978.

He returned to office once again in 1979, but in September 1980, a coup again ousted him from office. He was placed under a 10-year ban from politics. But a referendum in 1987 opened the way for a comeback, and in 1991 he became prime minister for the last time. He then served as president from 1993 to 2000.

He was often described as lacking charisma in public but was highly skilled at behind-the-scenes infighting.

The son of a farmer, Mr. Demirel was born Oct. 8, 1924, in Islamkoy, Turkey. Fond of calling himself a "peasant boy," he graduated in 1948 from the Technical University of Istanbul, where he also received the equivalent of a master's degree in civil engineering in 1949.