Mehmet Ali Agca: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

Mehmet Ali Ağca (born January 9, 1958) is a Turkish right-wing militant who shot Pope John Paul II in Saint Peter's Square on May 13, 1981, in an assassination attempt. Following the shooting, John Paul asked people to, "...pray for my brother (Agca), whom I have sincerely forgiven." In 1983, John Paul and his would be assassin Agca met privately at the Italian prison where Agca was being held. What was said at this meeting remains secret to this day.

Originally Agca claimed to be a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, but they denied any ties to him. Later he claimed to be part of a conspiracy assisted by Bulgaria, which was pressured by the KGB to assassinate the Pope because of his support of Poland's Solidarity movement. No definite motive has been established. Agca was sentenced to life imprisonment in Italy, but was pardoned by president Carlo Azeglio Ciampi in June 2000. Agca returned to Turkey, where he was imprisoned for the murder of a newspaper editor, Abdi İpekçi.

Mehmet is quoted as saying "To me the pope was the incarnation of all that is capitalism."