UPDATE - Fidel Castro dead at 90

UPDATES WITH TURKISH REACTION

NEW YORK (AA) – Fidel Castro, the former leader of Cuba, died at the age of 90 late Friday, his brother, Cuban President Raul Castro announced.

A divisive and iconic figure, Castro is known to some as a champion of socialism whose revolutionary regime protected Cuba’s sovereignty in the face of American imperialism, while critics brand him a dictator with a decades-long administration plagued with human rights abuses.

Nevertheless, Castro was a time-tested, formidable leader who survived a military invasion, a full-blown international missile crisis, a withering U.S. economic embargo, and numerous assassination attempts.

In April, he delivered a rare speech during the nation’s Communist Party congress, praising his brother for his “magnificent effort” and promising victory for the Cuban people.

Castro was born Aug. 13, 1926, in the southeastern Oriente Province of Cuba.

He was imprisoned for two years for leading an abortive rebellion against the regime of dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1953.

He then launched a guerilla war against the government, eventually overthrowing Batista in 1959 and being sworn in as prime minister.

Two years later, he survived a CIA-sponsored invasion by a paramilitary group made up of 1,400 exiles who attempted to enter the country from the south coast at the Bays of Pigs.

Beginning in 1958 during the Batista regime and expanded on a few roll-outs, a comprehensive embargo was imposed by the U.S. on Cuba, crippling its economy.

To this day the embargo continues but the diplomatic ties, cut off for decades, were reestablished in 2014, along with some easing of limitations on travel and economic policies.

In 1962, the world came the closest it ever did to a nuclear war during the Cold War period after Cuba allowed the Soviet Union to deploy missiles on its soil in retaliation for a similar deployment by the U.S. in Italy and Turkey. A fortnight of fear later, the two superpowers of the time agreed to withdraw deployments and establish a nuclear hotline.

In 1976, Castro was elected President of Cuba by the parliament, in what would be a decades-long tenure.

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1989, Cuba declared the dawn of the “Special Period in Time of Peace”, a euphemism for a severe economic crisis that saw one third of the country’s GDP wiped out and its petroleum imports reduced to one tenth of pre-1990 numbers.

In 1991, Cuba hosted the Pan-American Games, becoming the first Latin American country to beat the U.S. in total gold medals in what turned into an international display of the public support Castro enjoyed.

In 1992, he reached a deal with the U.S. over Cuban refugees, under which Washington would accept 3,500 Cubans. What transpired instead was more like an exodus, with tens of thousands boarding the Florida-bound boats that came from the U.S.

In 2006, Castro underwent surgery on his intestines, and delegated his presidential responsibilities to his brother Raul, who was sworn in as president in 2008.

-Turkish reaction leader’s Cuba visit-

In a statement on Saturday, the Turkish Foreign Ministry conveyed its condolences on the death of the iconic Cuban leader.

"Fidel Castro, who left deep traces in political history and made radical reforms in education, healthcare, art and science, has passed on values that will lead young generations in Cuba," it read.

Highlighting Castro's long-term struggle in Cuba, the statement said his life made an overwhelming impact all over the world and earned prestige even in different political camps.

The statement recalled Castro's saying of: "'A better world is possible.'"

"It reflects a common longing of billions of people from Latin America to Asia, the Middle East to Africa, no matter what political opinion they have," the statement added.

On 11 Feb. 2015, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and a delegation visited Cuba in an attempt to boost business and cultural ties.

It was the second visit of a high-level Turkish delegation to Latin America countries, with the first being held in 1995.

Erdogan's visit had focused on regional and international developments, bilateral relations and signing cooperation agreements in different fields.

-Other tributes-

Leaders and activists elsewhere also paid tribute to the former Cuban guerilla.

South African leader Jacob Zuma issued a statement on Saturday which described Castro as a revolutionary leader who dedicated his entire life not only for the freedom of the Cuban people but also for the freedom of other oppressed people around the world.

Muhammed Desai of the South African Chapter of the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement said Castro was decisive in his opposition against the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

“In 1973, he terminated all diplomatic relations with Israel. Indeed South Africans, Palestinians and the oppressed masses of the world have lost a true friend today,’’ he told Anadolu Agency on Saturday.

*Anadolu Agency correspondents Hassan Isilow in Johannesburg and Sibel Ugurlu in Ankara contributed to this story.