OUR distinguished friend, President Cemal Gursel of Turkey, came to the United States on February 2 for medical treatment. There was hope that new therapeutic procedures only recently developed in this country would be useful in treating his illness of several years.
We were initially encouraged by his progress at Walter Reed Hospital, only to be shocked by the news on February 8 that his health had suffered a grave new blow. Our best talent, coupled with the skill of the eminent Turkish doctors who accompanied the President, was exerted to the utmost in the hope that the President might return to his home in fully restored health. We are saddened that this hope was not to be realized.
We have been deeply honored to have President Gursel come to our country to seek medical treatment. As he returns to his homeland, our prayers go with him.
Note: In addition to issuing the statement the President went by helicopter from the White House to Andrews Air Force Base, Md., near Washington, to pay his respects to President Gursel who was returning home after suffering a series of paralytic strokes. The Turkish leader died in September. President Johnson's messages of sympathy appear below Item 460.
The statement was made available by the White House Press Office. It was not made public in the form of a White House press release.
Lyndon B. Johnson, Statement by the President Upon President Gursel's Return to Turkey. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/239528