Amadou Toumani Touré, former president of the Republic of Mali ousted by a coup in 2012, died on the night of Monday to Tuesday in Istanbul, Turkey. He was 72.

A retired General, Touré succumbed to a heart attack in Turkish hospital on Tuesday, November 10, according to several Malian media.

He had been evacuated for treatment after undergoing heart surgery in the Malian capital of Bamako.

Overthrown from the presidency in 2012, Touré lived most of his late ages in exile in Senegal, reports Jeune Afrique. He had for good returned to his home country last year.

He had been considered "a soldier of democracy” by his supporters for having taken part in another coup that overthrew General Moussa Traoré in 1991.

Traoré was said to rule Mali with an iron fist. He also died in September this year in Bamako.

Having ousted Traoré, Touré became an icon of democracy following his peaceful handover of power to the newly elected Oumar Konare one year after the coup.

In 2002, Touré would later be elected President of the Republic until 2012 when he was dislodged in another coup by General Amadou Haya Sanogo.