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Necmettin Erbakan

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Necmettin Erbakan
Prime Minister of Turkey
In office
June 28, 1996 – June 30, 1997
PresidentSüleyman Demirel
Vice PMTansu Çiller
Preceded byMesut Yılmaz
Succeeded byMesut Yılmaz
Personal details
Born(1926-10-29)29 October 1926
Sinop, Turkey
Died27 February 2011(2011-02-27) (aged 84)
Ankara, Turkey
Political partyNational Order Party (1970–71)
National Salvation Party (1972–1981)
Welfare Party (1987–1998)
Felicity Party (2003–2011)
SpouseNermin Erbakan (m. 1967–2005, her death)
ChildrenZeynep, Elif, Fatih
Alma materIstanbul Technical University, RWTH Aachen University

Necmettin Erbakan (29 October 1926 – 27 February 2011) was a Turkish engineer, academic, politician (eventually political party leader), who was the Prime Minister of Turkey from 1996 until 1997. He was Turkey's first Islamist Prime Minister. In 1997 he was pressured by the military to step down as prime minister and later banned from politics by the constitutional court.[1][2]

Early life and education

Erbakan was born in Sinop, at the coast of Black Sea in northern Turkey.[3] His father was Mehmet Sabri, a judge from the prestigious Kozanoğlu clan (Oghuz Turks, Afshar tribe) of Cilicia and his mother Kamer was a native of Sinop and second wife of Mehmet Sabri.[4]

After the high school education in Istanbul High School, he graduated from the Mechanical Engineering Faculty at the Istanbul Technical University in 1948 with a GPA of 4.00/4.00, and received a PhD degree from the RWTH Aachen University, Germany.[3] After returning to Turkey, Erbakan became lecturer at the İTÜ and was appointed professor in 1965 at the same university.[3] After working some time in leading position in the industry, he switched over to politics, and was elected deputy of Konya in 1969.[3]

As well as his political career, Erbakan had his success in mechanical engineering and has invented several devices[clarification needed].

Political activities

Erbakan's ideology is set forth in a manifesto, entitled Millî Görüş (National View), which he published in 1969.[3] The Islamist organisation of the same name, which he founded and of which he was the leader,[5] upholds nowadays that the word "national" is to be understood in the sense of monotheistic ecumenism.[6][7]

One the leading names in Turkish politics for decades, Erbakan was the leader of a series of Islamist political parties that he founded or inspired. These parties rose to prominence only to be banned by Turkey's secular authorities. In the 1970s, Erbakan was chairman of the National Salvation Party which, at its peak, served in coalition with the Republican People's Party of Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit during the Cyprus crisis of 1974.[3]

In the wake of the 1980 military coup, Erbakan and his party were banned from politics.[3] He reemerged following a referendum to lift the ban in 1987 and became the leader of Refah Partisi (Welfare Party).[3] His party benefited in the 1990s from the acrimony between the leaders of Turkey's two most prominent conservative parties, Mesut Yılmaz and Tansu Çiller. He led his party to a surprise success in the general elections of 1995.

Prime Ministership

He became Prime Minister in 1996 in coalition with Çiller's Doğru Yol Partisi (Correct Path Party), becoming the first devout Muslim to hold the office in modern Turkey[citation needed]. As prime minister, he attempted to further Turkey's relations with the Arab nations.[3] In addition to trying to follow an economic welfare program, which was supposedly intended to increase welfare among Turkish citizens, the government tried to implement multi-dimensional political approach to relations with the neighboring countries.

Erbakan's image was damaged by his famous speech making fun of the nightly demonstrations against the Susurluk scandal. Even though his government had no responsibility for the scandal[citation needed], he was nevertheless widely [weasel words]blamed at the time for his indifference. The Turkish military gradually increased the harshness[clarification needed] and frequency of its public warnings to Erbakan's government, eventually prompting Erbakan to step down 1997[citation needed].

At the time there was a formal deal between Prime Minister Erbakan, and the leader of Doğru Yol, Tansu Ciller, for a "period based premiership"[citation needed]. According to this, Erbakan was to act as the Prime Minister for a certain period (a fixed amount of time, which was not publicized), then he would step down in favour of Tansu Ciller. However, Ciller's party was the third in the parliament, and when Erbakan stepped down, President Süleyman Demirel asked Mesut Yılmaz, leader of the second-biggest party, to form a new government. Since this whole act was after the infamous 28 February 1997 National Security Council meeting orchestrated by the military [citation needed](who was against the Erbakan government), this has been claimed as a "postmodern coup" by some[8][who?].

Post-PM

Erbakan's ruling Welfare Party was subsequently banned by the courts, who judged that the party had an agenda to promote Islamic fundamentalism in the state, and Erbakan was barred once again from active politics.[9]

Despite often being under political ban, Erbakan nonetheless acted as a mentor and informal advisor to former Refah members who founded the Virtue Party in 1997. The Virtue Party was found unconstitutional in 2001 and banned; by that time Erbakan's ban on political activities had ended and he founded the Felicity Party, of which he was the leader in 2003–2004 and again from 2010[10] till his death.

Death

Grave of Necmettin Erbakan and his family at Merkezefendi Cemetery in Istanbul

Erbakan died on 27 February 2011 at 11:40 local time of heart failure at Güven Hospital in Çankaya, Ankara.[11]

His body was transferred to Istanbul, and following the religious funeral service at the Fatih Mosque, the attending crowd accompanied his coffin the about 4 km (2.5 mi) way to the Merkezefendi Cemetery, where he was laid to rest beside his wife Nermin. He did not wish a state funeral, however his funeral was attended by highest state and government officials.[12]

Views

His foreign policy had two main pillars: Close cooperation and unity among Muslim countries and struggle against Zionism. He created "D-8" or The Developing Eight, to achieve a strong economic and political unity among Muslim countries. It has eight members including Turkey, Iran, Malaysia, Indonesia, Egypt, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nigeria. These countries constitute around 14% of the world's population, with a total of more than 800 million people.[13][14][15]

References

  1. ^ [1] BBC. Ex-Turkish PM sentenced, March 2000
  2. ^ [2] BBC. Turkey Bans Islamists, January 1998
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i "85 yıllık yaşamından kesitler" (in Turkish). Ntvmsnbc.com. 27 February 2011. Retrieved 28 February 2011.
  4. ^ Prof. Dr. Necmettin Erbakan'in soyu ve dogumu
  5. ^ Antisemitism and the Turkish Islamist 'Milli Gorus' Movement: Zionists/Jews 'Bacteria,' 'Disease' [unreliable source?]
  6. ^ Statement of the IGMG (Islamische Gemeinschaft Milli Görüş e. V.) to the 2002 report of the German State Office for the Protection of the Constitution of North Rhine-Westphalia Template:De icon
  7. ^ Wer ist Milli Görüs? (Who is Milli Görüs?), German daily Die Tageszeitung, May 7, 2004 Template:De icon
  8. ^ Crescent and Star, Stephen Kinzer, p. 76
  9. ^ "Turkish party given another week to justify existence". BBC News. Retrieved May 20, 2010.
  10. ^ "84-year-old Erbakan elected Felicity Party leader". Today's Zaman. October 18, 2010. Retrieved October 18, 2010.
  11. ^ "Necmettin Erbakan vefat etti". Ntvmsnbc (in Turkish). Retrieved 2011-02-27.
  12. ^ "Erbakan son yolculuğuna uğurlandı 2011-03-01". Hürriyet (in Turkish). Retrieved 2011-10-14.|date=}}
  13. ^ Kemal, Suavi (2005-06-15). "Yeni Bir Dünya D-8". Milli Gazete (in Turkish). Retrieved 2008-08-20.
  14. ^ "Tek yol İSLÂM birliği". Milli Gazete (in Turkish). 2006-05-29. Retrieved 2008-08-20.
  15. ^ Treffen der "Muslimischen Vereinigung" in Istanbul (Meeting of the Muslim association in Istanbul), report and German translation by the German Evangelical Alliance's Institute for Islamic Concerns, June 1, 2006
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Necmettin Erbakan.
Political offices
Preceded by Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey
January 28, 1974 – November 17, 1974 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey
March 31, 1975 – June 21, 1977 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey
July 21, 1977 – January 5, 1978 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Prime Minister of Turkey
June 28, 1996 – June 30, 1997 		Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by
none
 Leader of Milli Nizam Partisi (MNP)
January 26, 1970 – May 20, 1971 		Succeeded by
banned
Preceded by Leader of Milli Selamet Partisi (MSP)
October 20, 1973 – September 12, 1980 		Succeeded by
banned
Preceded by Leader of the Refah Partisi (RP)
October 11, 1987 – January 16, 1998 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Leader of the Saadet Partisi (SP)
May 11, 2003 – January 30, 2004 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Leader of the Saadet Partisi (SP)
October 17, 2010 – February 27, 2011 		Succeeded by
Honorary titles
Preceded by President of The Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB)
May 25, 1969 – August 8, 1969 		Succeeded by

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