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Mustafa Bülent Ecevit (; 28 May 1925 – 5 November 2006) was a Turkish politician, statesman, poet, writer, scholar, and journalist. He served as the Prime Minister of Turkey four times between 1974 and 2002. He served as prime minister in 1974, 1977, 1978–1979, and 1999–2002. Ecevit was chairman of the
Republican People's Party The Republican People's Party (RPP; , CHP ) is a Kemalism, Kemalist and Social democracy, social democratic political party in Turkey. It is the oldest List of political parties in Turkey, political party in Turkey, founded by Mustafa Kemal ...
(CHP) between 1972 and 1980, and in 1987 he became chairman of the Democratic Left Party (DSP). Ecevit began his political career when he was elected a CHP MP from
Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...
in the 1957 election and came to prominence as Minister of Labour in İsmet İnönü's cabinets, representing the rising left-wing faction of the party. Ecevit eventually became leader of the CHP in 1972; his leadership rejuvenated the party by reaching out to working class voters and cementing the party as " Left of Center". Ecevit became prime minister in 1974, during which he retracted the ban on cultivation of
opium Opium (also known as poppy tears, or Lachryma papaveris) is the dried latex obtained from the seed Capsule (fruit), capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid mor ...
and invaded Cyprus. He formed two more governments in 1977 and 1978–1979 which were marked by increasing polarization, deadlock, and political violence that ended with the 1980 coup. Following the coup, Ecevit, along with most politicians, was banned from politics for ten years. During the ban, the Democratic Left Party (DSP) was established under the chairmanship of his wife, Rahşan. When the political ban was lifted in
1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...
, he became the head of the DSP. While heading a caretaker government for the 1999 election, PKK leader
Abdullah Öcalan Abdullah Öcalan ( ; ; born 4 April 1948 or 1949), also known as Apo (short for Abdullah in Turkish; Kurdish for "uncle"), is a founding member of the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Öcalan was based in Syria from 1979 to 1998. He ...
was captured in Kenya, catapulting DSP into first place in the election. The DSP-MHP-ANAP coalition (1999–2002) introduced important political and economic reforms, as well as beginning Turkey's accession into the European Union. The MHP's withdrawal from the coalition led to the government's collapse, and in the subsequent 2002 snap election, the DSP was ejected from
parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
after being unable to clear the electoral threshold. Ecevit resigned the chairmanship of the party in 2004. He died on Sunday, November 5, 2006, as a result of circulatory and respiratory failure. Ecevit is known for being Turkey's only leftist prime minister. His chairmanship resulted in the highest shares of votes CHP or any other left-wing party have ever gained in Turkish history. He is credited for introducing social democratic politics to Turkey by synthesizing Kemalism with social democracy, thus making social democracy a core tenet in modern Kemalist ideology. Ecevit is the last non- AKP Prime Minister of Turkey.


Early life

Mustafa Bülent was born 28 May 1925 in
Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
to a middle-class family. He was named after his paternal grandfather Mustafa Şükrü Efendi, who was an Islamic scholar of Kurdish origin with roots in the region of Tunceli but born in a village in
Kastamonu Kastamonu, formerly Kastamone/Castamone () and Kastamon/Castamon (), is a city in northern Turkey. It is the seat of Kastamonu Province and Kastamonu District.
. Mustafa Şükrü's son and Bülent's father Fahri Ecevit was a professor of
forensic medicine Forensic medicine is a broad term used to describe a group of medical specialties which deal with the examination and diagnosis of individuals who have been injured by or who have died because of external or unnatural causes such as poisoning, assa ...
in Ankara University's Law School. Fahri later entered politics and served as a
Republican People's Party The Republican People's Party (RPP; , CHP ) is a Kemalism, Kemalist and Social democracy, social democratic political party in Turkey. It is the oldest List of political parties in Turkey, political party in Turkey, founded by Mustafa Kemal ...
member of parliament for
Kastamonu Kastamonu, formerly Kastamone/Castamone () and Kastamon/Castamon (), is a city in northern Turkey. It is the seat of Kastamonu Province and Kastamonu District.
between 1943-1950. His mother of
Bosniak The Bosniaks (, Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia (region), Bosnia, today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and who sha ...
ancestry, Fatma Nazlı, was among the first women in Turkey to paint professionally. Bülent Ecevit's maternal great-grandfather was the
Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...
n Sheikh-ul-Islam Hacı Emin Pasha, who served to protect the holy sights of
Hejaz Hejaz is a Historical region, historical region of the Arabian Peninsula that includes the majority of the western region of Saudi Arabia, covering the cities of Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, Tabuk, Yanbu, Taif and Al Bahah, Al-B ...
in the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
. The inheritance of his estate, which consisted of approximately 110 decares of land and 99 acres of the Masjid an-Nabawi was left to him once Ecevit's mother died. One lawyer valued the estate at almost $2 billion, while unofficial valuation made by a
Medina Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...
Court put it at $11 billion. In the end Ecevit donated the proceeds of the estate to the Directorate of Religious Affairs for the benefit of Turkish Hajjis, after his retirement from politics. Ecevit had no siblings and would have no children.


Education, journalism, and writing

In 1944, Ecevit graduated from Robert College in
Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
. He started work as a translator at the General Directorate for Press and Publication ( Turkish: ''Basın Yayın Genel Müdürlüğü''). In 1946, shortly after marrying his classmate Zekiye Rahşan Aral, he moved to
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
to work in the Turkish embassy as a press attaché. During his stay he studied Bengali,
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
and
Art History Art history is the study of Work of art, artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Tradit ...
at the School of Oriental and African Studies but did not graduate. He also indulged in composing
Sufi poetry Sufi literature consists of works in various languages that express and advocate the ideas of Sufism. Sufism had an important influence on medieval literature, especially poetry, that was written in Arabic, New Persian, Persian, Punjabi language ...
. Bülent Ecevit was not only a politician but also a poet, journalist and a writer. In the 1950s, he worked as an editor for '' Ulus'', and then ''Yeni Ulus'', ''Halkçı'', and '' Forum''. He later reported that both ''Ulus'' and ''Forum'' were two significant parts of his intellection life of that period. In 1955 Ecevit went to the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
for three months as a guest journalist for the '' Winston-Salem Journal'' in
North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
, and was disturbed by the racism he witnessed in the American South. On his last day at the newspaper he wrote a front-page article about how strange it was that Americans took it upon themselves to fight oppression in the world while white Americans were On a State Department fellowship, he returned to the US with a
Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The foundation was created by Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller (" ...
Fellowship Scholarship in 1957, studying
social psychology Social psychology is the methodical study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. Although studying many of the same substantive topics as its counterpart in the field ...
and Middle East history at
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
for eight months. He attended lectures on anti-communism with
Olof Palme Sven Olof Joachim Palme (; ; 30 January 1927 – 28 February 1986) was a Swedish politician and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Sweden from 1969 to 1976 and 1982 to 1986. Palme led the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 1969 until as ...
and
Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, and public intellectual. He had influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, and various areas of analytic ...
and attended
Henry Kissinger Henry Alfred Kissinger (May 27, 1923 – November 29, 2023) was an American diplomat and political scientist who served as the 56th United States secretary of state from 1973 to 1977 and the 7th National Security Advisor (United States), natio ...
's Harvard International Seminar. Even as a politician he continued writing for various newspapers, including the daily '' Milliyet'' in 1965, the monthly '' Özgür İnsan'' magazine in 1972, the weekly '' Arayış'' in 1981, and the monthly ''Güvercin'' magazine in 1988. Ecevit also translated works by
Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...
, T. S. Eliot,
Ezra Pound Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an List of poets from the United States, American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Ita ...
, and Bernard Lewis into Turkish. Ecevit was successful in these literary endeavors despite never having graduated from a university, a fact that prevented him from ever running for the Presidency of the Turkish Republic.


Early political career

Bülent Ecevit returned to Turkey in 1950 as a journalist, eventually writing for '' Ulus''. Writing about politics made him interested in pursuing a career of it, so he registered with the
Republican People's Party The Republican People's Party (RPP; , CHP ) is a Kemalism, Kemalist and Social democracy, social democratic political party in Turkey. It is the oldest List of political parties in Turkey, political party in Turkey, founded by Mustafa Kemal ...
(CHP) Çankaya branch in 1954, eventually taking part in its Youth Branch Executive Board. At the age of thirty two, he was elected into parliament for the first time in 1957, representing
Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...
as a member of the CHP. He was part of the party's delegation to the Constituent Assembly to draft a new constitution after the 1960 military coup d'état. At the age of thirty six, he served as the Minister of Labour in three
coalition A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or economic spaces. Formation According to ''A G ...
governments A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a m ...
headed by İsmet İnönü between 1961 and 1965. Under his purview, the Law on Collective Bargaining, Strikes and Lockouts was signed, which as well as expanding
social security Welfare spending is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifically to social insurance ...
privileges, finally allowed Turkish workers the right to strike and
collective bargaining Collective bargaining is a process of negotiation between employers and a group of employees aimed at agreements to regulate working salaries, working conditions, benefits, and other aspects of workers' compensation and labour rights, rights for ...
. By 1965, Ecevit was the leader of the "Democratic Left Movement", a young and energetic
left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...
faction in the CHP. His closeness with left-wing politics came from his admiration of the Labour Party and the burgeoning
welfare state A welfare state is a form of government in which the State (polity), state (or a well-established network of social institutions) protects and promotes the economic and social well-being of its citizens, based upon the principles of equal oppor ...
he was exposed to while studying in Britain. He pressured his mentor İnönü to adopt a new party program known as Left of Center for the general elections that year, arguing that
democratic socialism Democratic socialism is a left-wing economic ideology, economic and political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and wor ...
was the best way to combat communism. The party lost the election to
Süleyman Demirel Sami Süleyman Gündoğdu Demirel (; 1 November 1924 – 17 June 2015) was a Turkish people, Turkish politician, engineer, and statesman who served as the List of Presidents of Turkey, 9th President of Turkey from 1993 to 2000. He previously serv ...
's center-right Justice Party. In opposition, the party was racked with internal power struggles, as Ecevit and Turhan Feyzioğlu fought over the party's political orientation. İnönü reluctantly favored Ecevit (who he thought was too young), and in the 18th ordinary CHP congress held in 1966 he was elected secretary general of the CHP. An extraordinary congress held the next year saw 47 deputies and senators led by Feyzioğlu leave the CHP to found the Reliance Party. In 1969, secretary general Ecevit announced a village development program and using the slogan " Land for those who cultivate it, water for those who utilize it." Another inter-party crisis occurred in the military memorandum of 1971, as Ecevit resigned from his position in protest against İnönü's decision to support the military government. He objected the memorandum, saying that it was directed against the Left of Center movement within the CHP. Heated exchanges occurred between the once old allies, with at one point İnönü saying " t'sEither me or Bülent!" promising that he would resign if his party did not have confidence in him. On 8 May 1972 İsmet İnönü lost a vote of confidence to Ecevit in an extraordinary congress. İnönü thus was the first general chairman in Turkish political history to lose his position as a result of a party leadership vote.


CHP chairman

Despite the conflict between İnönü and Ecevit originally being about the former's support for the technocratic military government, Ecevit initially provided ministers to the Melen government, but withdrew support soon after a reaction from his party base. Rumours circulated that CHP would be banned by the military. In the 1973 presidential election, both Ecevit and Demirel agreed to end the soldier-president tradition and voted against Faruk Gürler. The two compromised to support Fahri Korutürk's candidacy as the president, who was an admiral. However, secretary general Kamil Kırıkoğlu still voted for Gürler and he and 32 CHP deputies resigned from the party.


First premiership (1974)

The CHP's electability was put to the test in the general elections of 1973. With the campaign slogan '' Akgünlere'' (''To brighter days''), the help of labour unions, and other leftist groups, the CHP won 185 deputies with 33.3% of the votes, winning a plurality of the votes and seats in parliament. Ecevit was invited to form a government and formed a coalition with the Islamist
National Salvation Party The National Salvation Party (, MSP) was an Islamist political party in Turkey, founded on 11 October 1972 as the successor of the banned National Order Party (''Millî Nizam Partisi'', MNP). The party was formed by a core group of working cadres ...
(MSP) headed by Necmettin Erbakan. A general amnesty that saw 40,000 rightists and leftists leave jail was implemented, as well as lifting the ban on opium cultivation that was previously implemented by the military governments under heavy American pressure. The age to vote was lowered to 18. In July 1974, inter-communal violence in Cyprus once again flared up when pro- EOKA forces staged a coup against president
Makarios Macarius is a Latinized form of the old Greek given name Makários (Μακάριος), meaning "happy, fortunate, blessed"; compare the Latin ''beatus'' and ''felix''. Ancient Greeks applied the epithet ''Makarios'' to the gods. In other la ...
. Ecevit went to London to meet with British officials, as the UK is also a guarantor state of Cyprus, but a common policy for the situation in Cyprus was not found. Ecevit decided to militarily intervene and invaded Cyprus, for which he is nicknamed the 'Conqueror of Cyprus' (). This resulted in an arms embargo by the United States on Turkey which lasted for three years. As a left-wing nationalist, Ecevit initially believed Turkey's destiny was not with Europe. He extended this Eurosceptic sentiment to his economic policy, not only establishing generous social programs and enabling a larger government role in the economy, but also raising protective
tariff A tariff or import tax is a duty (tax), duty imposed by a national Government, government, customs territory, or supranational union on imports of goods and is paid by the importer. Exceptionally, an export tax may be levied on exports of goods ...
s to keep cheap foreign goods out of Turkey. His combative stance against Athens prevented Turkey from joining the
European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organisation created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...
jointly with
Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
in 1979.


Polarization

After much conflict with his coalition partner and hoping to gain more support for his government through a snap election, Ecevit resigned as prime minister after just 10 months of governing. He was outflanked when the right-wing parties united to form the First Nationalist Front under Demirel's premiership, during which Turkish politics became heavily polarized and violent. The CHP defeated the Justice Party in the 1977 general elections by gathering 41.38% of the votes, the highest share of votes CHP and any other left-wing party has ever gained in Turkish history. Despite winning the election, Ecevit did not have a majority and was unable to form a coalition, so he formed a
minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in ...
which lasted just one month. Demirel subsequently took over as prime minister and formed another right-wing government known as the Second Nationalist Front.In what was known as the Güneş Motel Incident, Ecevit was able to bring down Demirel's government on 5 January 1978, after announcing to the press "I am looking for 11 deputies who have no gambling debts." He became prime minister for a third time with a narrow majority by forming a government supported by the Democratic Party, Republican Reliance Party, and 11 independent MPs who defected from the Justice Party to take cabinet positions in the new government. His third premiership was marked by a peak in political violence which manifested in Kahramanmaraş and Malatya against Alevis and CHP supporters and their subsequent reprisals against right wing activists. Ecevit suspected the " Counter-Guerrilla", the Turkish branch of Gladio, was responsible for the massacres and for the Taksim Square massacre in Istanbul, during which snipers fired on a protest rally of 500,000 citizens, killing 38 and injuring hundreds. In later interviews, Ecevit recalled that he first learned about the existence of Operation Gladio, a secret " stay-behind"
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...
army, in 1974. His government issued martial law on the final days of December 1978 in thirteen provinces mainly in southeastern Turkey, but also in Istanbul and Ankara. With allegations of corruption between Ecevit and the independent MPs, TÜSİAD requesting his resignation by printing advertisements on newspapers, and defeat in the 1979 by-elections, Ecevit resigned as prime minister on 14 October 1979. Without a majority, Demirel returned as premier. In the lead up to another military intervention in
1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...
, parliament attempted 115 times to vote for a new president.


Assassination attempts

Bülent Ecevit was subject to six assassination attempts. All but one occurred in the 1970s. Five happened in Turkey and one in the United States, the most famous of which took place on 23 July 1976 in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
by a Greek Cypriot and on 29 May 1977 at Çiğli Airport. Mehmet İsvan, brother of the Mayor of Istanbul Ahmet İsvan, was injured in the attempt in Çiğli Airport. Various testimonies allege that the weapon used in Çiğli Airport originated from the Special Warfare Department.


Ban from politics

On September 12, 1980 the
Turkish Armed Forces The Turkish Armed Forces (TAF; , TSK) are the armed forces, military forces of the Turkey, Republic of Turkey. The TAF consist of the Turkish Army, Land Forces, the Turkish Navy, Naval Forces and the Turkish Air Force, Air Forces. The Chief of ...
seized control of the country. Bülent and Rahşan and most politicians were incarcerated for a month in Hamzaköy, Gelibolu. Along with politicians of all other parties Ecevit was banned from politics for ten years, with the provisional Article 4 of the new
constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...
. He resigned from the chairmanship of the CHP on October 30, 1980. The Republican People's Party and all other existing political parties were banned by the military. He was banned from traveling abroad in April 1981 for his opposition to the military rule. He was twice more imprisoned from December 1981 to February 1982 and August to October 1982 for his opposition to the junta. This ban on politics did not stop Ecevit from continuing to participate in politics. He refused to associate himself with the successor parties created by old CHP supporters, like the Populist Party and Social Democracy Party. Instead his wife Rahşan Ecevit worked to establish a new political party: the Democratic Left Party (DSP). Bülent was often invited to speak in DSP rallies as a guest speaker. Many lawsuits filed against him on the grounds that he violated his ban on politics with his speeches. When the Populist Party and Social Democracy Party united under the name of the Social Democrat Populist Party (SHP) in November 1985 the Ecevits were criticized for refusing to also merge DSP with SHP, which served to divide the center-left, social-democratic/Kemalist votes.


DSP chairman

With his ban from politics being finally lifted in a referendum in 1987, he took over the chairmanship of DSP, inheriting the position from Rahşan. His party failed to enter the Grand National Assembly for polling below 10% in the
general elections A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...
held two months later, so Ecevit briefly resigned before returning as DSP leader in 1989. Emphasizing the need to preserve national unity and secularism in the general elections held in 1991, he attacked SHP, saying "Do not divide the social democratic votes." He also criticized SHP for forming an electoral alliance with the new pro-Kurdish People's Labor Party, and claimed that the SHP "cooperated with the separatists". Despite his partial Kurdish heritage, Ecevit refused to recognize
Kurds Kurds (), or the Kurdish people, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group from West Asia. They are indigenous to Kurdistan, which is a geographic region spanning southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northeastern Syri ...
as an ethnic group in his speeches, and would repeatedly oppose legislation to legalize education in Kurdish and Kurdish television. This stance mellowed upon European pressure when he returned to power in 1999. Despite winning 11% of the vote in the election, Ecevit and only six other DSP deputies entered the Grand National Assembly. With the ban on the name "Republican People's Party" and the acronym "CHP" now lifted, an initiative to reestablish the CHP came to the agenda. Ecevit was invited to the 1992 congress that refounded the CHP, but he did not attend. While SHP merged under the reconstituted CHP in 1995, he again objected to uniting the Kemalist parties. To this day, DSP remains a separate political party from CHP. DSP's fortunes changed after the 1995 elections, when the party won 76 seats out of 550. Ecevit served as deputy prime minister for two years in Mesut Yılmaz's government, who was assigned to form a government after Necmettin Erbakan was overthrown by the military in the " postmodern coup". In 1999, after nearly twenty years, he returned to the premiership for the last time to form a minority government in the run-up to the 1999 general elections. In those elections – helped by the fact that
Abdullah Öcalan Abdullah Öcalan ( ; ; born 4 April 1948 or 1949), also known as Apo (short for Abdullah in Turkish; Kurdish for "uncle"), is a founding member of the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Öcalan was based in Syria from 1979 to 1998. He ...
, head of the PKK, was apprehended in
Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...
and flown to Turkey during this period – Ecevit's party gained the largest number of seats, allowing him to stay as prime minister in a coalition with Yılmaz's centrist Motherland Party and Devlet Bahçeli's ultranationalist MHP. Ecevit's coalition partners offered to amend the constitution to allow for his presidential candidacy in the 2000 election, which he wasn't allowed to partake since he never attained a degree from a higher educational institution. Despite his popularity and parliament willing to amend the
Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...
for his candidacy, he refused, instead opting to support the candidacy of independent politician Ahmet Necdet Sezer.


Last premiership (1999–2002)


Domestic policy

Ecevit's last premiership was his longest at almost four years. In coalition with parties to his right, some which were old foes such as MHP –Ecevit was also appointed PM by his old rival who was now president, Süleyman Demirel– he was criticized for adopting pro-business policies and abandoning his leftist values. The government passed many important laws, including banking reform, unemployment insurance, a law to ensure the autonomy of the
Central Bank A central bank, reserve bank, national bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the monetary policy of a country or monetary union. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central bank possesses a monopoly on increasing the mo ...
, qualified industrial zones, tender law, and employment incentive law, to name a few. The government also amended 34 articles of the
Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...
to widen fundamental rights and freedoms and undertook a number of reforms aimed at stabilizing the Turkish economy. These were in preparation for accession negotiations with the European Union. Ecevit acknowledged that his past anti-EU views were a mistake, and that Turkey's destiny with Europe. His foreign minister İsmail Cem was instrumental in what is currently the latest step of Turkish–EU accession, when in the Helsinki Summit in December 1999, Turkey was recognized as a full candidate country for the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
. Three major EU harmonisation packages were passed during this government, including the most comprehensive package of August 2002, which included the abolishment of
capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...
. However progress to EU ascension inevitably hit a roadblock, that being of his making; the Cyprus Dispute. A massive economic crisis which originated from long overdue problems from previous governments, but ultimately triggered by an incident where President Sezer threw a booklet of the Turkish constitution at Ecevit in a
National Security Council A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a n ...
meeting, specifically when he claimed economic reform was impossible, caused the value of the
Lira Lira is the name of several currency units. It is the current Turkish lira, currency of Turkey and also the local name of the Lebanese pound, currencies of Lebanon and of Syrian pound, Syria. It is also the name of several former currencies, ...
to crash in February 2001. Two months later, Ahmet Çakmak, a florist who was struggling from the economic crisis and inspired by Sezer's outburst, ran in front of news cameras and shouted "Mr. Prime Minister, I am a tradesman!" throwing a
cash register A cash register, sometimes called a till or automated money handling system, is a mechanical or electronic device for registering and calculating transactions at a point of sale. It is usually attached to a Cash register#Cash drawer, drawer fo ...
at Ecevit's direction as he was walking out of a cabinet meeting. Eventually Ecevit hired the
World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...
economist Kemal Derviş his economic minister. With his guidance, the government passed an extensive series of comprehensive economic reforms and regulations. These included changes to the tender law, economic social council law, unemployment insurance, the restructuring of state banks, accreditation law, law on capital markets, and establishment of competition authorities. These successful reforms allowed for Derviş to sign off on a $20 billion loan from the
International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...
, which enabled the high growth of 2002–2007 after DSP's fall from government. The Kocaeli earthquake occurred 17 August 1999, killing tens of thousands in Istanbul and İzmit and causing billions in damages. A tax to prevent earthquake damage (also known as the Earthquake tax) was established after the disaster. During this period, the "Law of Conditional Release and Postponement," also known as the Rahşan Amnesty, was passed in reaction to the large amount of hunger strikes occurring in prison, which gave conditional amnesty to crimes other than those committed against the state. Advocated for by Rahşan Ecevit, she commented on the outcome of her law in retrospect, saying "I asked for forgiveness for the poor, nsteadthe murderers benefited." With this amnesty, the number of prisoners decreased from 70,000 to 40,000, but in three years it increased again to 64,000.


Foreign policy

Bülent Ecevit was a strong opponent of the invasion of Iraq by the US, though he allowed American planes to use bases in Turkey for their air patrols over Northern Iraq. Even still, he criticized American sanctions on Iraq, which he said caused needless suffering. Ecevit maintained Turkey's relationship with Israel, but denounced the IDF's raid on the Jenin refugee camp as "genocide" which he later said was meant against both Israel and Fatah. İsmail Cem achieved a period of rapprochement with Greece after relations were at an all-time low following the Öcalan affair.


Health concerns and government collapse

Rumors about Bülent Ecevit's ill health were confirmed when he was taken to Başkent University Ankara Hospital on 4 May 2002, which became a source of national anxiety. He was taken out of the hospital by Rahşan and brought to their home when his condition worsened. Bülent rested at home, but was taken back to the hospital. Rahşan shared her doubts about her husband's treatment with public during this period. Her allegations were denied, but the issue was brought up again in the
Ergenekon trials The Ergenekon trials or the Ergenekon conspiracy, were a series of high-profile trials which took place in 2008–2016 in Turkey in which 275 people, including military officers, journalists and opposition lawmakers, all alleged members of Erge ...
in the following years. Discussions came to the fore whether Ecevit could continue governing while incapacitated. Nine deputies from the DSP issued a statement on 25 June, demanding "to lead a life without Ecevit under the leadership of Ecevit". Another group of DSP deputies, who made a press statement on behalf of him on 5 July, openly criticized Deputy Prime Minister Hüsamettin Özkan, one of the closest names to Ecevit. On 7 July, Bahçeli withdrew support from the coalition, and called for early elections. The next day, Özkan resigned, which was followed by the resignation of several ministers and half of DSP's parliamentary group, with most of them joining the New Turkey Party, founded by foreign minister Cem. With the resignations, the coalition government lost its numerical support in the parliament. A summit held on 16 July between the leaders of the coalition government resulted in the decision to hold early elections on 3 November 2002. In the vote held in parliament on at the end of July, 449 out of 514 deputies voted to hold an early election. Allegations of corruption, the economic crisis, as well as Ecevit's poor health resulted in DSP facing electoral wipeout in the 2002 general election, attaining only 1.2% of the vote and losing all of its MPs. The Justice and Development Party (AKP) entered parliament with a comfortable majority and governs Turkey to this day. In a press conference held on 25 July 2004 Ecevit announced Zeki Sezer as his successor to DSP, and resigned as chairman. He officially left active politics in summer, and devoted his remaining years to writing.


Illness and death

After attending the funeral of his friend Yücel Özbilgin, who was killed in the Turkish Council of State shooting on 19 May 2006, he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage, went into a coma and stayed in the intensive care unit of the Gülhane Military Medical Academy for a long time. Ecevit died of circulatory and respiratory failure at 22:40 on Sunday, 5 November 2006, 172 days after he entered a vegetative state. Immediately after his death the Grand National Assembly passed a law to allow for prime ministers and speakers of parliament to also be buried in the Turkish State Cemetery () in Ankara, which allowed Bülent to be buried there. Upon the death of Bülent Ecevit's wife Rahşan in January 2020, the parliament voted to also have civilians be buried in the State Cemetery, allowing her to be interred there too. A
state funeral A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements o ...
was held on 11 November 2006 at the State Cemetery after a funeral prayer in Kocatepe Mosque, attended by approximately a million people from all 81 provinces and from many countries, especially from
Northern Cyprus Northern Cyprus, officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a ''de facto'' state that comprises the northeastern portion of the Geography of Cyprus, island of Cyprus. It is List of states with limited recognition, recognis ...
. Five former presidents also attended the funeral.


Controversies


Relationship with the Gülen movement

Against the advice of the Turkish military, Ecevit visited
Fethullah Gülen Muhammed Fethullah Gülen (27 April 1941 – 20 October 2024) was a Turkish Ulama, Muslim scholar, preacher, and leader of the Gülen movement who as of 2016 had millions of followers. Gülen was an influential Neo-Ottomanism, neo-Ottomanist, A ...
's schools and spoke highly of them. In 1997, the Journalists and Writers Foundation, of which Gülen was an honorary chairman of, presented Ecevit (and Demirel) with the "Award for National Reconciliation in the Field of Politics". During the escalation of the 1997 military memorandum crisis, Chief Public Prosecutor Nuh Mete Yüksel prepared an indictment against Gülen. Footage of Gülen's speeches years ago were broadcast on a multitude of television channels in which Gülen presented about "how they he Gülen movement">Gülen_movement.html" ;"title="he Gülen movement">he Gülen movementshould be structured in the bureaucracy". Questioned about Gülen's statement later on, Prime Minister Ecevit defended Gülen in an interview, saying that he hasn't seen any suspicious behavior in his schools, which provide secular education inline to the Kemalism">principles of Atatürk. While deputy prime minister, Ecevit requested the Italian Ambassador to greet Gülen when he went to Rome in 1998, which drew a reaction from general Çevik Bir.


Merve Kavakçı

In the inaugural session of the 21st Parliament of Turkey, 21st parliament elected in 1999 Turkish general election, 1999, Merve Kavakcı, Merve Kavakçı entered the Grand National Assembly's chamber with a Headscarf controversy in Turkey, headscarf, which violated Turkey's then strictly enforced laicité laws. DSP deputies protested her entrance and shouting "out!" Ecevit eventually came up to the podium: Kavakçı did not show up to the second session of parliament, and her MP status was later terminated.


Personality


Trademarks

Bülent Ecevit's trademark was his blue shirt and mariner's cap. Another trademark of his was the dove, in his many campaign rallies Ecevit released doves into the air. The dove is also displayed on the logo of DSP. He smoked Bitlis and Parliament cigarettes and wrote with an Erika typewriter, a gift from his in-law, İsmail Hakkı Okday. He donated his 70-year-old typewriter to the METU Science and Technology Museum. Bülent and Rahşan lived exceptionally modestly and frugally. They had no children.


Nicknames

The origin of Ecevit's popular nickname " Karaoğlan" (a Turkish folk hero) came in a visit to Kars. Shortly after his election as CHP chairman, when found himself guest in the house of his friend Rasim Yarkadaş in Susuz district. Rasim's mother welcomed her guest at the door of their house, hugging Ecevit and exclaiming in a distinct Kars dialect, "Save us from these troubles, Garaoğlan!" He also had the nickname " Halkçı Ecevit" (Populist Ecevit). Süleyman Demirel used the nickname "Allende-Büllende" to compare his rival, Ecevit, to the Chilean socialist statesman Salvador Allende, who was overthrown and committed suicide in a military coup. Ecevit was also known as ''Kıbrıs Fatihi'' "Conqueror of Cyprus" after the Cyprus Operation during his premiership, and also as ''Kenya Fatihi'' "Conqueror of Kenya" after the operation to capture Abdullah Öcalan.


Legacy

Ecevit holds a unique legacy in Turkey's political history for being its only left-wing prime minister. There has also been no Kemalist prime ministers since his last government. He was also the last prime minister from the CHP. His chairmanship resulted in the highest shares of votes CHP and any other left-wing party have ever gained in Turkish history. He was the last leader of Turkey before the AKP came into power at his expense in 2002, which has governed Turkey since. Ecevit's DSP-MHP-ANAP government was the longest lasting coalition government in Turkish history. Kartal Bülent Ecevit Cultural Center was put into service in 2005. In 2012 the name of Zonguldak Karaelmas University was changed to “ Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University." A wax sculpture of him is on display at the Tayfun Talipoğlu Typewriter Museum, which was opened in Odunpazarı, Eskişehir in May 2016. In 2021, a park in
İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...
's Güzelbahçe district was named after him and his statue was erected. Vurgun Adalayı portrayed Bülent Ecevit in the TV series '' Once Upon a Time in Cyprus''. Ahmet Çakmak, who threw a cash register at Ecevit in 2001 out of frustration from the economic crisis said the following twenty years later: “Ecevit understood the state of the citizen. After the incident, he talked to me many times and sought a solution. If we did something like this now, we would be alledterrorists. I miss Ecevit, I visited his grave at least 20 times." In the lead up to the 2023 general elections, DSP chairman Önder Aksakal came out in support Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's presidential candidacy and was elected from the AKP's lists in the 2023 general elections. The Rahşan-Bülent Ecevit Science Culture and Art Foundation stated that oday'sDSP has no connection with Ecevit's principles that "they should not pollute the names of Ecevit for their own interests."


Works


Poetry

* ''Şiirler''. '' oems'. 1976 * ''Işığı Taştan Oydum''. '' Carved the Light from the Stone'' Tekin Yayınevi. 1978 * ''El Ele Büyüttük Sevgiyi''. '' e Grew Love Hand in Hand'. 1997 * '' Bir Şeyler Olacak Yarın''. '' omething Will Happen Tomorrow'. Doğan Kitapçılık. 2005


Books

* ''Ortanın Solu''. '' eft of Center'. 1966 * ''Bu Düzen Değişmelidir''. '' his Order Must Change'. 1968 * ''Atatürk ve Devrimcilik''. '' tatürk and Revolutionism'' 1970 * ''Kurultaylar ve Sonrası''. '' ongresses and the After'. 1972 * ''Demokratik Sol ve Hükümet Bunalımı''. '' emocratic Left and the Crisis of Government'' 1974 * ''Demokratik Solda Temel Kavramlar ve Sorunlar''. '' asic Issues and Solutions in the Democratic Left'' 1975 * ''Dış Politika''. '' oreign Policy'. 1975 * ''Dünya-Türkiye-Milliyetçilik''. '' orld-Turkey-Nationalism'' 1975 * ''Toplum-Siyaset-Yönetim''. '' ociety-Politics-Governance'' 1975 * ''İşçi-Köylü El Ele''. '' orker-Peasant Hand in Hand'. 1976 * ''Türkiye / 1965–1975.'' 1976 * ''Umut Yılı: 1977''. 'Year of Hope'' 1977


Translations

*
Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...
, '' Gitanjali'' (1941) * Rabindranath Tagore, ''Stray Birds'' (1943) * T. S. Eliot, '' The Cocktail Party'' (1963)


See also

* Ecevitism


Notes


Bibliography


References


External links


Siyasetin Şairi, Karaoğlan
''
Hürriyet ''Hürriyet'' (, ''Liberty'') is a major List of newspapers in Turkey, Turkish newspaper, founded in 1948. it had the highest circulation of any newspaper in Turkey at around 319,000. ''Hürriyet'' combines entertainment with news coverage and ...
'', November 2002
A Selection of Ecevit's Poetry

A collection of Ecevit's writing in the 1950s
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ecevit, Bulent 1925 births 2006 deaths 20th-century prime ministers of Turkey 21st-century prime ministers of Turkey Politicians from Istanbul Republican People's Party (Turkey) politicians Democratic Left Party (Turkey) politicians Deaths from respiratory failure Robert College alumni Alumni of SOAS University of London Ulus (newspaper) people Government ministers of Turkey Deputy prime ministers of Turkey Leaders of political parties in Turkey 20th-century Turkish poets Turkish magazine founders Turkish political party founders Turkish nationalists Turkish translators Translators of Rabindranath Tagore Translators of T. S. Eliot 20th-century Turkish journalists Burials at Turkish State Cemetery Grand Crosses of the Order of the Star of Romania Turkish people of Bosniak descent Turkish people of Kurdish descent Turkish Kurdish politicians Leaders of the Republican People's Party (Turkey) Leaders of the opposition (Turkey) Deputies of Istanbul Deputies of Ankara Left-wing nationalism Members of the 21st Parliament of Turkey Members of the 20th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 26th government of Turkey Members of the 27th government of Turkey Members of the 28th government of Turkey Members of the 37th government of Turkey Members of the 40th government of Turkey Members of the 41st government of Turkey Members of the 55th government of Turkey Members of the 56th government of Turkey Members of the 57th government of Turkey Bulent