Rahşan Ecevit (''née'' Aral, 17 December 1923 – 17 January 2020) was a Turkish author, painter and politician. She was the second lady of

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

four times during her husband

Bülent Ecevit 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 197 ...

's prime ministries.

Biography

She was born in

Bursa Bursa () is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the Marmara Region, Bursa is one of the industrial centers of the country. Most of ...

. Her family originated from

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

and had initially settled in

Şebinkarahisar Şebinkarahisar is a town in Giresun Province in the Black Sea region of northeastern Turkey. It is the administrative seat of Şebinkarahisar District.

, a town in

Giresun province Giresun Province (Greek language, Greek : Κερασούντα, ; ) is a Provinces of Turkey, province of Turkey on the Black Sea coast. Its adjacent provinces are Trabzon Province, Trabzon to the east, Gümüşhane Province, Gümüşhane to the ...

in northeastern Turkey, after the population exchange in 1920. Her father was Namık Zeki Aral and her mother Zahide Aral. In 1944 Rahşan graduated from the American high school

Robert College The American Robert College of Istanbul ( or ), often abbreviated as Robert or RC, is a Selective school, highly selective, Independent school, independent, mixed-sex education, co-educational, Education in Turkey#Private schools, private Second ...

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 ...

. She married her classmate

in 1946. Following the military coup in 1980 led by General Kenan Evren, her husband was imprisoned and was suspended from active politics for life. Bülent Ecevit's party, 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), was closed down. On 14 November 1985, Rahşan founded a centre left

social democratic Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

party, the Democratic Left Party (DSP), and led it until her husband's ban from politics was lifted in 1987. Rahşan Ecevit was the vice president of the Democratic Left Party and responsible for the party's organization between 1989 and 2004. She became the leader of the new Democratic Left People's Party (DSHP) on 17 January 2010 when the DSP seemed to no longer have any chance to win seats in elections. After Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu had become the leader of the CHP and halted the rightist trend within the party, she disbanded her new party and with many members joined the now rather social democratic CHP. On 5 November 2006, her husband died following an almost 6-month long medically induced coma. Rahşan Ecevit died on 17 January 2020 at a hospital in

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 ( ...

and was buried next to her husband in the Turkish State Cemetery a few days later.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ecevit, Rahsan 1923 births 2020 deaths People from Bursa Democratic Left Party (Turkey) politicians Alumni of Arnavutköy American High School for Girls 20th-century Turkish women politicians Democratic Left People's Party politicians Female party leaders of Turkey Burials at Turkish State Cemetery Rahsan 21st-century Turkish women politicians

Biography

See also

References

External links