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Bülent Ecevit

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Bülent Ecevit
Prime Minister of Turkey
In office
1974, 1977, 1978 – 1979, 1999-2002
Preceded byNaim Talu, Süleyman Demirel, Mesut Yılmaz
Succeeded bySadi Irmak, Süleyman Demirel, Abdullah Gül
Personal details
Born28 May 1925
Istanbul
Died5 November 2006
Ankara
Political partyDSP, CHP

Mustafa Bülent Ecevit (May 28, 1925–November 5, 2006), was a Turkish politician and also a poet, writer and journalist.

Personal life

Born in Istanbul, Ecevit's father was Ahmet Fahri Ecevit who was born in Kastamonu and was professor of forensic medicine in Ankara University. Later Ahmet Fahri has started his political life as CHP's Kastamonu deputy between 1943-1950. His mother, Fatma Nazlı, was born in Istanbul and was a painter. In 1944, Ecevit graduated from Robert College and started working as translater in Press Publication Head Office (Basın Yayın Genel Müdürlüğü). He has married with his classmate Rahşan Ecevit in 1946.

Political life

Ecevit was elected into the Turkish parliament for the first time in 1957. In 1972, he succeeded Ismet Inönü as leader of the Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi (the Republican People's Party) and became prime minister in a coalition with the National Salvation Party of Necmettin Erbakan. This government is most noted for ordering a military intervention on July 20, 1974, in response to a coup in Cyprus organised by the Greek military government, dividing the island, uprooting hundreds of thousands of people and setting the stage for the foundation of the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (a de facto state which is only officially recognised by Turkey). Bülent Ecevit recalls that he learnt for the first time of the existence of Gladio, a secret "stay-behind" NATO army, in 1974, and has suspected "Counter-Guerilla", the Turkish branch of Gladio, of being responsible of the May 1, 1977 Taksim Square massacre in Istanbul, during which snipers shot on a protest rally of 500,000 citizens, killing 38 and injuring hundreds.

Following the September 12, 1980, military coup led by General Kenan Evren, Ecevit was incarcerated and was suspended from active politics for life. A referendum in 1987 lifted his ban from politics, and he became the chairman of the Demokratik Sol Parti (Democratic Left Party) in 1989, inheriting the position from his wife, Rahşan Ecevit. His party failed to enter the National Assembly in several subsequent elections, but finally succeeded in passing the electoral barrier in the 1995 national elections. He was a deputy prime minister under the last government of Mesut Yılmaz and then was briefly caretaker Prime Minister in the run-up to the 1999 general elections. In those elections, Ecevit's party gained the largest number of seats, leading to Ecevit's final stint as Prime Minister in a coalition with the Anavatan Partisi (Motherland Party) of Mesut Yilmaz and the Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi (Nationalist Movement Party) of Devlet Bahçeli.

Ecevit's government undertook a number of reforms aimed at stabilizing the Turkish economy in preparation for accession negotiations with the European Union. However, the short-term economic pain brought on by the reforms caused rifts within his coalition and party, and eventually forced new elections in 2002. Ecevit, at this time visibly frail, was unsuccessful in leading his party back into the National Assembly. Ecevit subsequently retired from active politics in 2004.

Bülent Ecevit was not only a politician but a poet and writer. He studied Sanskrit, Bengali, and English and translated works by Rabindranath Tagore, T. S. Eliot, and Bernard Lewis into Turkish. Ecevit, who studied at American Robert College, the most prestigious high school in Istanbul, was successful in these literary endeavors despite never having graduated from a university, a fact that also prevented him from ever running for President of the Turkish Republic.

Ecevit was hospitalized at the Gülhane Military Hospital in Ankara and placed in a medically induced coma after suffering a stroke on May 19, 2006.[1] He died on November 5, 2006 at 20:40 (UTC) due to failure respiration without regaining consciousness.

Works

Poetry Books

  • Işığı Taştan Oydum (I carved light with stone) (1978)
  • El Ele Büyüttük Sevgiyi (We growed love hand in hand) (1997)

Political Books

  • Ortanın Solu (Left of the Center) (1966)
  • Bu Düzen Değişmelidir (This order should be changed) (1968)
  • Atatürk ve Devrimcilik (Ataturk and Revolution) (1970)
  • Kurultaylar ve Sonrası (Party Congresses and After) (1972)
  • Demokratik Sol ve Hükümet Bunalımı (Democratic Left and Government Crisis) (1974)
  • Demokratik Solda Temel Kavramlar ve Sorunlar (Basic Definitons and Problems in Democratic Left) (1975)
  • Dış Politika (Foreign Policy) (1975)
  • Dünya-Türkiye-Milliyetçilik (World-Turkey-Nationalism) (1975)
  • Toplum-Siyaset-Yönetim (Society-Politics-Government) (1975)
  • İşçi-Köylü El Ele (Workers and Peasants Hand in Hand) (1976)
  • Türkiye / 1965-1975 (Turkey / 1965-1975) (1976)
  • Umut Yılı: 1977 (Year of Hope: 1977) (1977)

References

  1. ^ News on Zaman
Preceded by Leader
of the Republican’s People Party
1972–1980 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Leader
of the Democratic Left Party
1989–2004 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Prime Minister of Turkey
1974–1974
1977–1977
1978–1979
1999–2002 		Succeeded by
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