Necmettin Erbakan

Necmettin Erbakan (born October 29 1926) became the first Islamist prime minister of Turkey in 1996, serving until mid-1997.

Related Topics:
October 29 - 1926 - Islamist - Turkey - 1996

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Erbakan was born in Sinop, northern Turkey. A mainstay of the religious wing of Turkish politics since the 1970s, Erbakan has been the leader of a series of politcial parties that have risen 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 Bulent Ecevit during the Cyprus crisis of 1974. In the wake of the ] military coup, Erbakan and his party were banned from politics. He reemerged following a referrendum to lift the ban in 1990, and became the leader of Refah Partisi (Welfare Party). His party benefitted in the 1990s from the acrimony between the leaders of Turkey's two most prominent conservative parties, Mesut Yilmaz and Tansu Ciller and led his party to a surprise success in the general elections of 1995. He became Prime Minister in 1996 in coalition with Ciller's Dogru Yol Partisi (True Path Party), and steered Turkey in a considerably more conservative direction. The Turkish military gradually increased the harshness and frequency of its public warnings to Erbakan's government, eventually prompting Erbakan to step down in 1997. Refah was subsequently closed down by court order, and Erbakan was banned once again from politics. Despite being under constant political ban, Erbakan nonetheless acted as a mentor and informal advisor to former Refah members who founded both Fazilet Partisi (Virtue Party) and the Saadet Partisi (Felicity Party).

Related Topics:
Sinop - Bulent Ecevit - 1974 - 1990 - Refah Partisi - Mesut Yilmaz - Tansu Ciller - 1995 - 1996 - Dogru Yol Partisi - 1997 - Fazilet Partisi - Saadet Partisi

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