Turkish politician, engineer, and academic who was the Prime Minister of Turkey from 1996 to 1997.
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) - Necmettin Erbakan, a longtime leader of Turkey's Islamic political movement and briefly the country's prime minister in the first Islamic-led coalition in Turkey's modern history - died on Sunday. He was 85.
Erbakan was the leader of the Felicity Party and was working on the party's election strategy ahead of elections in June despite his deteriorating health, Recai Kutan, a close confidant, said outside the Guven hospital. Doctors said Erbakan died of heart failure. He was also suffering from respiratory problems and a chronic vein infection in his left leg, doctors said.
Erbakan, a professor of mechanics, was affectionately known as Hodja - or teacher - by his followers as well as current and former members of his now-banned Welfare Party - including Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul.
"We will always remember him with gratitude as a teacher and a leader," Erdogan said Sunday.
Erbakan served only a year as prime minister before he was pressured by the secular military to step down in 1997. His Welfare Party was shut down by the Constitutional Court for undermining secularism - which led to the birth of the country's now ruling Justice and Development Party as well as several small pro-Islamic parties.
Erdogan who favors the country's membership in the European Union and maintains ties with the West while building closer ties with Muslim countries, is moderate compared with Erbakan - who made his first trips to Iran and to Libya to meet Moammar Gadhafi in 1996 and maintained a firm anti-Israel stance, setting in motion a conflict with the powerful military that led to his eventual ouster from power.
Erbakan was first elected to parliament as an independent lawmaker in 1969 and laid the seeds of the country's political Islamic movement. As well as his year as prime minister, he also served as deputy prime minister in several coalitions in the 19 70s.
He set up five political parties, four of which were closed down following military coups or by courts on grounds of undermining secular principles of this predominantly Muslim country.
Turkey's military sees itself as the guardian of Turkey's secular traditions, and Erbakan had alarmed the generals with his moves to allow female civil servants to wear Islamic attire at work and to rearrange working hours to fit fasting times in the holy month of Ramadan.
Erbakan resigned in June 1997 to appease the military, which has staged three coups since 1960.
Later he was barred from politics for five years and also convicted of falsifying party records and hiding millions in cash reserves ordered seized after his party's closure in 1998. He was elected as the head of Felicity Party as soon as his political ban ended in 2003.
Though Welfare had won 21 percent of the votes in 1995, the Felicity Party was expected to win only a tiny percentage of votes in the upcoming elections. However, the leader of another small pro-Islamic party signaled a possible alliance Sunday.
"We were last talking about a possible cooperation in the elections," Abdullah Latif Sener, leader of the Turkey Party, told reporters on Sunday. "We will follow his wish."
Erbakan will be buried in Istanbul following prayers at the Fatih Mosque on Tuesday, Kutan said.
Copyright © 2011 The Associated Press
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]
[edit] Early life and educationErbakan was born in Sinop, at the coast of Black Sea in northern Turkey.[3] His father was Mehmet Sabri, a judge from the prestigious Kozanoðlu clan of Cilicia and his mother Kamer was a native of Sinop and second wife of Mehmet Sabri.[4]
After the high school education in Ýstanbul Lisesi, 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 ÝTÜ 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 Necmettin Erbakan had his success in mechanical engineering and has invented several devices. He was the chief engineer in the team that designed German Leopard 1A tanks.[3]
[edit] Political activitiesNecmettin Erbakan's ideology is set forth in a manifesto, entitled Millî Görüþ (National View), which he published in 1969.[3] The Islamist organisation of the same name, which he founded and of which he is the leader,[5] upholds nowadays that the word "national" is to be understood in the sense of monotheistic ecumenism.[6][7]
A mainstay of the religious wing of Turkish politics since the 1970s, Erbakan has been the leader of a series of Islamist political parties that he founded or inspired 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 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 Yýlmaz and Tansu Çiller. He led his party to a surprise success in the general elections of 1995.
[edit] Prime MinistershipHe became Prime Minister in 1996 in coalition with Çiller's Doðru Yol Partisi (True Path Party), becoming the first devout Muslim to hold the office in modern Turkey. 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 seriously 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, he was nevertheless widely blamed at the time for his indifference. The Turkish military gradually increased the harshness and frequency of its public warnings to Erbakan's government, eventually prompting Erbakan to step down 1997.
At the time there was a formal deal between Prime Minister Erbakan, and the leader of Doðru Yol, Tansu Ciller, for a "period based premiership". 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 Yýlmaz, leader of the second-biggest party, to form a new government. Since this whole act was orchestrated by the military (who was hostile to the Erbakan government), this has been dubbed a "postmodern coup" by some.
[edit] Post-PMHis 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.[8]
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[9] till his death.
Necmettin Erbakan died at Güven Hospital at 11:40 (UTC+2) in Çankaya, Ankara on 27 February 2011 of heart failure.[10]
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) - Necmettin Erbakan, a longtime leader of Turkey's Islamic political movement and briefly the country's prime minister in the first Islamic-led coalition in Turkey's modern history - died on Sunday. He was 85.
Erbakan was the leader of the Felicity Party and was working on the party's election strategy ahead of elections in June despite his deteriorating health, Recai Kutan, a close confidant, said outside the Guven hospital. Doctors said Erbakan died of heart failure. He was also suffering from respiratory problems and a chronic vein infection in his left leg, doctors said.
Erbakan, a professor of mechanics, was affectionately known as Hodja - or teacher - by his followers as well as current and former members of his now-banned Welfare Party - including Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul.
"We will always remember him with gratitude as a teacher and a leader," Erdogan said Sunday.
Erbakan served only a year as prime minister before he was pressured by the secular military to step down in 1997. His Welfare Party was shut down by the Constitutional Court for undermining secularism - which led to the birth of the country's now ruling Justice and Development Party as well as several small pro-Islamic parties.
Erdogan who favors the country's membership in the European Union and maintains ties with the West while building closer ties with Muslim countries, is moderate compared with Erbakan - who made his first trips to Iran and to Libya to meet Moammar Gadhafi in 1996 and maintained a firm anti-Israel stance, setting in motion a conflict with the powerful military that led to his eventual ouster from power.
Erbakan was first elected to parliament as an independent lawmaker in 1969 and laid the seeds of the country's political Islamic movement. As well as his year as prime minister, he also served as deputy prime minister in several coalitions in the 19 70s.
He set up five political parties, four of which were closed down following military coups or by courts on grounds of undermining secular principles of this predominantly Muslim country.
Turkey's military sees itself as the guardian of Turkey's secular traditions, and Erbakan had alarmed the generals with his moves to allow female civil servants to wear Islamic attire at work and to rearrange working hours to fit fasting times in the holy month of Ramadan.
Erbakan resigned in June 1997 to appease the military, which has staged three coups since 1960.
Later he was barred from politics for five years and also convicted of falsifying party records and hiding millions in cash reserves ordered seized after his party's closure in 1998. He was elected as the head of Felicity Party as soon as his political ban ended in 2003.
Though Welfare had won 21 percent of the votes in 1995, the Felicity Party was expected to win only a tiny percentage of votes in the upcoming elections. However, the leader of another small pro-Islamic party signaled a possible alliance Sunday.
"We were last talking about a possible cooperation in the elections," Abdullah Latif Sener, leader of the Turkey Party, told reporters on Sunday. "We will follow his wish."
Erbakan will be buried in Istanbul following prayers at the Fatih Mosque on Tuesday, Kutan said.
Copyright © 2011 The Associated Press
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]
[edit] Early life and educationErbakan was born in Sinop, at the coast of Black Sea in northern Turkey.[3] His father was Mehmet Sabri, a judge from the prestigious Kozanoðlu clan of Cilicia and his mother Kamer was a native of Sinop and second wife of Mehmet Sabri.[4]
After the high school education in Ýstanbul Lisesi, 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 ÝTÜ 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 Necmettin Erbakan had his success in mechanical engineering and has invented several devices. He was the chief engineer in the team that designed German Leopard 1A tanks.[3]
[edit] Political activitiesNecmettin Erbakan's ideology is set forth in a manifesto, entitled Millî Görüþ (National View), which he published in 1969.[3] The Islamist organisation of the same name, which he founded and of which he is the leader,[5] upholds nowadays that the word "national" is to be understood in the sense of monotheistic ecumenism.[6][7]
A mainstay of the religious wing of Turkish politics since the 1970s, Erbakan has been the leader of a series of Islamist political parties that he founded or inspired 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 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 Yýlmaz and Tansu Çiller. He led his party to a surprise success in the general elections of 1995.
[edit] Prime MinistershipHe became Prime Minister in 1996 in coalition with Çiller's Doðru Yol Partisi (True Path Party), becoming the first devout Muslim to hold the office in modern Turkey. 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 seriously 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, he was nevertheless widely blamed at the time for his indifference. The Turkish military gradually increased the harshness and frequency of its public warnings to Erbakan's government, eventually prompting Erbakan to step down 1997.
At the time there was a formal deal between Prime Minister Erbakan, and the leader of Doðru Yol, Tansu Ciller, for a "period based premiership". 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 Yýlmaz, leader of the second-biggest party, to form a new government. Since this whole act was orchestrated by the military (who was hostile to the Erbakan government), this has been dubbed a "postmodern coup" by some.
[edit] Post-PMHis 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.[8]
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[9] till his death.
Necmettin Erbakan died at Güven Hospital at 11:40 (UTC+2) in Çankaya, Ankara on 27 February 2011 of heart failure.[10]
Turkish politician, engineer, and academic who was the Prime Minister of Turkey from 1996 to 1997.
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) - Necmettin Erbakan, a longtime leader of Turkey's Islamic political movement and briefly the country's prime minister in the first Islamic-led coalition in Turkey's modern history - died on Sunday. He was 85.
Erbakan was the leader of the Felicity Party and was working on the party's election strategy ahead of elections in June despite his deteriorating health, Recai Kutan, a close confidant, said outside the Guven hospital. Doctors said Erbakan died of heart failure. He was also suffering from respiratory problems and a chronic vein infection in his left leg, doctors said.
Erbakan, a professor of mechanics, was affectionately known as Hodja - or teacher - by his followers as well as current and former members of his now-banned Welfare Party - including Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul.
"We will always remember him with gratitude as a teacher and a leader," Erdogan said Sunday.
Erbakan served only a year as prime minister before he was pressured by the secular military to step down in 1997. His Welfare Party was shut down by the Constitutional Court for undermining secularism - which led to the birth of the country's now ruling Justice and Development Party as well as several small pro-Islamic parties.
Erdogan who favors the country's membership in the European Union and maintains ties with the West while building closer ties with Muslim countries, is moderate compared with Erbakan - who made his first trips to Iran and to Libya to meet Moammar Gadhafi in 1996 and maintained a firm anti-Israel stance, setting in motion a conflict with the powerful military that led to his eventual ouster from power.
Erbakan was first elected to parliament as an independent lawmaker in 1969 and laid the seeds of the country's political Islamic movement. As well as his year as prime minister, he also served as deputy prime minister in several coalitions in the 19 70s.
He set up five political parties, four of which were closed down following military coups or by courts on grounds of undermining secular principles of this predominantly Muslim country.
Turkey's military sees itself as the guardian of Turkey's secular traditions, and Erbakan had alarmed the generals with his moves to allow female civil servants to wear Islamic attire at work and to rearrange working hours to fit fasting times in the holy month of Ramadan.
Erbakan resigned in June 1997 to appease the military, which has staged three coups since 1960.
Later he was barred from politics for five years and also convicted of falsifying party records and hiding millions in cash reserves ordered seized after his party's closure in 1998. He was elected as the head of Felicity Party as soon as his political ban ended in 2003.
Though Welfare had won 21 percent of the votes in 1995, the Felicity Party was expected to win only a tiny percentage of votes in the upcoming elections. However, the leader of another small pro-Islamic party signaled a possible alliance Sunday.
"We were last talking about a possible cooperation in the elections," Abdullah Latif Sener, leader of the Turkey Party, told reporters on Sunday. "We will follow his wish."
Erbakan will be buried in Istanbul following prayers at the Fatih Mosque on Tuesday, Kutan said.
Copyright © 2011 The Associated Press
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]
[edit] Early life and educationErbakan was born in Sinop, at the coast of Black Sea in northern Turkey.[3] His father was Mehmet Sabri, a judge from the prestigious Kozanoðlu clan of Cilicia and his mother Kamer was a native of Sinop and second wife of Mehmet Sabri.[4]
After the high school education in Ýstanbul Lisesi, 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 ÝTÜ 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 Necmettin Erbakan had his success in mechanical engineering and has invented several devices. He was the chief engineer in the team that designed German Leopard 1A tanks.[3]
[edit] Political activitiesNecmettin Erbakan's ideology is set forth in a manifesto, entitled Millî Görüþ (National View), which he published in 1969.[3] The Islamist organisation of the same name, which he founded and of which he is the leader,[5] upholds nowadays that the word "national" is to be understood in the sense of monotheistic ecumenism.[6][7]
A mainstay of the religious wing of Turkish politics since the 1970s, Erbakan has been the leader of a series of Islamist political parties that he founded or inspired 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 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 Yýlmaz and Tansu Çiller. He led his party to a surprise success in the general elections of 1995.
[edit] Prime MinistershipHe became Prime Minister in 1996 in coalition with Çiller's Doðru Yol Partisi (True Path Party), becoming the first devout Muslim to hold the office in modern Turkey. 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 seriously 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, he was nevertheless widely blamed at the time for his indifference. The Turkish military gradually increased the harshness and frequency of its public warnings to Erbakan's government, eventually prompting Erbakan to step down 1997.
At the time there was a formal deal between Prime Minister Erbakan, and the leader of Doðru Yol, Tansu Ciller, for a "period based premiership". 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 Yýlmaz, leader of the second-biggest party, to form a new government. Since this whole act was orchestrated by the military (who was hostile to the Erbakan government), this has been dubbed a "postmodern coup" by some.
[edit] Post-PMHis 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.[8]
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[9] till his death.
Necmettin Erbakan died at Güven Hospital at 11:40 (UTC+2) in Çankaya, Ankara on 27 February 2011 of heart failure.[10]
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) - Necmettin Erbakan, a longtime leader of Turkey's Islamic political movement and briefly the country's prime minister in the first Islamic-led coalition in Turkey's modern history - died on Sunday. He was 85.
Erbakan was the leader of the Felicity Party and was working on the party's election strategy ahead of elections in June despite his deteriorating health, Recai Kutan, a close confidant, said outside the Guven hospital. Doctors said Erbakan died of heart failure. He was also suffering from respiratory problems and a chronic vein infection in his left leg, doctors said.
Erbakan, a professor of mechanics, was affectionately known as Hodja - or teacher - by his followers as well as current and former members of his now-banned Welfare Party - including Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul.
"We will always remember him with gratitude as a teacher and a leader," Erdogan said Sunday.
Erbakan served only a year as prime minister before he was pressured by the secular military to step down in 1997. His Welfare Party was shut down by the Constitutional Court for undermining secularism - which led to the birth of the country's now ruling Justice and Development Party as well as several small pro-Islamic parties.
Erdogan who favors the country's membership in the European Union and maintains ties with the West while building closer ties with Muslim countries, is moderate compared with Erbakan - who made his first trips to Iran and to Libya to meet Moammar Gadhafi in 1996 and maintained a firm anti-Israel stance, setting in motion a conflict with the powerful military that led to his eventual ouster from power.
Erbakan was first elected to parliament as an independent lawmaker in 1969 and laid the seeds of the country's political Islamic movement. As well as his year as prime minister, he also served as deputy prime minister in several coalitions in the 19 70s.
He set up five political parties, four of which were closed down following military coups or by courts on grounds of undermining secular principles of this predominantly Muslim country.
Turkey's military sees itself as the guardian of Turkey's secular traditions, and Erbakan had alarmed the generals with his moves to allow female civil servants to wear Islamic attire at work and to rearrange working hours to fit fasting times in the holy month of Ramadan.
Erbakan resigned in June 1997 to appease the military, which has staged three coups since 1960.
Later he was barred from politics for five years and also convicted of falsifying party records and hiding millions in cash reserves ordered seized after his party's closure in 1998. He was elected as the head of Felicity Party as soon as his political ban ended in 2003.
Though Welfare had won 21 percent of the votes in 1995, the Felicity Party was expected to win only a tiny percentage of votes in the upcoming elections. However, the leader of another small pro-Islamic party signaled a possible alliance Sunday.
"We were last talking about a possible cooperation in the elections," Abdullah Latif Sener, leader of the Turkey Party, told reporters on Sunday. "We will follow his wish."
Erbakan will be buried in Istanbul following prayers at the Fatih Mosque on Tuesday, Kutan said.
Copyright © 2011 The Associated Press
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]
[edit] Early life and educationErbakan was born in Sinop, at the coast of Black Sea in northern Turkey.[3] His father was Mehmet Sabri, a judge from the prestigious Kozanoðlu clan of Cilicia and his mother Kamer was a native of Sinop and second wife of Mehmet Sabri.[4]
After the high school education in Ýstanbul Lisesi, 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 ÝTÜ 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 Necmettin Erbakan had his success in mechanical engineering and has invented several devices. He was the chief engineer in the team that designed German Leopard 1A tanks.[3]
[edit] Political activitiesNecmettin Erbakan's ideology is set forth in a manifesto, entitled Millî Görüþ (National View), which he published in 1969.[3] The Islamist organisation of the same name, which he founded and of which he is the leader,[5] upholds nowadays that the word "national" is to be understood in the sense of monotheistic ecumenism.[6][7]
A mainstay of the religious wing of Turkish politics since the 1970s, Erbakan has been the leader of a series of Islamist political parties that he founded or inspired 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 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 Yýlmaz and Tansu Çiller. He led his party to a surprise success in the general elections of 1995.
[edit] Prime MinistershipHe became Prime Minister in 1996 in coalition with Çiller's Doðru Yol Partisi (True Path Party), becoming the first devout Muslim to hold the office in modern Turkey. 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 seriously 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, he was nevertheless widely blamed at the time for his indifference. The Turkish military gradually increased the harshness and frequency of its public warnings to Erbakan's government, eventually prompting Erbakan to step down 1997.
At the time there was a formal deal between Prime Minister Erbakan, and the leader of Doðru Yol, Tansu Ciller, for a "period based premiership". 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 Yýlmaz, leader of the second-biggest party, to form a new government. Since this whole act was orchestrated by the military (who was hostile to the Erbakan government), this has been dubbed a "postmodern coup" by some.
[edit] Post-PMHis 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.[8]
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[9] till his death.
Necmettin Erbakan died at Güven Hospital at 11:40 (UTC+2) in Çankaya, Ankara on 27 February 2011 of heart failure.[10]
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