- Born:
- October 29, 1926, Sinop, Turkey
- Died:
- February 27, 2011, Ankara (aged 84)
- Title / Office:
- prime minister (1996-1997), Turkey
- Political Affiliation:
- Welfare Party
Necmettin Erbakan
-
Who was Necmettin Erbakan?
Necmettin Erbakan, born in 1926, was a Turkish politician who served as Turkey's first Islamist prime minister from 1996 to 1997. Erbakan came from a family with ties to the Ottoman Empire and received degrees in mechanical engineering.
In 1969, he was elected to the legislature and later formed an Islamic party that was banned in 1971. He re-formed the party in 1972 and served as a deputy prime minister twice during the 1970s. Erbakan became the leader of the Welfare Party, advocating for closer ties with Middle Eastern countries and causing concern among Western leaders. The Welfare Party won the largest number of seats in the 1995 parliamentary elections.
Erbakan's tenure as prime minister was short-lived due to fears of Islamicization, leading to his resignation in 1997. The Welfare Party was banned, and Erbakan faced legal consequences, including a prohibition from political action and convictions for provoking hatred and embezzling party funds. He returned to politics in 2003 and worked with the Felicity Party. Erbakan died in 2011.
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When was Necmettin Erbakan prime minister of Turkey?
Necmettin Erbakan, born in Sinop, Turkey, in 1926, served as Turkey's first Islamist prime minister from 1996 to 1997. His time in office ended due to accusations of undermining Turkey’s secular constitution.
Erbakan, from a family with ties to the Ottoman Empire's Islamic judges, earned degrees in mechanical engineering and taught at Istanbul Technical University and Rhenish-Westphalian Technical University of Aachen. He entered politics in 1969 and formed an Islamic party that was later banned. After a period of prohibition from political activities, Erbakan became the leader of the Welfare Party, advocating for closer ties with Middle Eastern countries and causing concern among Western leaders.
In 1996, Erbakan formed a coalition government and became prime minister on July 8, 1996. However, his tenure was short-lived due to fears of Islamicization, leading to his forced resignation on June 18, 1997, and the subsequent banning of the Welfare Party.
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Which political party did Necmettin Erbakan lead?
Necmettin Erbakan led the Welfare Party, a Turkish political party recognized for its Islamic orientation, which he founded in 1983. The party's advocacy for pro-Islamist policies led to conflicts with the army and other secular elements in Turkey, resulting in its removal from power in 1997 and subsequent banning. When Erbakan returned to politics, he became a leader of the pro-Islamic Welfare Party.
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What were some major goals or policies of Erbakan's government?
During his brief tenure as Turkey's first Islamist prime minister (1996–97), Necmettin Erbakan pursued policies that reflected his pro-Islamic Welfare Party's goals. He advocated for Turkey to withdraw from NATO, discard agreements with Israel, and foster closer ties with Middle Eastern countries like Syria and Iran, which unsettled Western leaders. The Welfare Party aimed to increase Islam's role in public life and favored state-directed economic expansion, turning away from Europe towards the Middle East. These proposals gained significant voter support in the 1995 elections.
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Why was Necmettin Erbakan's time as prime minister controversial?
Necmettin Erbakan's tenure as Turkey's first Islamist prime minister from 1996 to 1997 was controversial due to fears that he was trying to undermine Turkey's secular constitution. Erbakan's pro-Islamic Welfare Party (WP) advocated for closer ties with Middle Eastern countries like Syria and Iran, unsettling Western leaders who relied on Turkey's secular government for their Middle East policy. The WP's growing support reflected the increasing role of Islam in Turkish life, with changes in dress, segregation of the sexes, and the growth of Islamic schools and banks. This led the military to force Erbakan to resign in 1997, and the WP was banned in 1998.
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How did Necmettin Erbakan influence Turkish politics after his time as prime minister?
After his time as prime minister, Necmettin Erbakan continued to influence Turkish politics through his involvement with pro-Islamic political movements. Despite being banned from political action for five years and later convicted of embezzlement, Erbakan remained a significant figure.
Upon his return to politics in 2003, he worked with the Felicity (Saadet) Party. Erbakan's legacy also indirectly shaped the rise of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), which became Turkey's dominant party in the early 21st century. His earlier pro-Islamist policies and the subsequent banning of the Welfare Party (WP) paved the way for the AKP's emergence.
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Necmettin Erbakan (born October 29, 1926, Sinop, Turkey—died February 27, 2011, Ankara) was a Turkish politician whose tenure as the first Islamist prime minister of Turkey (1996–97) ended abruptly amid accusations that he was attempting to undermine Turkey’s secular constitution.
Erbakan was the son of one of the last Islamic judges of the Ottoman Empire, whose system of religious courts was replaced by a secular legal code after the founding of modern Turkey by Kemal Atatürk in 1923. He received degrees in mechanical engineering from Istanbul Technical University, where he later taught, and the Rhenish-Westphalian Technical University of Aachen, then in West Germany. He was elected in 1969 to the legislature as an independent in 1969 and formed an Islamic party the following year, but it was banned by the military government in 1971. He re-formed the party in 1972 and twice during the 1970s served as a deputy prime minister. In 1980 the military again banned the party and briefly imprisoned Erbakan. He was prohibited from engaging in politics from 1980 to 1987.
When he returned to politics, Erbakan became a leader of the pro-Islamic Welfare (Refah) Party, which was well organized on the local level and opposed what many saw as the arrogant corruption of the leaders of the established parties. In the run-up to the 1995 parliamentary elections, Erbakan advocated withdrawing from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, abrogating agreements with Israel, and developing closer ties with such Middle Eastern countries as Syria and Iran. His proposals were particularly unsettling to Western leaders, who had long depended on a friendly secular government in Turkey as a basis for their policy in the Middle East. A large segment of voters, however, seemed to support his views, as the Welfare Party won the largest number of seats, capturing 158 of the 550 seats in the legislature and thereby becoming the first Islamic party ever to win a general election in Turkey.
Early in 1996 Erbakan tried but failed to form a coalition government. A centre-right coalition of the True Path (Doğru Yol) and Motherland (Anavatan) parties then held power until internal disagreements brought it down in June. Erbakan was again asked to try to form a coalition, and this time, when Tansu Çiller, head of the True Path Party, agreed to join him, he succeeded.
On July 8, 1996, the national legislature of Turkey confirmed a coalition government headed by Erbakan. He and Çiller would alternate as prime minister, and the various other ministries were divided between the Welfare Party and the True Path Party. Erbakan’s tenure as prime minister marked the first time an Islamist had held the position, but it was short-lived. Fears that the Welfare Party was attempting to Islamicize the country led the military to force Erbakan to resign. He left office on June 18, 1997, and early in 1998 the Welfare Party was banned entirely. Erbakan was prohibited from political action for five years, and in 2000 he was convicted of “provoking hatred” for a speech he made in 1994 that attacked Turkey’s secular government. Though he avoided prison time, Erbakan was convicted in 2002 of having embezzled Welfare Party funds during its dissolution, and he was sentenced to more than two years of house arrest. He became politically active once again in 2003, after the end of his five-year ban, and worked with the pro-Islamic Felicity (Saadet) Party.