Süleyman Demirel

Sami Süleyman Gündoğdu Demirel (1 November 1924 – 17 June 2015) was a Turkish politician, engineer, and statesman who served as the 9th President of Turkey from 1993 to 2000.

Süleyman Demirel was born on 1 November 1924, İslamköy, Atabey, a town in Isparta Province to Hacı Yahya Demirel (1893–1972) and Hacı Ümmühan Demirel (1902–1979).

He was a shepherd in his childhood, which set him apart from the traditional political elite of the country, usually from the military-bureaucratic or the landowning elite, something Demirel used for his public image: because of his rise from a humble background, the rural masses in particular admired him.

These conservative masses further identified with him when he projected the image of a proud Muslim, reminding the public that his father did the Hajj, that in his home, the Qur'an was read on a daily basis when he was a child, or that the name of his village, "İslamköy", means "village of Islam."

Upon completing elementary school in his hometown, he attended middle and high schools in Isparta, Muğla, and Afyon.

In 1948, he married Nazmiye Şener, his second cousin.

After graduating from the school of civil engineering at the Istanbul Technical University in 1949, Süleyman Demirel worked in the State Department for electrical power planning.

He undertook postgraduate studies on irrigation, electrical technologies, and dam construction in the United States, first in 1949–1950, then in 1954–1955.

During the construction of the Seyhan Dam, Demirel worked as a project engineer and in 1954 was appointed Director of the Department of Dams.

Eisenhower Fellowships selected Süleyman Demirel in 1954 to represent Turkey.

In 1955, he served as Director General of the State Hydraulic Works (DSİ).

As such, Demirel supervised the construction of a various power plants, dams and irrigation facilities.

After the coup d'état in 1960, he was drafted to the Turkish Army for compulsory military service.

Upon completion of his military service, he worked as a freelance engineer and a representative of Morrison Construction, a U.S. company.

During this period, he also worked as a part-time lecturer of hydraulic engineering at the Middle East Technical University (ODTÜ) in Ankara.

His political career started with his election to the executive board of the Justice Party, founded by the former general Ragıp Gümüşpala as a replacement of the Democrat Party that was banned after the military coup of 27 May 1960.

Journalist and MP Cihat Baban claims in The Gallery of Politics (Politika Galerisi), that President Cemal Gürsel told him:

"We may solve all troubles if Süleyman Demirel can become the head of the Justice Party (Adalet Partisi). I am working very hard for him to become the party leader. If I succeed in this, I will be happy."Demirel's rural, central Anatolian accent and the fact that he came from a village from the countryside made him very appealing to rural voters.

On 22 March 1963, the imprisoned former president Celal Bayar was released on parole, causing protests in front of Justice Party headquarters.

Demirel resigned from his position during the ordeal, and claimed that "There wouldn't be democracy in this country for another 50 years".

He was the leader of the Justice Party (AP) from 1964 to 1980 and the leader of the True Path Party (DYP) from 1987 to 1993.

Having been identified as a potential future prime minister by Adnan Menderes, Demirel was elected leader of the Justice Party in 1964 and managed to bring down the government of İsmet İnönü in 1965 despite not being a Member of Parliament.

He remained politically inactive until the death of Ragıp Gümüşpala in June 1964 when he re-entered politics as a candidate for chairman of the party.

However, Demirel faced strong opposition.

His biggest rival was Sadettin Bilgiç, nicknamed "koca reis" (Turkish: "big captain").

Bilgiç supporters accused Demirel of being a freemason; While this was true, Demirel averted the crisis with a lie.

Instead of writing to his own lodge, he petitioned a separate freemason's lodge asking whether he was a member or not.

He previously served as the Prime Minister of Turkey seven times between the years 1965 and 1993.

He supported the government of Suat Hayri Ürgüplü until his party won a parliamentary majority in 1965.

He became the first prime minister born in the Republic of Turkey.

Claiming that his Justice Party was the successor of the banned Democrat Party, he was re-elected as premier in 1969 by winning a parliamentary majority for a second time.

Despite his economic reforms which stabilised inflation, he resigned after his budget was blocked by parliament, but formed his third government shortly after.

His premiership came to an end following the 1971 Turkish coup d'état.

Demirel was the leader of the opposition from 1971 to 1975 before forming a right-wing government known as the First Nationalist Front, which collapsed in 1977.

He formed the Second Nationalist Front cabinet in 1977, which collapsed in 1978.

Demirel's minority government in 1979 was unable to elect a president in 1980, leading to the 1980 Turkish coup d'état which banned Demirel from politics.

Returning to politics in 1987, he assumed the leadership of the True Path Party.

He won the 1991 general election and formed a coalition with the Social Democratic Populist Party (SHP), assuming his fifth and final term as prime minister.

Following the sudden death of serving President Turgut Özal, Demirel contested the 1993 presidential election and subsequently became the ninth President of Turkey until 2000.

With 10 years and 5 months, his tenure as premier is the third longest in Turkish history, after İsmet İnönü and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.