Alparslan Türkeş

Military Officer, statesman and politician, vice prime minister (B. 25^th November 1917 Nicosia, Cyprus – D. 4^th April 1977, Ankara). His real name was Hüseyin Feyzullah. He was from Koyunoğlu family, the son of Tuzlalı Ahmet Hamdi Bey and Fatma Zehra Hanım. His parents first lived in the village of Yukarı Köşkerli, Pınarbaşı in the province of Kayseri but then in 1860 they were sent to Cyprus by Sultan Abdülaziz due to land problems. Having completed his primary and secondary education in Nicosia, he, together with his family, moved to Istanbul from Limasol in June, 1933. He joined Turkish Armed Forces after he graduated from Kuleli Askeri Lisesi (T. N. Military High School) and War Academy.

While Türkeş was a captain, together with twenty three people one of whom were Nihal Atsız, Zeki Velidi Togan, Reha Oğuz Türkkan, he was court-martialed on the charges of political activities in 1944 and was acquitted on May 29,1945. He could re-join the army because his sentence was less than one year. In 1948 he graduated from War Academy and then was sent to the USA. There he attended American Military Academy and Infantry School. Between 1955 and 1957 he held office in Military Representative of Turkey, NATO Standing Committee in Washington, the USA. In the meantime, he took international economy classes. He was sent to School of Atom and Nuclear in 1959 in Germany and after he completed his education there he was promoted to colonel and was appointed to Turkish Land Forces Command as director of branch office, NATO.

Shortly before 27^th May 1960 he was appointed to National Unity Committee after he was appointed to Ankara from his base in Elazığ. He had been talked about very often after he attained notoriety as the spokesman of the May 27, 1960 coup d'état. He had been undersecretary of the prime ministry throughout the period of revolution government. However, the President of NUC General Cemal Gürsel announced the dismissal of National Unity Committee upon the requests of Turkish Armed Forces and members of the NUC on 13^th November 1960 because he thought the activities of NUC was dangerous to the Turkey.

None of the officers called fourteens one of whom was Alparslan Türkeş could rank among the members of new NUC. He was sent to India as an advisor for Embassy of New Delhi. During his exile, he sent a letter which was published in Magazine “Milli Yol” and which was telling that death sentence of Adnan Menderes and his friends judged in Supreme Court of Justice was not a proper judgment.

Alparslan Türkeş was welcomed by a huge nationalist crowd upon his return to Turkey from Komotini on 23^rd February 1963 after 25 months. In the same year, he joined the Cumhuriyetçi Köylü Millet Party, (CKMP) and was elected its chairman in 1965. After a long debate, "Dokuz Işık Doktrini" (T.N. Nine Lights Doctrine) was added into the codes of the party. In this period, Türkeş was titled Başbuğ (T.N. leader) by his followers and entered the parliamentary as the deputy of Ankara.

Türkeş became candidate for Presidency in 1966 but lost to Cevdet Sunay with 11 votes. He entered the parliamentary again in 1969 and in 1973 as the deputy of Adana. On 6-8 February 1969 the CKMP was renamed the Milliyetçi Hareket Party, MHP and its emblem was switched to three crescents from the scale. Türkeş served as Deputy Prime Minister in the first (1973-77) and the second (1977-78) right-wing Milliyetçi Cephe cabinets.

Alparslan Türkeş was arrested together with other senior managers of the party during 12 September coup d'état. Later, he was put on trial for “trying to change constitutional order by force and in a way which was against the republicanism and democracy, arming people against each other and encouraging them in bloodbath, committing these crimes himself, committing crimes described in Article 149 and 146 of Turkish Penal Code.” He released by the court pending a trial in 1985 and he was sentenced to 11 years 1 month and 10 days. He was in prison for 4 and half years.

Türkeş was the president of MHP, which was forbade from politics, after it was allowed to be active in politics legally again until his death. He entered the parliamentary again as the deputy of Yozgat in 1991 when his party was in a coalition with the Refah Party (RP) under the leadership of Necmettin Erbakan. However, he couldn’t enter the parliamentary in 1995 when the party failed to pass the 10% national threshold needed for a political party to have a seat in Parliament.

He died of heart failure on April 4, 1997 and he was buried in state ceremony. He was laid to rest in a monumental tomb in Beştepe, Ankara. Alparslan Türkeş, who was one of the leaders influencing Turkish Politics in Republic Period, published many books, particularly “Dokuz Işık”, representing many of his thoughts.

MAIN WORKS:

1944 Milliyetçilik Olayı (1968), Dokuz Işık (1969), Türkiye’nin Meseleleri, Temel Görüşler (1975), Dış Politikamız ve Kıbrıs (1975), Yeni Ufuklara Doğru, Kahramanlık Ruhu, Gönül Seferberliğine, Bunalımdan Çıkış Yolu, Savunma (his defenses in the court, 1992), İlimcilik (1995), 27 Mayıs - 13 Kasım - 21 Mayıs ve Gerçekler (Istanbul 1996), Bunalımdan Çıkış Yolu (1996).

REFERENCE: Mustafa Çalık / Siyasi Kültür ve Sosyolojinin Bazı Kavramları Açısından MHP Hareketi (1965), İhsan Işık / Yazarlar Sözlüğü (1990, 1998) - Türkiye Yazarlar Ansiklopedisi (2001, 2004) - Resimli ve Metin Örnekli Türkiye Edebiyatçılar ve Kültür Adamları Ansiklopedisi (2006, gen. 2. bas. 2007) – Ünlü Devlet Adamları (Türkiye Ünlüleri Ansiklopedisi, C. 1, 2013) - Encyclopedia of Turkey’s Famous People (2013)., Sabri Akdeniz / MHP Genel Başkanı Sn. Alparslan Türkeş’e Açık Mektup (1993), Cemal Anadol / Alparslan Türkeş: Olaylar-Belgeler-Hatıralar ve MHP (1995), Oral Çalışlar / Liderler Hapishanesi: Ecevit - Erbakan ve Türkeş ile Cezaevi Günleri (1996), Ortadoğu Gazetesi ‘Türkeş Özel Eki’ (4.4.1998), Erdoğan Alp / Son Başbuğ (2000), Mehmet Doğan / Alparslan Türkeş: MHP ve Gölgedeki Adam (2000), Hüdavendigar Onur / Türk Sağı Sözlüğü (2001), Abdullah Satoğlu / Kayseri Ansiklopedisi (2002).