Soldier, statesman and politician, prime minister. He was born in 1923 in Üsküdar/ Istanbul. His full name is Saim Bülent Ulusu. He worked as branch commissioner officer and head of department and performed various staff tasks at warships after graduating from Deniz Harp Okulu (T.N. Turkish Naval Academy) in 1941 with the rank of sub-lieutenant. He graduated from Deniz Harp Akademisi (T.N. Naval Military Academy) in 1955 and ascended to the rank of staff officer. During his military life, he served in various warships and headquarters before achieving the rank of captain, and was promoted to rear admiral (lower half) in 1964. He served as the Head of Naval Forces Command Operations Department and deputy commander of mine fleet while he was rear admiral (lower half), and served as fleet commander as he was promoted to rear admiral (upper half) in 1967. He was promoted to vice admiral in 1970 and worked as Northern Sea Area Commander, Chief of Naval Forces Staff and Fleet Commander. After he was promoted to admiral in 1974, he worked as member of the Supreme Military Council and Undersecretary of Ministry of national Defense. He was appointed as Naval Forces Commander between the years 1977-80. In August 1980, he retired from the military.
Bülent Ulusu was not among the
team that made the military intervention before 12 September (1980) because of
the postponed “Flag Plan” (Bayrak Planı), which supposed to be executed on 11
July, however, he provided help to this team during the continuation of the
coup.
The
Revolutionists assigned retired Admiral Bülent Ulusu to form the 44th
Government of the Republic of Turkey because they trusted him the most. Ulusu,
who just newly retired, went to Ankara hurriedly, and on 21 September 1980, on
the day he formed the government, he stated that he did not understand
economics therefore asked for help from a bureaucrat that can handle the economic
affairs. Although Turgut Özal thought that he will be arrested when he was
invited to Çankaya Villa by Kenan Evren on the night of 20 September, he was
appointed as vice prime minister surprisingly. Özal suggested Bülent Ulusu, who
had not had any political experience, to appoint his close friend Kaya Erdem as
Minister of Finance. After a little research done by the Military Council, Ürgüplü
accepted the request of Turgut Özal and appointed Kaya Erdem as the Minister of
Finance.
After a while, when the revolutionists gained
more experience on governing the state, they appointed Adnan Başer Kafaoğlu as
economic affairs consultant of Kenan Evren in early 1981 in order for not
losing the control completely. When banker disasters increased in 1982, Bülent
Ulusu called for the resignation of the Minister of Finance Kaya Erdem first,
and then for the resignation of Turgut Özal. On 14 July 1982, Adnan Başer
Kafaoğlu was appointed as the Minister of Finance.
Bülent Ulusu remained distant to the politics
when the works for forming a political party started as a result of the
decision made by the National Security Council in May of 1983. He was proposed as
candidate from Nationalist Democracy Party that was formed by former Ambassador
of Canada Turgut Sunalp upon the request of Turgut Sunalp and approval of Kenan
Evren, and was supported by the soldiers and he was elected as Istanbul Deputy
in 1983 and served the parliament until 1987.
Bülent Uslu
having Turkish Armed Forces Medal of Distinguished Service, Tunisia
Presidential Medal of Merit and the United States Medal of Distinguished Service
is married with a child.
REFERENCE: Cumhuriyet Dönemi Türkiye Ansiklopedisi (2. cilt, 1983), Mehmet Ali Birand / 12 Eylül Saat: 04:00 (1985), Büyük Larousse (c 19, s. 11939, 1986), Kenan Evren’in Anıları / Son Defter (1989), Süleyman Yeşilyurt / Türkiye’nin Başbakanları (2006), Sema Dülger / Dünden Bugüne Devletin Zirvesindekiler (2007), Bülend Ulusu hayatını kaybetti (milliyet.com.tr, 23.12.2015), Selim Esen / 2015'te Kaybettiğimiz Sanatçılar... ve diğerleri (Gerçekedebiyat.com, 1.1.2016).
