Turkish politician, member of the Parliament,
ex-leader
of the True Path Party (Dogru Yol Partisi,
DYP). She was Turkey's first woman
prime minister from 1993-96's
Governments, and has been central
in Turkish politics since then. Her politics has been marked by attempts
to liberalize both the economy of Turkey and the
individual rights of its people. She has over the recent years lost some
of her former allies, among them president Süleyman
Demirel.
She is graduated as an economist from the Bogazici (Bosphorus) University of Istanbul. She also holds a Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut.
BIOGRAPHY:
1946: Born in Istanbul.
1991 October: Elected to parliament.
1993: She becomes leader of the True Path Party
(DYP).
—— She forms a new government, which is lead by the True
Path Party.
1995 September: The Republican People's Party (CHP)
leaves the government, which forces Çiller to call for early
elections.
—— December: Çiller does not achieve the number of votes she
needed in the parliamentary elections, as her party
only got 19%, 2% less than the winning Islamist Welfare Party (RP).
1996 March: Çiller and the True Path
Party (DYP) forms government together with Mesut
Yilmaz of the Motherland Party (ANAP),
leaving him in the position of prime minister.
—— June: Çiller cooperates with Necmettin
Erbakan of the Islamist Welfare Party (RP) in overthrowing her partner
Mesut
Yilmaz.
—— July: A coalition is forged between Erbakan
and Çiller, which leaves Çiller in the position as foreign
minister.
1997 June: Ciller is intended to become prime minister,
as Erbakan resigns, but president Demirel
asked Yilmaz instead to form
government.
Today she is not the leader of DYP
anymore (Mehmet Agar is the new leader), and stayed out of the
Parliament because of 10% threshold during last
elections
in 2002.
.
.
Former prime minister in
Turkey, leader of coalition
government
between the Welfare (Refah) Party (his own) and the True
Path Party (1996-1997). Professor in physics. Lived in Germany for
many years, where he worked as a scientist. Minister in coalition
government under Bülent Ecevit in 1974.
Erbakan was one of the founders of the Welfare Party (RP), which started to grow tremendously in the recent few years. In 1980 Erbakan was the leader of pro-Islamic protests, that resulted in a military coup, and Erbakan's party was banned, and he was closed out from politics for 7 years. It is believed that the Welfare Party's politics has less support than the 1995 elections results, which was 21%. But people cast their ballots for it, as it has a high reputation for honesty in municipal governments. Many have also supported the Welfare Party because it has a politics that helps the least fortunate in the Turkish society. Erbakan raised the wages for civil servants with 50% shortly after taking office.
As prime minister Erbakan has chosen a moderate line, but still oriented himself more in direction of other Muslim states, without cutting any ties to the West, which many observers expected. In Western media, his improved relations with Iran and Libya's Ghadhafi have been hard to accept. Erbakan expressed views in the electoral campaign, which he left when he was appointed prime minister, and he now supports Turkey's application for membership in the European Union (EU).
Erbakan's Welfare Party was outlawed in 1997 after a long campaign leaded by the Turkish military and forces and most of the self-conscious people afraid of a disintegration of the country with a possible Islamization, and the chances of an escalation of the conflict with Kurdish nationalists. Welfare Party (RP) changed its name into Wisdom Party (FP), with its leader Recai Kutan, but its members say that this is not a continuation of RP but a new party called FP.
Erbakan was banned from politics for 5 years until 2003.
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