National Unity Committee
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National Unity Committee (Template:Lang-tr) was a military committee formed following the 1960 Turkish coup d'état.
Background
Between 1950 and 1960 the governning party in Turkey was Democrat Party (DP). Towards 1960 Turkey faced with political corruption and economic crises in which the Turkish lira was devaluated from 2,80=1$ to 9 TL=1$.[1] Rise in commodity prices and scarcity of imported technology items caused unrest and the consequently DP support decreased and the support to opposition, especially to Republican People's Party (CHP) increased. DP government tried to suppress CHP-revival by bans on CHP activities. In Uşak and in İstanbul (Topkapı) İsmet İnönü, the leader of CHP was attacked by DP sympathizers on the 1st and 4 May 1959.[2][3]The press was under heavy cencorship. Many journalists (like Metin Toker) as well as politicians (like Osman Bölükbaşı, the leader of Republican Villagers Nation Party (CKMP)) were arrested. On 27 April 1960 DP parliamentary group which held the majority in the parliament passed a law to form a committee of Inquest. The committee, all members of which were DP MPs was tasked with inquires about the opposition party (CHP) and the press. The political committee was authorized like a court.[4]
The committee
On 27 May 1960 a group of soldiers staged a coup. The revolutionaries did not act in the traditional hierarchical way. The chief of general staff, commanders of the air and naval forces were not among the group and the commander of the land forces Cemal Gürsel joined the group after the operation began.[5]The number of generals in the group was only five and the others were colonels or majors or captains. Their total number was 38.[6]
Below is the list of the committee [7]
| ! Name | Rank | Force ! |
|---|---|---|
| Cemal Gürsel | Army general | land |
| Fahri Özdilek | Army general | Land |
| Cemal Madanoğlu | Liutenant general | Land |
| Sıtkı Ulay | Brigadier general | Land |
| İrfan Baştuğ | Brigadier general | Land |
| Ekrem Acuner | Colonel | Land |
| Osman Köksal | Colonel | Land |
| Fikret Kuytak | Colonel | Land |
| Sami Küçük | Colonel | Land |
| Muzaffer Yurdakuler | Colonel | Land |
| Haydar Tunçkanat | Colonel | Air |
| Refet Aksoyoğlu | Liutenant colonel | Land |
| Kadri Kaplan | Liutenant colonel | Land |
| Suphi Karaman | Liutunant Colonel | Land |
| Sezai Okan | Liutenant colonel | Land |
| Mucip Ataklı | Liutunant colonel | Air |
| Mehmet Özgüneş | Major | Land |
| Vehbi Ersü | Major | Land |
| Suphi Gürsoytrak | Major | Land |
| Şükran Özkaya | Major | Land |
| Ahmet Yıldız | Major | Land |
| Selahattin Özgür | Liutenant commader | Navy |
| Kamil Karavelioğlu | Captain | Land |
| Emanullah Çelebi | Captain | Air |
| Alparslan Türkeş | Colonel | Land |
| Orhan Kabibay | Lietunant colonel | land |
| Mustafa Kaplan | Liutenant colonel | Land |
| Orhan Erkanlı | Major | Land |
| Muzaffer Karan | Major | land |
| Şefik Soyuyüce | Major | Land |
| Fazıl Akkoyunlu | Major | Land |
| Dündar Taşer | Major | Land |
| Münir Köseoğlu | Lietunant commander | Navy |
| Numan Esin | Captain | Land |
| İrfan Solmazer | Captain | Land |
| Muzaffer Özdağ | Captain | Land |
| Rıfat Baykal | Naval liutenant | Navy |
| Ahmet Er | Captain | Gendarmerie |
The chairman of the committee was Cemal Gürsel. He was also the prime minister in the 24th and 25th government of Turkey during the military regime.
Among the other generals Irfan Baştuğ died in a traffic accident on 12 September 1960 and Cemal Madanoğlu resigned from the committee on 7 July 1961 both during the military regime.
Fourteens
While Cemal Gürsel was trying to return to civilian regime as soon as possible, fourteen members of the committee under the leadership of Colonel Alparslan Türkeş were planning to continue the military regime with the intension of making reforms. On 13 september 1960, they were expelled from the committee.[8] (Their names are marked by yellow in the table.) They were sent to Turkish embessies in several countries. Although they were later given pardon they could never return to Committee. Alparslan Türkeş in later years became the leader Republican Villagers Nation Party and renamed it National Action Party.
Aftermath
After the general elections on 15 October 1961 Turkey returned to civilian regime. Cemal Gürsel was elected president. The other 21 members of the MBK became the permanent members of the Turkish senate. However their memberships ended by another coup; 1980 Turkish coup d'état.
References
- ^ On line bulletin of regulation Template:Tr icon
- ^ Metin Toker:Demokrasimizin İsmet Paşalı Yılları, 1957-1960, Bilgi Yayınevi, İstanbul, 1991, ISBN 975-494-246-3 p.230
- ^ Cumhuriyetin 75 yılı, Tempo Yayıncılık, İstanbul, 1998, p.141
- ^ Sina Akşin: Kısa Türkiye Tarihi, Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları, Istanbul, 2011, ISBN 978-9944-88-172-2 pp.257-259
- ^ Örsan Öymen: Bir İhtilal Daha var ,ISBN 978-605-111-772-0 p.240
- ^ Turkish parliament page Template:Tr icon
- ^ Nedir page Template:Tr icon
- ^ İnönü foundation page Template:Tr icon