Bülent Ecevit

Bülent Ecevit (1925-2006), Turkish Prime Minister (1974, 1977, 1978-1979, 1999-2002). Born in İstanbul, Ecevit was a poet and student of literature before he turned to politics as a protégé of Ismet Inönü, leader of the Republican People's Party (RPP). He was elected to parliament in 1957; from 1961 to 1965 he served as minister of labour in Inönü's Cabinets, making strikes legal for the first time in Turkey. Breaking with Inönü over the intervention of the military in 1971, he won the leadership of the RPP the following year.

In 1974 he formed a coalition government, declaring an amnesty for all political prisoners, and briefly became a national hero when he ordered the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. His coalition broke apart, however, and he was forced to resign later that year. He returned to power in 1978, after heading a government for 14 days in 1977, but after a year of escalating political terrorism and economic deterioration, he resigned. His continuing political activities repeatedly brought him into conflict with the government. In 1995 his Democratic Left Party joined a short-lived anti-Islamist coalition with the True Path Party of Tansu Çiller. In July 1997 Ecevit led his party into a coalition government with the Motherland Party under Mesut Yilmaz. In January 1999, following the collapse of Yilmaz's administration, he formed his own coalition government. He welcomed the capture of Abdullah Ocalan, leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a Marxist group that had been involved in terrorist actions in Turkey. Following the general elections in April 1999, he remained in office at the head of a new coalition with strong nationalist elements.

Ecevit welcomed the December 1999 invitation from the European Union (EU) to become a member, and in order to maintain good relations he supported the suspension of the death sentence on Ocalan in January 2000. Ecevit failed to win support for a constitutional change that would have enabled President Süleyman Demirel to serve a second term and in May Ahmet Necdet Sezer won the election for president. A liquidity crisis in November caused by allegations of corruption in the banking sector led to a US$10 billion International Monetary Fund rescue package. The unstable economy was shaken further in March 2001 by the threats of political instability caused by disagreement between Sezer and Ecevit concerning the problems of tackling corruption.

In April 2001 the Cabinet agreed a programme of reform to ready Turkey for EU membership. Some 34 constitutional amendments were passed in July, entrenching democracy, and in December Ecevit reached an agreement with the EU that would allow the introduction of the European Rapid Reaction Force. He also supported the opening of talks over the future of Cyprus in January 2002, retracting a long-standing call for the northern Turkish enclave to be recognized as an independent state before such talks could begin. A series of penal reforms was passed in February, restricting the use of the death penalty. Continued economic difficulties, and Ecevit’s persistent ill health, weakened the government and led to early legislative elections, held in November 2002. Ecevit’s Democratic Left Party failed to win enough votes to give it representation in parliament, and he resigned as leader shortly after the election, retiring from active politics in 2004. He suffered a stroke in May 2006, entering a coma from which he never recovered.