Ozal, Turgut

(1927–1993), Turkish politician. Turgut Ozal was one of the most controversial political leaders in Turkey. He was born in Malatya, a southeastern province of Turkey; his father was a minor bureaucrat and his mother an elementary school teacher. Ozal studied at the Istanbul Technical University on a government scholarship. After graduation, he worked at the Electrical Power Resources Survey and Development Administration and was then sent to the United States for further training.

On his return he worked at the State Planning Organization (SPO) in lieu of mandatory military service and in 1996 became the head of the SPO. Following the Turkish army's 1971 military intervention into the government, Ozal left Turkey for a position with the World Bank. He returned to Turkey in 1973 to work in the private sector.

His first political encounter was with the National Salvation Party. He was defeated as a parliamentary candidate from the Izmir district in the 1977 general election. In the Justice Party minority government of 1980, Ozal was appointed acting head of the State Planning Organization and minister of state in charge of economic affairs. He implemented the 24 January measures, which promoted less governmental control over the economy, devaluation of the Turkish currency, reform of the taxation system, liberalization of interest rates, and price increases.

Following the 1980 military intervention, the junta leaders appointed Ozal deputy prime minister responsible for the economy. He resigned from this post in 1982 due to the failure of his free-market policies, especially the liberation of interest rates, which led to the so-called banker scandal. The collapse of the system of independent money brokers, whereby individuals collected money at enormously high interest rates, caused thousands of people to lose their savings.

Ozal returned to politics in the 1983 general election. The military junta allowed only three parties to participate, one of them being Ozal's Motherland Party, which won 45 percent of the vote. Ozal's tenure as prime minister lasted ninety-six months. In 1989, after Kenan Evren's term of presidency ended, Ozal was elected the eighth president of the Turkish Republic. During his presidency he expanded the powers of his office to give the president greater authority in domestic and foreign policy. He held this post until his death in April 1993.

Ozal was a conservative and a defender of the free-market economic model that favored minimal state intervention in the economy. Privatization was a main element of his platform. While some praised him as a champion of freedom, his critics argued that he allowed the police and security forces to disregard human rights and turned a blind eye to bribes and corruption.

Emin, Fatih. (1993) Turgut Ozal, 1983–1993. Istanbul, Turkey: Risale

Gokmen, Yavuz. (1992) Ozal Sendromu (The Ozal Syndrome). Ankara, Turkey: V. Yayinlari.

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