greatreporter.com, December 31st, 2006
Turkish poet, journalist, and politician (b. May 28, 1925, Constantinople [now
Istanbul], Turkey
—d. Nov. 5, 2006,
Ankara, Turkey
), intermittently served as prime minister of
Turkey
(1974, 1977, 1978–79, and 1999–2002). A staunch secularist,
Ecevit
pledged to curb the growing influence of Islam in Turkish politics. He also authorized (July 20, 1974)
Turkey
's military intervention in
Cyprus
after the Greek-led coup on that island. He faced ongoing economic and political problems, notably opposition to reforms intended to ease the path for
Turkey
's admittance into the European Union, and failed to achieve a stable government.
Ecevit
attended the American Robert College in
Istanbul
and served (1946–50) as an embassy official in
London
before returning to
Ankara
as a newspaper journalist. He was first elected to the National Assembly for the Republican People's Party (RPP) in 1957, and he gradually emerged as leader of the left-of-centre group, which later formed the Democratic Left Party (DLP).
Ecevit
rose through the ranks, becoming minister of labour (1961–65), RPP secretary-general (1966–71), party chairman (1972), and, finally, prime minister in January 1974. After he lost a parliamentary vote of confidence that September, tenuous power passed to
Suleyman
Demirel
of the Justice Party.
Ecevit
formed a brief government in 1977 and again during January 1978–October 1979; he took over for the last time after
Prime Minister
Mesut
Yilmaz
was forced to resign in 1998. When
Ecevit
became ill in May 2002, his refusal to name an acting prime minister triggered mass DLP resignations and caused his coalition to lose its parliamentary majority. In the November elections that followed, the DLP received about 1% of the vote.
Ecevit
's literary works included Turkish translations of works by
Rabindranath
Tagore
and of
T.S.
Eliot
's play
Ecevit
's original poetry, Things Will Happen Tomorrow"), was published in 2005.
The Cocktail Party
. A collection of
Bir şeyler olacak yarın
("
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