Demirel, Suleyman

(b. 1924), Turkish political leader. Suleyman Demirel is a major political figure in contemporary Turkey. He was born in a modest peasant family in the village of Islamkoy, located in the Isparta province of central Anatolia. Benefiting from government scholarships, he obtained a degree in civil engineering from Istanbul Technical University in 1949 and went to the United States for further study on a Eisenhower Exchange Fellowship. In return for the scholarships, Demirel completed his obligatory service in the Turkish State Statistical Institute and the State Hydraulic Works. The prime minister, Adnan Menderes (1899–1961), appointed him the director-general of the State Hydraulic Works, in 1955, when Demirel was thirty-one.

After the 1960 military coup, he joined the newly founded Adalet Partisi ( Justice Party). In 1964 following the death of the party's first chairman Ragip Gumuspala (1897–1964), Demirel was elected chairman, and he held this post until the dissolution of the party in 1980, when all political parties were dissolved following another military coup. His first cabinet post was as the deputy prime minister in the 1965 cabinet of Prime Minister Suat Hayri Urguplu (1903–1981). Following the victory of the Justice Party in the 1965 general elections, he was appointed the prime minister at the age of thirty-nine. He held the post for seven different terms, from October 1965 to April 1993.

Demirel was largely blamed for the unstable political coalitions of the Turkish government during his tenure as prime minister in the 1970s, which pushed Turkey into economic crises and urban violence. His reign was interrupted by military intervention in 1971 and again in 1980. Following the 1980 coup, he was banned from politics together with other political leaders of the pre-1980 era. He returned to active politics as the chairman of the Dogru Yol Partisi (True Path Party) after a 1987 referendum, which removed the political ban. His party won 27 percent of the popular vote in the 1991 general elections, and Demirel was appointed the prime minister for a seventh time.

In 1993, after the death of President Turgut Ozal (1927–1993), Demirel was elected as the ninth president of the Turkish Republic. His term of office ended in May 2000. During his presidency, he played a pivotal role as an arbiter between the army and the politicians, especially through the Refah Partisi (Welfare Party) crisis.

Turgut, Hulusi. (1992) Demirel'in Dunyasi (Demirel's World). Istanbul, Turkey: ABC Ajansi Yayinlari.

Uraz, Abdullah. (1993) BABA: Demirel'in Buyuk Turkiye Kavgasi, Demokrasi ve Kalkınma (FATHER: Demirel's Great Crusade, Democracy, and Development). Ankara, Turkey: Desen Ofset.