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Biography of Süleyman DemirelName: Süleyman DemirelBirth Date: 1924 Death Date: N/A Place of Birth: Islamköy, Turkey Nationality: Turkish Gender: Male Occupations: prime minister, president, engineer Süleyman Demirel Süleyman Demirel (born 1924) was a seven-time Turkish prime minister who later became president. He also led the now defunct Justice party. Throughout his career, Demirel was an outspoken proponent of secularism, holding fast to the political beliefs of Republic of Turkey founder Kemel Ataturk.Süleyman Demirel was one of the most important politicians of modern Turkey, representing the entry of the modernist, pragmatic technocrat into the political arena. Under his rule, the country made rapid economic progress. However, this led to grave socio-economic problems and to his own fall in 1971 and in 1980.Demirel was born in 1924 in the village of Islamköy in the western province of Isparta--where the ancient city of Sparta was located--into a middle class family. After completing his schooling in the provinces, he went to Istanbul Technical University in 1942 and graduated in 1949 as a civil engineer. He entered state …showed first 150 words…
…showed last 150 words…Turkish military, which had been angered by attempts to chip away at secularism, Prime Minister Erbakan resigned in June 1997. Demirel was called upon to pick his successor and chose Motherland party leader Mesut Yimaz. Comments made by Demirel at about this time indicated his still strong support of secularism. "Secularism and modernism are required for civilization. This is the direction that Ataturk showed us."In 2000, Demirel was replaced as president by Ahmet Necdet Sezer, a former top judge. Demirel sought unsuccessfully to amend the Constitution so he could seek a second term. Further Reading There is as yet no biography of Süleyman Demirel in English, but Feroz Ahmad, The Turkish Experiment in Democracy 1950-1975 (1975) covers the years in which he was active. C. H. Dodd, Democracy and Development in Turkey (1979) and Walter Weiker, The Modernization of Turkey: From Ataturk to the Present Day (1981) throw light on the years after 1975. |