Süleyman Gündoğdu Demirel (Turkish pronunciation: [sylejˈman demiˈɾel]), 1 November 1924 – 17 June 2015) was a Turkish politician and statesman who served as the 9th President of Turkey from 1993 to 2000. He previously served as the Prime Minister of Turkey five times between the years 1965 and 1993. He was the leader of the Justice Party (AP) from 1964 to 1980 and the leader of the True Path Party (DYP) from 1987 to 1993.
Having been identified as a potential future Prime Minister by Adnan Menderes, Demirel was elected leader of the Justice Party in 1964 and managed to bring down the government of İsmet İnönü in 1965 despite not being a Member of Parliament. He supported the government of Suat Hayri Ürgüplü until his party won a parliamentary majority in the 1965 general election. Claiming to be the successor of the banned Democrat Party, he was re-elected as Prime Minister in 1969 by winning a parliamentary majority for a second time. Demirel presided over the laying the foundations of the Keban Dam, the Bosphorus Bridge and an oil pipeline between Batman and İskenderun.
Despite his economic reforms which stabilised inflation, he resigned as Prime Minister after his budget was blocked by parliament, but formed his third government shortly after. His premiership came to an end following the 1971 Turkish coup d'état, which had been caused by a disagreement between the government and military over the Cyprus dispute, an escalation of tensions with Greece and growing political violence. He was also accused of deviating from the principles of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, which he denied. Demirel was the leader of the opposition from 1971 to 1975 before forming a four-party government known as the first nationalist front, which collapsed in 1977. He formed the second nationalist front cabinet in 1977 with two other parties, which collapsed in 1978. A rise in global petrol prices led to a surge in inflation and an economic crisis and Demirel's government responded with economic liberalisation, though these reforms were rejected by other parties. This led to a spate of political violence and strikes, during which 42 people were killed in the 1977 Taksim Square massacre.
Demirel's minority government in 1979 was unable to elect a president in 1980, leading to the 1980 Turkish coup d'état which banned Demirel from politics. In the 1987 constitutional referendum, Demirel regained the right to actively participate in politics and assumed the leadership of the True Path Party. He won the 1991 general election and formed a coalition with the Social Democratic Populist Party (SHP), assuming his fifth and final term as Prime Minister. Following the sudden death of serving President Turgut Özal, Demirel contested the 1993 presidential election and subsequently became the 9th President of Turkey until 2000. With 10 years and 5 months, Demirel's tenure of prime ministership is the 3rd longest in Turkish history, after Ismet Inonu and Recep Tayyip Erdogan. On 26 October 2014, Demirel became the first President to unveil a Presidential Library in Turkey.
Demirel died on 17 June 2015 at the Guven hospital in Ankara where he had been undergoing treatment for a respiratory tract infection.
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