German impression of Erbakan[1] representing Turkey by Walter Hanel .
Mavi Boncuk | Erbakan at the EU gates
Cartoon by Walter Hanel on Turkey's entry into the EU: Turkey (Erbakan [1]) knocks on the door of the EU. In the baggage: open questions about dealing with human rights and Kurds in Turkey. Helmut Kohl and Klaus Kinkel eye the candidate country from the window.
Karikatur von Walter Hanel zum EU-Beitritt der Türkei: Die Türkei klopft an die Tür der EU. Im Gepäck dabei: offene Fragen zum Thema Umgang mit Menschenrechten und Kurden in der Türkei. Helmut Kohl und Klaus Kinkel beäugen den Beitrittskandidaten vom Fenster aus.
Federal Republic of Germany, 1997
Photo credits: Foundation House of History;
EB no. 2011/09 / 0086.1274
SOURCE
[1] Necmettin Erbakan, politician, born 29 October 1926; died 27 February 2011
A shrewd politician, with a folksy turn of phrase, Necmettin Erbakan led Turkish Islamism for more than four decades during which the movement grew from a marginal group to become the mainstream in Turkish politics, effectively supplanting the old centre-right and the centre-left. Yet he did not share in the eventual triumph of Turkish Islamism, having been displaced by younger, more modern leaders.
At the time of his death, aged 84, Erbakan was what he had been at the outset of his political career in the late 1960s, the leader of a small, conservative, anti-western political party backed by a small percentage of voters. But he, more than anyone else, created the conditions enabling the ruling moderate Islamist Justice and Development party (AKP) to win and hold on to power.
Erbakan was born at the Black Sea port of Sinop, but he came from a powerful clan, the Kozanogullari, in Adana. His father was a criminal court judge and the young Erbakan travelled with him across Turkey, but had an Istanbul lycee and university education, graduating in mechanical engineering. Postgraduate work at Aachen, Germany, and a spell working in the motor industry for Humboldt Deutz followed. From 1953 until 1965, he taught engineering in Istanbul Technical University, rising to become a professor, while working in business on the beginnings of the Turkish motor industry.
He had led a university prayer group during his student years – and was already known to his classmates, including the future prime minister Süleyman Demirel, by the respectful title of "hodja". Erbakan remained close to the conservative wing of the Naksibendi religious brotherhood. In 1969, he was elected to the presidency of the Association of Chambers of Commerce in Turkey, a highly influential and semipolitical position, but his Islamist policies led to his rapid ejection from the post by Demirel, by then prime minister. In the same year, Erbakan stood as an independent in the general elections and became an MP for the ultra-religious city of Konya. A year later, he set up the National Order party, proclaiming that it went back to the Sultans – a coded way of indicating its opposition to the secular consensus of the Turkish republic.
Erbakan's political views about "the national order" ("nation" referring to the world community) rapidly spread through Turkey and among Turkish workers in Germany. His political movement was interrupted several times when his party was closed down for violating Turkey's secular constitution. The National Order party disappeared in the 1971 coup but was replaced in 1973 by the National Salvation party (NSP), which picked up 12% of the votes and 48 seats in general elections. Bülent Ecevit, the centre-left politician, formed a coalition government with Erbakan, bringing him to the forefront of national politics.
The coalition survived little more than a year, but in the later 70s, Erbakan was back as deputy prime minister, this time with Demirel. By now, a maverick political style, a blend of populism and state-supported industrial projects in the motor and engineering industries, had emerged. Erbakan was fond of quaint utterances to parliament for the cameras, "the cheese boat doesn't get anywhere just by talking" being a typical example of his wisdom.
A 1980 military coup led to a spell in detention and the closure of the NSP, but the return of civilian rule enabled Erbakan to set up the Welfare party and during the early 1990s, it captured almost all the big cities in local elections. In general elections, its share of the vote rose from 7% in 1985 to 21% in a highly fragmented political scene by 1995. Erbakan could now lead coalition governments rather than just take part in them. From early 1996 until the middle of 1997, Erbakan was prime minister and the Welfare party ruled Turkey, its rural and religious style provoking a strong reaction from much of the metropolitan middle class and the military. In February 1997, the military sent tanks into an Islamist town near Ankara and issued a set of demands. Erbakan decided to step down and allow the junior partner in the coalition to lead the government. But he was wrongfooted when Demirel, now president of the republic, appointed the leader of a third party as prime minister.
The following year Erbakan suffered a further setback when the Welfare party was banned by the constitutional court; by now he was elderly and the young – and less anti-western – figures in his party chafed at his leadership. The outcome was the foundation of the AKP in 2001 by several of Erbakan's erstwhile lieutenants, the new party offering a much milder brand of Islamic politics. In November 2002 it swept to victory with 34% of the votes and Erbakan and the Felicity party, which he had founded in 2001, were relegated to the sidelines.
His troubles were not over: after a conviction for financial irregularities, he was confined to house arrest, but received a presidential pardon. The Felicity party remains active and Erbakan ended his days as a virtual father of his nation.
He was married, with two daughters and a son.
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