President of Turkey from 1960 to 1966
Cemal Gursel
(
Turkish:
[d?e?mal
?y??sæl]
; 9 June 1894 ? 14 September 1966) was a Turkish military officer and politician who was the 4th
president of Turkey
, serving from 1960 to 1966 after taking power in
a coup d'etat
.
Early life
[
edit
]
Gursel was born in the city of
Erzurum
as the son of an
Ottoman Army
officer, Abidin Bey,
[1]
and the grandson of Ibrahim (1821?1895) and the great-grandson of Haci Ahmad (1788?1860).
[
citation needed
]
After the elementary school in
Ordu
and the military middle school in
Erzincan
, he graduated from the Kuleli military high school in
Istanbul
. He was a popular figure and was therefore nicknamed "Cemal A?a" (big brother Cemal) since his childhood school years and onwards all his life.
Gursel served in the Army for 45 years. During World War I, he participated in the
Battle of Canakkale
in
Dardanelles
,
Gallipoli
as a lieutenant with the First Battery of the 12th
Artillery
Regiment in 1915 and received the War Medal. He later fought at the
Palestine and Syria
fronts in 1917 and became a
prisoner of war
by the British while suffering
malaria
during his command of the 5th Battery of the 41st Regiment on 19 September 1918. Gursel was kept as a prisoner of war in
Egypt
until 6 October 1920. During his presidency much later, when interviewed by the foreign press as to why he had not learned English during his captivity, he somewhat regretfully recalled that he was so frustrated to be a captive, he protested and studied French in the British camp instead.
After his release, Cemal Gursel returned to
Anatolia
to re-join
Mustafa Kemal
subsequent to
Erzurum Congress
and took part in all the western front
campaigns
in the
Turkish War of Independence
between 1920 and 1923. He was promoted for gallantry in the First Division excelling in the battles of
Second Inonu
,
Eski?ehir
and
Sakarya
, and was later awarded the
Medal of Independence
by the first Parliament for his combat service in the Final Offensive.
Gursel was married, in 1927, to
Melahat
, the daughter of the
chief engineer
on the
Ottoman cruiser
Hamidiye
. From this marriage, a son Ozdemir was born. The couple adopted two daughters named Hatice and Turkan.
[2]
Military career
[
edit
]
Cemal Gursel attended the
Turkish Military College
and graduated in 1929 as a staff officer. He was promoted colonel in 1940. He was made a brigadier general in 1946 and made commander of the 65th Division. He was later the commander of the 12th Division, the 18th Corps commander, and commander of the 2nd Interior Tasks District. Made Lieutenant general in 1953, was general in 1957, being appointed Commander of
3rd Army
. Service included chief of intelligence, and he was appointed as the Commander of Land Forces in 1958 when he was commanding an army.
Gursel, as an easy-going and fatherly figure with a fine sense of humor, was well liked both nationally and in
NATO
circles, and had earned the respect and confidence of both the nation and the armed forces with his professional knowledge and demeanor. A patriotic memorandum he sent on 3 May 1960 to the
Minister of Defense
in an effort to establish
checks and balances
on ongoing affairs, reflecting his personal views in continuation of the chat they had the night before, expressing his support to the prime minister
Adnan Menderes
and belief that the Prime Minister should replace the President with immediate effect to bolster a much needed national unity, resulted in his suspension from his post, forcing early retirement instead of becoming the next
Chief of the Turkish General Staff
.
A farewell letter by him, advocating and urging the army to stay out of politics, was forwarded to all units of the armed forces at the time of his departure on leave. Cemal Gursel's statement read: 'Always hold high the honor of the army and the uniform you wear. Protect yourselves from the current ambitious and harmful political atmosphere in the country. Stay away from the politics at all cost. This is of utmost importance to your honor, the army's might and the future of the country.' He went to
?zmir
where he became the president of the Anti-Communism Association of Turkey.
Head of state
[
edit
]
A
coup d'etat
organised and conducted by army officers at the rank of colonels and below took place without the participation or leadership of Cemal Gursel on 27 May 1960 after continuing civilian and academia unrests throughout the country. It is rumored that four-star general
Ragıp Gumu?pala
, the Commander of the
Third Army
based in Eastern Anatolia, gave an ultimatum to the rebelling officers that if they did not have a general appointed as their head, the Third Army would attack to take over the capital and the administration of the country, thereby forcing the rebel group to find a senior officer over them. Because of his immense popularity among the public and military ranks, Gursel was subsequently chosen by the revolutionaries overnight and brought into the chairmanship of the military coup and became, as of 2015
[update]
, the only leader in the world put into power by a military takeover who had previously had no role in its planning or execution. He, while still in his pajamas, was escorted to Ankara in the military
C-47
transport plane by a captain who was the youngest officer of the radical coup team who that by that time had already sent President
Celal Bayar
, Prime Minister
Adnan Menderes
,
Chief of General Staff
Ru?tu Erdelhun
and some other members of the ruling
Democratic Party
to a military court on
Yassıada
in the
Sea of Marmara
, accusing them of violation of the
constitution
. The day after the coup, four-star general Cemal Gursel was declared the
commander in chief
,
Head of state
,
Prime minister
and
Minister of Defense
of the 24th government on 30 May 1960, in theory giving him more absolute powers than even Kemal Ataturk had ever had.
Gursel freed 200 students and nine newsmen, and licensed 14 banned newspapers to start publishing again (
Time
, 6 June 1960). He fetched ten law professors, namely
Sıddık Sami Onar
, Hıfzı Veldet Velidedeo?lu, Ragıp Sarıca, Naci ?ensoy, Huseyin Nail Kubalı, Tarık Zafer Tunaya, ?smet Giritli, ?lhan Arsel, Bahri Savcı and
Muammer Aksoy
, accompanied by
Erdo?an Tezic
, a law postgraduate student as their assistant (later Chairman of the Turkish Council of Higher Education), from Istanbul and Ankara Universities to help draft a
new constitution
on 27 May, right after he arrived in Ankara. During their first meeting with General Cemal Gursel on the same day, Prof. Onar declared on behalf of the group of law academicians that 'the circumstances of the day should not be interpreted as an ordinary and political
coup d'etat
, implying the
revolution
being brought by the change process starting in the republic that day. President Cemal Gursel also formed a scientific council to guide the Ministry of Defence, later forming the
Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey
to advise the government more broadly.
He appointed General
Ragıp Gumu?pala
, the commander of the Third Army, as the new
Chief of the General Staff
who, upon his retirement in two months, was succeeded by General
Cevdet Sunay
, and Gumu?pala was further directed by Gursel to form the new
Justice Party
to bring together the former members of the Democratic Party. A simple and conservative sort, Gursel became Turkey's most popular figure, forbade display of his picture alongside Ataturk's in government offices, rode about in an open Jeep touring rural communities, talking to the peasants almost as if they were his children (
Time
, 6 January 1961). He was successful with his personal interventions in reducing the number of execution verdicts from the
Yassıada trials
from 15 down to three. Gursel's plea for forgiveness and attempts along with several other world leaders for the reversal of the execution sentences and for the release of Adnan Menderes and two other ministers were rejected by the Junta. A member
[
who?
]
of the
National Unity Committee
writes in his memoirs that, upon Cemal Gursel's intervention on the prevention of Menderes' execution, the chief prosecutor of the tribunal, Altay Omer Egesel, said: ‘Let us hurry! They will save him (Menderes)!’, also arranging a contingency plan for conducting the execution in a Navy Destroyer in the event of a forgiveness operation in
Imrali
Island to save Menderes while, at the same time, placing a press release questioning the legal ability of Gursel for an intervention. Senator Mehmet Feyyat, District Attorney of Istanbul at the time, recently declared: ‘They cut off our phone lines. Adnan Menderes was hanged against the regulations. I was supposed to oversee the execution. The revolution tribunal's chief prosecutor Egesel conducted the execution despite not being authorized. ?smet ?nonu and Cemal Gursel were already phoning for him (Menderes) not to be executed but the telecommunications office cut off the lines and Egesel made use of the (communication) gap to conduct the execution. Cemal Gursel resisted pressure to continue military rule, Through direct efforts of then PM
?smet ?nonu
during his presidency military has thwarted two military coup attempts made by
Talat Aydemir
, appointed the organizers of the coup who were keen on staying in power by force of arms such as
Alparslan Turke?
to overseas posts and played an important role in the preparation of a
new constitution
and return to the democratic order of the Kemalist vision.
[
citation needed
]
Statesman
[
edit
]
Gursel Hosting HM Queen
Elizabeth II
.
Cemal Gursel rescheduled and attended the previously cancelled
Turkish
and
Scottish
national football teams' game in Ankara on 8 June 1960 (Turkey 4, Scotland 2) which was followed by a National Football Tournament, the Cemal Gursel Cup, that helped boost the national morale in the post-coup weeks with finals in Istanbul on 3 July (
Fenerbahce
1,
Galatasaray
0). He took an active role in extensive modernization of
Turkish Armed Forces
and the staunch defense of the free world and
Europe
during the
cold war
, in particular during the
Cuban Missile Crisis
. The declaration of independence of
Cyprus
according to the prior agreements and the deployment of a Turkish military unit to Cyprus took place in August 1960. He hosted the visit of
Queen Elizabeth II
to Ankara in early 1961 and the visit of the vice president
Lyndon Johnson
in 1962. Gursel obtained, with the coordinated work of
Sir Bernard Burrows
, and granted permission of the ruling military
National Unity Committee
(NUC) for British military combat aircraft to overfly Turkish airspace on their way to support
Kuwait
, which was under threat of invasion by
Iraq
in July 1961.
When questioned by a German journalist regarding his intentions on becoming the next president upon proposal of the interim parliament, Cemal Gursel responded that he was ready to serve only if asked by the nation, not by the interim house. He neither put his own candidacy forward for the presidency nor lobbied for his election or against any other candidate in any way. He offered his endorsement of candidacy of several high rank academicians in Medicine and Sciences in Ankara for both the interim prime minister and future president positions. Gursel placed a special emphasis on
participatory democracy
with the promotion of the full interests of the nation's minorities, appointing Turkish Citizen ethnic leaders Hermine Kalustyan of Armenian, Kaludi Laskari of Greek and Erol Dilek of Jewish origin as his "Deputy Representatives of Head of State" and the full members of the interim House of Representatives. The editor of
Shalom
, Avram Leyon, accompanied him on his travels and foreign state functions. He re-established the
freedom of speech
that was overwhelmingly taken away from the media organs and from the press by the previous cabinet.
Gursel (far right) and
USAF
General
Lauris Norstad
(far left) at a
Republic Day
military parade in 1960.
The
constitution
, which brought for the first time a full text of civil and political rights under constitutional protection along with an improved system of
checks and balances
in Turkish history, was approved by a
referendum
held on 10 October 1961. With the establishment of the first
Constitutional Court
that created a new paradigm shift by scrutinizing the parliamentary rulings as the "checks" organ in 1961 and the addition of a
Senate
to the parliament, the
Turkish Grand National Assembly
was re-opened after the general elections, nominated and voted him as the fourth president of Turkey. Journalist Parliamentarian
Cihat Baban
claims in his book,
The Gallery of Politics
(Politika Galerisi) that Cemal Gursel told him "We may solve all troubles if
Suleyman Demirel
becomes the head of the Justice Party (Adalet Partisi). I am working very hard for him become the party leader. If I succeed in this, I will be happy.." Demirel was elected chairman at the second grand party convention on 28 November 1964. The President of the Republic of Turkey Cemal Gursel assigned the mandate to form and serve as the Prime Minister of the new government to
?smet ?nonu
in November 1961, June 1962 and December 1963, to Senator
Suat Hayri Urguplu
in February 1965 and, following the general elections, to Suleyman Demirel of Justice Party in October 1965.
With the reduction of tensions between the West and the Soviet bloc, Gursel sought improved relations for his country's population of 27.8 million with the
Soviet Union
, such as the initiation of a telephone line agreement, as with the other members of the Western alliance while initiating new credit agreements with the US and the UK as well as bilateral technical and investment relations with Germany in 1960s.
The atomic reactor in Istanbul became operational in 1962 along with his establishment of the first Research and State Library of the government in two years after his administration started. He promoted the grant of the freedom of and the legal
rights to form unions
and to go on strike in the country.
Turkish Universities
gained autonomous independence by law for the first time upon the legislation he passed. Cemal Gursel granted a presidential
pardon
for the life sentences of the previous president
Celal Bayar
and the former chief of general staff
Ru?tu Erdelhun
whose prior execution sentence was also revoked by the National Unity Committee upon Gursel's appeals. He initiated the new era of planned economy in Turkey, formed a State Institute of Statistics, launched the
State Planning Organization
(DPT) that implemented "The First 5-Years Development Plan", arranged re-entry of the Turkish Republic in the
United Nations Security Council
in 1961 and moved Turkey, through his close and personal diplomatic dialogues with
Charles de Gaulle
and
Konrad Adenauer
, into the direction of
European Union
membership with the
Ankara Agreement
, signed with France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Italy and Luxembourg in 1963, resulting in associate membership the following year and a large
Turkish workforce migration
to Germany and Western Europe to assist their postwar industrial development.
When a Cypriot leader who was exiled out of the UK previously in 1956 on the basis of his struggle for Cypriot independence from the British rule, wanted in November 1963 to amend the basic articles of the 1960 constitution, communal violence ensued and Turkey, Great Britain and Greece, the guarantors of the agreements which had led to Cyprus' independence, wanted to send a
NATO
force to the island under the command of General Young. Due to the continued ethnic violence between the
Cypriot Turks
and
Cypriot Greeks
, President Gursel ordered warning flights and subsequent continuous air assaults by the Turkish Air Force against the island which continued between 7 and 10 August 1964, ending with the fulfillment of the military objectives of Turkey, and the invitation to calm by
Nikita Khrushchev
of USSR.
Cemal Gursel reformed the "Teskilat-i Mahsusa", the "
Special Organization
" of clandestine security services to the
National Intelligence Organization
in response to and preparation against escalating international terrorism trends in 1963. He paved the way to Middle Eastern countries and Pakistan to concentrate on economic and cultural matters of mutual interest and Ankara recognized
Syria
following the breakup of the short-lived
United Arab Republic
in 1961, further reestablishing diplomatic relations with
Egypt
in 1965. In July 1964, Pakistani President
Ayub Khan
, Turkish President Cemal Gursel, and Shah
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
of
Iran
announced in Istanbul the establishment of the
Regional Cooperation for Development
(RCD) organization to promote transportation and joint economic projects also envisioning
Afghanistan
and possibly Indonesia joining at some time in the future. He granted asylum to the political dissidents
Ayatollah Khomeini
of Iran and Molla Barzani of Iraq.
Gursel, 40 years after the foundation of the Republic, launched the first
radio
broadcasting station of Eastern Anatolia within the centrally located province of
Erzurum
, where Ankara and Istanbul radios’ transmissions were not received. He brought the
Microwave
Telecommunications Network into operation increasing telephone and teletype capacity along with a High-Frequency Radio Link connecting London and
Ankara
with
Rawalpindi
,
Karachi
,
Tehran
and
Istanbul
. He laid the foundations of the new agricultural and structural development plans for the south-eastern Anatolian regions in early 1960s for the first time. With his directive,
The Sacred Relics
from the Prophets Abraham, Moses, Joseph, David and
Muhammad
, including the oldest
Qur'an
in existence from the 7th Century were put on display from their storage rooms within the
Topkapi Palace
for public viewing for the first time on 31 August 1962. Gursel added the first
Ministry of Culture and Tourism
to the cabinet. In a parallel effort of promoting the country's touristic popularity in the
West
,
Topkapi
, the movie version of the book by
Eric Ambler
that had been commissioned for the same purpose, was shot in Paris and Istanbul and was introduced with success. Similarly, one of the favorite books of John F. Kennedy,
Ian Fleming
's
From Russia with Love
was shot in Istanbul as the second
James Bond
movie, to promote the touristic popularity of Turkey, with his keen interest. The
Directorate of Religious Affairs
network of the country was founded with his directive and became operational on 22 June 1965. He started the new procedure of returning the law proposals presented for the President's approval back to the Parliamentary re-discussions in 1963. Cemal Gursel founded The
National Security Council
(MGK) as well as the
Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey
(TUBITAK) in 1963, appointing Professor
Cahit Arf
as its first director, officially charging TUBITAK primarily with governmental advisory duty by legislation. In addition to the foundation of the
Turkish Radio and Television
(TRT) organization as a government agency in 1964 that brought
television
broadcasting to Turkey for the first time under his administration, the opening of The School of Press and Broadcasting at the college of Political Sciences in Ankara followed in November 1965. The country's new initiative of Planning of Population Growth Control was put in effect in 1965. The production of the first domestic Turkish
automobile
, the
Devrim
(Revolution), took place with Cemal Gursel's directive which sparked the initiation of an automotive industry in the republic in the following few years. The first use of a computer in the country, iron and steel mass production growth, the thermic power plant and a petrol pipeline structuring took place during his presidency. Cemal Gursel refused remuneration for his Head of State and subsequent Presidential positions and made his and his family's living with his retired general's salary, meeting their own expenses during their life in the
Presidential Palace
in
Cankaya, Ankara
.
Illness
[
edit
]
Because of a
paralysis
that started in early 1961 and progressed quickly in 1966, on 2 February Cemal Gursel was flown to the
Walter Reed Army Medical Center
in
Washington, D.C.
, on the private airplane "BlueBird" sent by
US President
Lyndon B. Johnson
. One week later, he fell into a
coma
there after suffering a series of new paralytic strokes. The government decided he return to Turkey on 24 March. President Johnson travelled by helicopter from the
White House
to
Andrews Air Force Base
, Maryland, near Washington, D.C., to pay his respects to President Cemal Gursel on his departure to home, In addition to issuing the following statement 'Our distinguished friend, President Cemal Gursel of Turkey, came to the United States on 2 February for medical treatment. There was hope that new therapeutic procedures only recently developed in this country would be useful in treating his illness of several years. We were initially encouraged by his progress at Walter Reed Hospital, only to be shocked by the news on 8 February that his health had suffered a grave new blow. Our best talent, coupled with the skill of the eminent Turkish doctors who accompanied the President, was exerted to the utmost in the hope that the President might return to his home in fully restored health. We are saddened that this hope was not to be realized. We have been deeply honored to have President Gursel come to our country to seek medical treatment. As he returns to his homeland, our prayers go with him'. With a report of a medical committee by Gulhane Military Hospital in
Ankara
, the parliament ruled on 28 March 1966 that his presidency be terminated due to ill health in accordance with the constitution. He died of
apoplexy
at 6:45 pm on 14 September 1966 in Ankara. He left behind no directives or
last will
. He was laid to rest at the "Freedom Martyrs Memorial" section in the yard of the
mausoleum of Ataturk
. His body was transferred on 27 August 1988 to a permanent burial place in the newly built
Turkish State Cemetery
.
[3]
Legacy
[
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]
Among all of his achievements and great modesty in his down-to-earth plain demeanor, he tried to place the most emphasis on the need for a well-educated youth and a hard-working population with high standards of
ethics
for a westernized democratic progress in Ataturk's tradition (
commentary by Imran Oktem
, Chief Supreme Court Justice ? Yargitay, 1966). His portrait as a statesman and soldier remained next to Ataturk's in most homes in Turkey for a long time.
Erzurum Cemal Gursel Stadium
, some schools and streets were named after him. The developments during his term were described as the "Turkish Revolution" which was celebrated annually on 27 May as the Constitution Day until 1981. In 2002, a commemorative coin was released for the same. In 2008, the movie
The Cars of Revolution
was released in his memory.
Quotes from him
[
edit
]
- "
I took over the administration of the state to stop the tragic course of events.
" (Cemal Gursel, radio address on the evening of 27 May 1960)
- "
The network was ready. I personally did not want the army to intervene and had been stopping the attempts (of takeover) of my younger friends. Things reached to such a state that despite my belief that the army should not interfere I let them free in their duties. Now my only goal is to reinstate an administration built on the principles of justice and ethics.
" (Cemal Gursel, An interview.
Cumhuriyet
, 16 July 1960)
- "
Those who follow Ataturk will not be left behind.
" (Cemal Gursel, from the address on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Ataturk's death, 10 November 1963)
Quotes about him
[
edit
]
- "
General Gursel may be described as the father of the second Turkish Republic similar to Ataturk being the father of modern Turkey. At a time of deep division, Gursel earned and maintained the respect of the Turkish Nation that regarded him as the symbol of national unity. When he passed away, he had the identity of the trusted father of the nation."
(Prof.
Bernard Lewis
, 15 September 1966)
- "
A few days before the coup, it was known that the coup was imminent but General Cemal Gursel was dismissed as a non-political general. No leading role by General Cemal Gursel was determined despite the foreknowledge of the plot.
" (
The CIA; The Inside Story
by
Andrew Tully
, pages 51, 53. Crest books, 1962)
- "
On 27 May, he (Cemal Gursel) was hurriedly requested to come (from his residence in ?zmir) to the capital (Ankara) to assume the leadership of National Unity Committee.
" (
The Turkish Revolution, Aspects of Military politics
. By Walter Weiker. pages 121, 122. The
Brookings Institution
, 1963)
- "
When 27 May revolt occurred, Cemal Gursel was not a participant. He was invited to become the head due to the circumstances and he willingly accepted.
" (
Burhan Felek
,
Milliyet
, Page 2, 18 September 1971)
- "
General Gursel was brought into the NUC chairmanship by the revolution team when he was in retirement preparation. In actuality he was in the position of a chairman found in last minute with a hurried search. He never was the responsible leader for a true leader is not to be appointed but is self-appointed.
" (By a leading member of the NUC)
- "
One of the core players of the coup, Orhan Erkanli told that they revolted on 27 May without knowing what to do on 28 May. No one, including Cemal Gursel knew who and how many would be forming the NUC. In actuality, even Cemal Gursel was brought in later.
" (
Years of Ismet Pasha of our Democracy
, 1960?61 by
Metin Toker
, page 25. Bilgi. 1998)
- "
It is now known that the coup was the result of years of planning on the part of conspirators, a number of radical colonels and ranks below in their early forties. He (Cemal Gursel) was not involved in the details of the organization of the
coup d'etat
. When the coup had succeeded, he was brought to
Ankara
.
" (
Turkey, A modern History
by
Erik Zurcher
. pages 253,254.
I.B. Tauris
, 2003)
- "
We just see that a few very important lines in his letter (to the Minister of Defence) had been censored. That means we are going without learning the true history, without knowing who knows what facts and what true pictures of turning points.
" (
Cetin Altan
, Author, Journalist, September 2006)
- "
An extremely important document that sheds light on the past has been revealed. Testimony from eyewitnesses at the time helped make known that the letter had been modified after 27 May, but the location of the original letter was unknown. This important document adds a new dimension to the 27 May revolution. We have come face to face with a new document that changes our written history. It was my greatest wish to obtain just such a document; not for my own satisfaction, but for my father, to prove this reality and obtain genuine evidence. I was thrilled when I heard about this.
" (Mr
Aydın Menderes
, Author, the Son of Prime Minister Adnan Menderes, September 2006)
- "
They cut off our phone lines. Adnan Menderes was hung against the regulations. I was supposed to oversee the execution. The revolution tribunal's chief prosecutor Altay Egesel conducted the execution despite not being authorized. ?smet ?nonu and Cemal Gursel were already phoning for him (Adnan Menderes) not to be executed but the telecommunications' office cut off the lines and Egesel made use of the (communication) gap to conduct the execution.
" (
Mehmet Feyyat, District Attorney General, Istanbul Province Prosecutor General 1961, The Administrator of the Imrali Prison, The Lawyer of the Year, Senator.
(Reported by Ozkan GUVEN, STAR Newspaper, 13 November 2006 with a summary in Turkish at
Law in the Capitol
)
- "
Where are we now and where are the nations such as Portugal, Greece and Spain with whom we departed for the competition of development in 1960s? While we still crawl around $5000 per capita income, they have caught $20K pci a long while ago. In one word, an embarrassment.
" (
Hasan Cemal
, Milliyet, October 2006)
- "
We built an automobile with the mentality of the West and we forgot to put gasoline in it with the mentality of the East.
" (Cemal Gursel, President, on the Anniversary of the Turkish Republic, 29 October 1963)
See also
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References
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]
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