President of Turkey from 1989 to 1993
Halil Turgut Ozal
(
Turkish pronunciation:
[tu???ut
ø?z??]
; 13 October 1927 – 17 April 1993) was a prominent Turkish politician, bureaucrat, engineer and statesman who served as the
8th President of Turkey
from 1989 to 1993. He previously served as the
26th Prime Minister of Turkey
from 1983 to 1989 as the leader of the
Motherland Party
. He was the
Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey
in the military government of
Bulend Ulusu
between 1980 and 1982.
After working briefly at the
World Bank
in the
United States
and as a university lecturer, Ozal became the general secretary and later the leader of the main miners'
trade union
of Turkey in 1979, serving as a chief negotiator during large-scale
industrial action
in 1977. He unsuccessfully stood for
Parliament
in the
1977 general election
as a
National Salvation Party
(MSP) candidate from
?zmir
. In 1979, he became an
undersecretary
to Prime Minister
Suleyman Demirel
's minority government until the
1980 military coup
. As an undersecretary, he played a major role in developing economic reforms, known as the 24 January decisions, which paved the way for greater
neoliberalism
in the
Turkish economy
. After the coup, he was appointed
Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey
responsible for the economy in
Bulend Ulusu's government
and continued to implement economic reforms. He resigned in 1982 following disagreements over economic policy.
[1]
[2]
Ozal formed the
Motherland Party
(ANAP) in 1983 after the ban on political parties was lifted by the military government. ANAP won a parliamentary majority in the
1983 general election
and Ozal subsequently became the
Prime Minister of Turkey
. While implementing several economic reforms concerning the
exchange rate
and deregulation, a rise in
inflation
and the
growing conflict
with
Kurdish separatists
led to ANAP winning reduced pluralities in the
1984 local elections
. Despite a
referendum in 1987
allowing politicians banned during the 1980 coup to resume political activities, ANAP was re-elected with a parliamentary majority in the
1987 general election
, albeit with a reduced share of the vote. He survived an assassination attempt during a party congress in 1988. Ozal's foreign policy focused on averting war with
Greece
following the
?im?ek Incident
and temporarily allowed
Bulgarian Turks to emigrate to Turkey
.
Ozal was elected
President of the Turkish Republic
in the
1989 presidential election
, while
Yıldırım Akbulut
replaced him as Prime Minister. Despite assuming a ceremonial role with minimal political duties, Ozal remained occupied with government activities, such as intervening in the 1990
Zonguldak
miners' strikes. While Akbulut took a docile approach as Prime Minister, disputes over the President's and Prime Minister's duties were dominant when
Suleyman Demirel
became Prime Minister after the
1991 general election
. The
Southeastern Anatolia development project
began with the construction of the
Ataturk Dam
in
?anlıurfa
, while Ozal participated in the first ever summit of Turkic Republics in 1992 held in
Ankara
. He maintained close relations with the
President of the United States
George H. W. Bush
during the
Gulf War
and the end of the
Cold War
. Ozal died unexpectedly while in office in 1993, with an
exhumation
in 2012 leading to evidence of poisoning but the cause of death was unclear.
Early life and career
[
edit
]
Halil Turgut Ozal
[3]
was born in
Malatya
, the eldest of three sons. His mother was originally from
Cemi?gezek
,
Tunceli
[4]
[5]
and of either half or full
Kurdish
descent.
[6]
[7]
[8]
His parents have been described as "devout Muslims", his father having trained as an
imam
before becoming a branch manager at the state-owned Agricultural Bank while his mother was an elementary school teacher associated with the
community of ?skenderpa?a
, affiliated with the
Naqshbandi
Sufi
order
, and Turgut Ozal himself would get involved with the group later on.
[9]
He completed elementary school in
Silifke
, middle school in
Mardin
, and high school in
Kayseri
. Ozal studied electrical engineering at
Istanbul Technical University
, graduating in 1950.
Between 1950 and 1952, he worked at the State Electrical Power Planning Administration and continued his studies in the
United States
on
electrical energy
and
engineering management
between 1952 and 1953. After his return to Turkey, he worked in the same organization again on
electrification
projects until 1958. Ozal was in the
State Planning Organization
in 1959, and in the Planning Coordination Department in 1960. After his military service in 1961, he worked at several state organizations in leading positions and lectured at ODTU (
Middle East Technical University
). The
World Bank
employed him between 1971 and 1973.
[10]
Then, he was chairman of some private Turkish companies until 1979.
[10]
Back to the state service, he was
undersecretary
to Turkish Prime Minister
Suleyman Demirel
until the
military coup
on 12 September 1980.
Political career
[
edit
]
The military junta under
Kenan Evren
appointed him state minister and
deputy prime minister
in charge of economic affairs until July 1982.
Prime Ministry era (1983?1989)
[
edit
]
In the
parliamentary elections of 1977
he became a candidate for the
National Salvation Party
(MSP) on the insistence of his brother, but did not succeed.
[11]
On 20 May 1983 he founded the
Motherland Party
(
Turkish
:
Anavatan Partisi
) and became its
leader
. His party won the elections and he formed the government to become the 19th
Prime minister
on
13 December 1983
. In 1987 he again became prime minister after winning elections.
[12]
During his tenure as a prime minister he was involved in shaping the foreign economic relations of Turkey and with his support the
Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey
(DE?K) was established in 1986.
[13]
He also began to take delegations of business leaders on his foreign trips.
[13]
He became the head of the transformation of the social and economic outlook of Turkey which led by the Motherland Party due to the wider global trend of neoliberal transformation with anti-labor-union discourses.
Assassination attempt
[
edit
]
On 18 June 1988 he survived an assassination attempt during the party congress. One bullet wounded his finger while another bullet missed his head. The assassin,
Kartal Demira?
, was captured and sentenced to life imprisonment but pardoned by Ozal in 1992.
[14]
Demira? was allegedly a
Counter-Guerrilla
, contracted by the movement's hawkish leader, General
Sabri Yirmibe?o?lu
. Two months later, Yirmibe?o?lu became the Secretary-General of the
National Security Council
. During Yirmibe?o?lu's tenure as secretary general, Ozal heard about the allegations of Yirmibe?o?lu's role in the affair and forced him into retirement.
[15]
In late 2008, Demira? was re-tried by the Ankara 11th Heavy Penal Court and sentenced to twenty years in prison.
[14]
In 2013 Ozal's son
Ahmet Ozal
said that several months before the assassination attempt Ozal had survived a plane incident in which his official plane lost an engine and crash-landed. The manufacturer later reported a 95% probability that the plane would have exploded under the circumstances present.
[16]
Presidency (1989?1993)
[
edit
]
On
9 November 1989
, Ozal became the eighth
President of Turkey
elected by the
Grand National Assembly of Turkey
and the first president to be born in the
Republic of Turkey
rather than the
Ottoman Empire
.
With the
dissolution of the Soviet Union
, Ozal made an effort to found alliances with the Turkic countries of
Central Asia
as well as
Azerbaijan
in the
South Caucasus
.
He was also a keen proponent of the country's rapprochement with the Middle East and the Muslim countries. Ozal was very supportive of the
Gulf War
, urging President
George H. W. Bush
to go to war with
Iraq
, with which Turkey shared a
border
. He said that
Saddam Hussein
"must go" and called him "more dangerous than
Gaddafi
."
[17]
Ozal's free market instinct perhaps defined some of his greatest achievements - the opening up of the
Turkish economy
. At a stroke,
capital controls
were abolished - Turks could take out or bring in whatever declared
foreign currency
they wished. He also liberalized the foreign exchange regime and embarked on one of the most aggressive and ambitious export-driven policies anywhere in post-war history.
The watchword of this campaign was "Export-or-Die". Turkish contractors such as Kutluta?, Enka, STFA and Tekfen, to name but a few, alone amassed $20 billion worth of contracts in the
Gulf Cooperation Council
(GCC) and Libyan markets in the 1980?1990 decade.
President Turgut Ozal agreed to negotiations with the
Kurdistan Workers' Party
(PKK). Apart from Ozal, himself half-Kurdish, few Turkish politicians were interested, nor was more than a part of the PKK itself. A first round occurred in the early 90s, and led to a
cease-fire declaration by the PKK
on 17 March 1993.
[18]
After the president's death on 17 April 1993, in suspicious circumstances, the hope of reconciliation evaporated, and the
Castle Plan
, which Ozal had opposed, was enacted.
[19]
Some journalists and politicians maintain that Ozal's death was part of
a covert military coup in 1993
aimed at stopping the peace plans.
Ozal had a firm vision of a Turkey straddling as a bridge between Asia and Europe ? a modern and scientific Turkey. He strongly believed that Islam is compatible with democracy and accountability, and that a Muslim country can also be modern, scientific and progressive.
Controversies
[
edit
]
Views on the Armenian genocide
[
edit
]
The issue of the
Armenian genocide
was part of Ozal's agenda because he came to believe that Turkey's ongoing
denial policy
harmed his country's international relations.
[20]
He wanted to reach an agreement with the Armenians and solve the problem as soon as possible by making compromises. The reason for this was his first confrontation with the topic of the genocide in the 1950s while he was still studying in the United States. Ozal noticed an emerging
Armenian lobby
which aimed to introduce the recognition of the Armenian Genocide on the political agenda in the United States.
[21]
When he became prime minister in 1983, the Armenian issue was one of the topics on his agenda. However, he faced tough challenges as the
Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia
(ASALA) intensified its attacks on Turkish diplomats abroad in the early 1980s. The ASALA factor made it very difficult to take any bold steps in domestic politics with respect to bridging the gap between Turks and Armenians. Behind closed doors, Ozal defended the idea of holding negotiations with Armenians to settle a dispute that has had great potential to deal a serious blow to Turkish interests in international politics.
[22]
In 1984, Ozal tasked his advisers to work out different scenarios of the political and economic costs that Turkey would have to incur if it would agree to compromise with the
Armenian diaspora
and recognize the Genocide.
[21]
In 1991, after a meeting with representatives of the Armenian community, Ozal said in front of journalists and diplomats:
What happens if we compromise with the Armenians and end this issue? What if we officially recognize the 1915 Armenian genocide and face up to our past? Let's take the initiative and find the truth. Let's pay the political and economic price, if necessary.
[21]
[23]
[24]
Ozal tried to implement several projects, including the "Van project," as part of his solution to the Genocide issue. The Van Project envisioned the return of some lands to Armenians in
Van
. However, Ozal was unable to make concrete progress because his policies sparked criticism and fury among the Turkish public, the
Motherland Party
, and the Turkish military as they considered the idea of negotiating with the Armenian diaspora itself as unacceptable and unthinkable.
[20]
After Ozal's death, his policies of compromising with the Armenians in order to solve the conflict concerning the Armenian genocide were abandoned.
[21]
[23]
Death and exhumation
[
edit
]
On 17 April 1993 Ozal died of a suspicious
heart attack
while still in office,
[25]
leading some to suspect an assassination.
[26]
[27]
Ozal had first become ill a month earlier.
[28]
He died just before he had the chance to negotiate with the Kurdish rebel organization, the
PKK
. His wife Semra Ozal claimed he had been poisoned by lemonade and she questioned the lack of an autopsy. The blood samples taken to determine cause of death were lost or disposed of.
[29]
Ozal had sought to create a
Turkic
union, and had obtained the commitment of several presidents of the newly independent Turkic states from the former
Soviet Union
. His wife Semra alleged that the perpetrator might have wanted to foil the plan.
[30]
Hundreds of thousands of people attended the state burial ceremony in Istanbul, in which Ozal was buried next to the
mausoleum
of
Adnan Menderes
.
[31]
Among those attending were dignitaries of 72 countries, including several heads of state and government, such as Greek Prime Minister
Konstantinos Mitsotakis
, Armenian President
Levon Ter-Petrosyan
, German President
Richard von Weizsacker
, and Azerbaijani President
Abulfaz Elchibey
attended the funeral, as well as former U.S. Secretary of State
James Baker
.
[32]
On the fourteenth anniversary of his death, thousands gathered in Ankara in commemoration.
[33]
Investigators wanted to exhume the body to examine it for poisoning.
[27]
In September 2012, a court ruled that the grave be opened for another autopsy. On 3 October 2012 his body was exhumed.
[34]
It contained the banned insecticide
DDT
at ten times the normal level.
[35]
According to press reports, the "partially embalmed" remains were found to be well preserved, much to the experts' and public's surprise. It is reported that while the lower half of the body was subject to
skeletonization
, the upper half was preserved due to
adipocere
.
An
autopsy
report issued on 12 December 2012 stated his body contained poison but the cause of death was unclear.
[36]
[37]
A trial charging retired general
Levent Ersoz
with his murder began in September 2013 who eventually was cleared of all charges.
[38]
Legacy
[
edit
]
| This section
needs expansion
. You can help by
adding to it
.
(
February 2023
)
|
Numerous streets, parks, and public buildings in Turkey are named after Ozal.
Family and personal life
[
edit
]
With his wife
Semra
, Ozal had two sons:
Ahmet
and Efe, and a daughter: Zeynep.
Ahmet Ozal
, was elected to parliament after the
elections of 1999
, but stayed out after the
elections of 2002
.
Turgut was a member of a powerful Islamic order in Turkey,
Community of ?skenderpa?a
, which is a Turkish branch of the
Naqshbandi
tariqah
.
[39]
[40]
Electoral history
[
edit
]
Parliamentary
[
edit
]
Election date
|
Votes
|
Percentage of votes
|
Seats won
|
Political party
|
Map
|
1983
|
7,833,148
|
45.14%
|
|
Motherland Party
|
|
1987
|
8,704,335
|
36.31%
|
|
|
Local
[
edit
]
Election date
|
Votes
|
Percentage of votes
|
Political party
|
Map
|
1984
|
7,355,796
|
41.52%
|
Motherland Party
|
|
1989
|
4,828,164
|
21.80%
|
|
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Anderson, Perry
(25 September 2008).
"After Kemal"
.
London Review of Books
. Retrieved
29 December
2008
.
- ^
Purvis, Andrew
(27 July 2003).
"Not Just Business As Usual"
.
Time
. Archived from
the original
on 29 April 2007
. Retrieved
14 August
2008
.
- ^
Parker, Mushtak.
"Remembering Turgut Ozal and his legacy"
. Daily Sabah
. Retrieved
11 November
2023
.
- ^
"Cemi?gezek'e bir gelen geri donmek istemiyor"
.
Sabah
. (in Turkish). Retrieved 11 April 2023. "8. Cumhurba?kanı Turgut Ozal'ın annesi Hafize Ozal, Cemi?gezek Mezire Koyu do?umlu."
- ^
"Turgut Ozal'ı rahmetle anıyoruz"
. Yeni Akit
. Retrieved 11 April 2023. "Babası Malatya/Cırmıktı'lı Unluo?ulları'ndan banka memuru Mehmet Sıddık Ozal, annesi ise Tunceli Cemi?gezekli, ilkokul o?retmeni Hafize Hanım (d. 1906 - o. 1988) olan Turgut Ozal kısmen Kurt kokenlidir."
- ^
"Ozal Kurt'um diyemedi"
.
Hurriyet
(in Turkish). 20 April 2013
. Retrieved
3 March
2021
.
- ^
"
'Kurtler Cumhurba?kanı oldu ama Kurt olamadı'
"
.
Evrensel
(in Turkish). 22 May 2013. Archived from
the original
on 27 March 2016
. Retrieved
3 March
2021
.
- ^
"?lk Cıkı? Ozal'dan: Anneannem Kurt! ??te Ozal'dan Gul'e Devletin Zirvesinin Kurt Acılımı"
.
turktime.com
(in Turkish). 15 May 2009. Archived from
the original
on 30 May 2016
. Retrieved
3 March
2021
.
- ^
Jenkins, Gareth (2008).
Political Islam in Turkey: Running West, Heading East?
.
Palgrave Macmillan
. p. 146.
- ^
a
b
"Official Website of the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey ? Turgut Ozal"
.
www.tccb.gov.tr
. Retrieved
16 May
2017
.
- ^
Aydemir, Sefa Salih.
"Turgut Ozal and Anavatan Partisi (The Motherland Party)"
(PDF)
.
Adiyaman University
. p. 60.
- ^
"BA?BAKAN . PRIMEMINISTERY . BA?BAKANLARIMIZ : Turgut OZAL"
. Archived from
the original
on 5 February 2009
. Retrieved
17 March
2010
.
- ^
a
b
Atlı, Altay (2011).
"From the 'Ozal Model' to the AKP period"
(PDF)
.
Bo?azici Journal
. pp. 178?179.
- ^
a
b
"Kartal Demira?'a 20 yıl hapis cezası"
.
Hurriyet
(in Turkish).
Anadolu Agency
. 31 December 2008
. Retrieved
4 January
2009
.
- ^
Dundar, Can
(8 January 2002).
"
'Ozel Harp'cinin tırmanı? oykusu"
.
Milliyet
(in Turkish)
. Retrieved
28 January
2006
.
- ^
Today's Zaman
, 24 April 2013,
Ozal's little known near plane crash finds way into indictment
Archived
4 March 2016 at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
Henriksen, Thomas H. (31 January 2022).
America's Wars: Interventions, Regime Change, and Insurgencies after the Cold War
(1 ed.). Cambridge University Press.
doi
:
10.1017/9781009053242.003
.
ISBN
978-1-009-05324-2
.
S2CID
245293332
.
- ^
Ozcan, Ali Kemal
(2006).
Turkey's Kurds: A Theoretical Analysis of the PKK and Abdullah Ocalan
. Routledge. p. 205.
ISBN
9780415366878
.
- ^
"Internationalism is the only response to the Kurdish issue"
. Retrieved
24 May
2016
.
- ^
a
b
Cheterian, Vicken (2017). "The Last Closed Border of the Cold War: Turkey?Armenia".
Journal of Borderlands Studies
.
32
(1): 71?90.
doi
:
10.1080/08865655.2016.1226927
.
S2CID
151513871
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Late President Turgut Ozal worked to solve ‘So-called Armenian genocide’ dispute
Archived
4 March 2016 at the
Wayback Machine
.
Today's Zaman
. 23 April 2012. Retrieved 4 November 2013
- ^
"Late President Turgut Ozal worked to solve 'Armenian genocide' dispute"
. Archived from
the original
on 4 March 2016
. Retrieved
9 February
2016
.
- ^
a
b
Turgut Ozal´ın gizli planı ortaya cıktı
. Star. 28. August 2012. Retrieved 4 November 2013
- ^
Who Poisoned Former Turkish President Ozal?
Archived
2013-10-29 at the
Wayback Machine
. Al Monitor. 22. August 2013. Retrieved 4 November 2013
- ^
Soncan, Emre; Celen, Nergihan (18 April 2007).
"
'People's president Ozal' commemorated at his grave"
.
Today's Zaman
. Archived from
the original
on 28 December 2007
. Retrieved
14 August
2008
.
- ^
"ZAMAN"
. Archived from
the original
on 17 February 2012
. Retrieved
24 May
2016
.
- ^
a
b
"Turkish President Ozal's death suspicious: State Audit Board ? POLITICS"
. Retrieved
24 May
2016
.
- ^
"Ozal was poisoned over a long period of time, says chief aide"
. Archived from
the original
on 6 November 2012
. Retrieved
19 July
2013
.
- ^
Duzel, Ne?e (24 November 2008).
"Nurettin Yılmaz: 'Talabani federasyonu kabul etmi?ti'
"
.
Taraf
(in Turkish)
. Retrieved
6 January
2009
.
Olum nedenini anlamak icin Turgut Bey'den kan aldılar. Ama hemen sonra '?i?enin hem?irenin elinden kaydı?ını, kırıldı?ını' soylediler. Bir sure sonra bundan da vazgectiler. '?i?e kayboldu' dediler
[
permanent dead link
]
- ^
U?ur, Fatih (16 April 2007).
"Buyuk Turkiye Cumhuriyeti'ni kuracaktı"
.
Aksiyon
(in Turkish).
645
. Feza Gazetecilik A.?. Archived from
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on 8 April 2012
. Retrieved
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.
- ^
Akyol, Mustafa (18 July 2011).
Islam without Extremes: A Muslim Case for Liberty
. W. W. Norton & Company. p. 221.
ISBN
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.
- ^
"Thousands turn out for funeral of Turkish President Ozal"
.
- ^
"Press Roundup"
.
Today's Zaman
. 17 April 2007. Archived from
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on 28 December 2007
. Retrieved
14 August
2008
.
- ^
Agencies.
"Turkey exhumes ex-President Ozal's remains"
. Retrieved
24 May
2016
.
- ^
Doktorlarının ve ailesinin a?ır ihmalleri var
Archived
10 June 2016 at the
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in
Zaman
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- ^
"Turkish ex-leader's body shows poison, death cause unclear: media"
.
U.S
. Reuters
. Retrieved
12 December
2012
.
- ^
Today's Zaman
, 20 June 2013,
Independent expert evaluation casts doubt on Ozal report
Archived
5 March 2016 at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
Today's Zaman
, 11 September 2013,
Trial into suspicious death of late president Ozal begins
Archived
5 March 2016 at the
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- ^
Eurasia Review: "The Naqshbandi-Khalidi Order And Political Islam In Turkey ? Analysis" By Hudson Institute
5 September 2015
- ^
Insight Turkey: "Islam, Conservatism, and Democracy in Turkey: Comparing Turgut Ozal and Recep Tayyip Erdo?an" by MET?N HEPER
Archived
4 March 2016 at the
Wayback Machine
15 February 2013
External links
[
edit
]
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