Adnan Menderes
Encyclopedia
Adnan Menderes was the first democratically elected Turkish Prime Minister between 1950–1960. He was one of the founders of the Democratic Party (DP) in 1946, the fourth legal opposition party of Turkey. He was hanged by the military junta
after the 1960 coup d'état, along with two other cabinet members, Fatin Rüştü Zorlu
and Hasan Polatkan
. He was the last Turkish political leader to be executed after a military coup and is also one of the three political leaders of the Turkish Republic (along with Atatürk and Turgut Özal
) to have a mausoleum
built in his honour.
, as the son of a wealthy landowner, whose roots were from Crimean Tatars
. After primary school, Menderes attended the American College in İzmir
. He fought against the invading Greek
army during the Turkish War of Independence
and was awarded a medal of honour. He graduated from the Law School
of Ankara University
. In 1930, Menderes organized a branch of the short-lived Liberal Republican Party
(Serbest Cumhuriyet Fırkası) in Aydın. After this opposition party was banned as well, he was invited by Atatürk himself to join the ruling Republican People's Party
and was elected deputy of Aydın in 1931. In 1945, he was expelled from the party with two other colleagues due to inner-party opposition to the nationalization
policies of the then self-declared "National Chief" İsmet İnönü
.
formed the Democratic Party (DP), the fourth legal opposition party in Turkey, after the Progressive Republican Party formed by Ret. Gen. Kazım Karabekir
in 1924, the Liberal Republican Party
established by Ali Fethi Okyar
in 1930, and the National Development Party (Milli Kalkınma Partisi) established by Nuri Demirağ
in 1945, the first two of which were banned in at most a few months after their founding by the Republican People's Party
(CHP), which was the party in power until 1950 elections in Turkey. He was elected deputy of Kütahya
in the 1946 elections, in which the votes were cast out in the open and were counted in secret by the state apparatus working for the governing CHP. He became the highest-ranking man in the party after Celal Bayar
. When the DP won 52% of the votes in the first free elections in Turkish history on 14 May 1950 (in which votes were cast in secret and counted openly), Menderes became prime minister, and in 1955 he also assumed the duties of foreign minister. He later won two more free elections, one in 1954 and the other in 1957.
During the 10 years of his term as prime minister, Turkish domestic and foreign politics underwent great changes. Industrialization and urbanization, which were started by Atatürk, but staggered by nationalization policies of İsmet İnönü
and the effects of war, underwent rapid acceleration in Turkey. The Turkish economy grew at an unprecedented rate of 9% per annum over his 10 year administration, a feat which had and so far has not yet been duplicated. Turkey was admitted to NATO. With the economic support of the United States via the Marshall Plan
, agriculture was mechanized; transport, energy, education, health care, insurance and banking progressed. In 1955, the Menderes government was blamed by his political opponents for orchestrating the Istanbul Pogrom
, which targeted the city's substantial Greek
minority.
aircraft Vickers Viscount
Type 793, registration TC-SEV, carrying Adnan Menderes and a party of government officials on a special flight
from Istanbul to London Gatwick Airport
crashed a few miles short of the runway, near Rusper
, Sussex
in heavy fog and caught fire. Nine of the 16 passengers and 5 of the 8 crew lost their lives. Menderes, sitting in the back part of the plane, survived the accident almost uninjured and was hospitalized at The London Clinic
90 minutes after receiving first aid from Margaret Bailey, a local resident who rushed to the crash site.
He was on his way to sign the London Agreement
s on the Cyprus
issue with the British Premier Harold Macmillan
and Greek Prime Minister Constantine Karamanlis
, which gave the three sides the right to intervene in Cyprus in case peace is broken by any of the parties.
Menderes signed the London Agreement on 19 February 1959 in the hospital. He returned home on 26 February 1959 and was welcomed by even his arch-rival İsmet İnönü
and a huge crowd.
than Atatürk and his party had been – he campaigned in the 1950 elections almost exclusively on the platform of legalizing the Arabic language
Islamic call to prayer (adhan
), which had been banned. He re-opened thousands of mosques across the country which had been left to rot like the banned churches in Soviet Union
, and as such he was blamed by his political opponents for using religion as a tool for political gain. One of his first political moves was to exclude the pictures of İsmet İnönü
on Turkish banknotes and stamps and instead put Atatürk pictures back, which were taken off when Inönü became President in 1938. Thanks to the public support and the legacy of Atatürk, it was a successful move, even if the Turkish law under the former President was stating that the image of the President of the country would be placed on the banknotes (in this case Celal Bayar
). In one of his speeches, he said that members of parliament could bring back sharia
law if they so desired.
While remaining pro-Western, he was more active than his predecessors in building relations with Muslim states. Menderes had a more liberal economic policy than earlier prime ministers, and allowed more private enterprise. In general his economic policies made him popular among the poor half of the population, but it also brought the country to insolvency due to an enormous increase in imports of goods and technology.
He was most intolerant towards criticism, so he instituted press censorship
and had journalists arrested, as well as attempting to oppress the opposing political parties and take institutions such as universities under his control. Menderes who was well liked by the people in general and also had the support of the Army Chief of Staff General Cemal Gürsel
who, in a personal patriotic memorandum, had advocated that Menderes should become the president of the republic to secure the national unity, became increasingly unpopular among the intellectuals, university students and a group of radical young officers in the military, who feared that the ideals of Atatürk were in danger. This eventually brought about his fall from power.
. He and all the leaders of the DP were put on trial by a hastily formed quasi-military kangaroo court
on the island of Yassıada
. In addition to the charges of violating the constitution, the trial also referenced to the Istanbul Pogrom
, for which he and his fellow defendants were blamed.
Menderes was sentenced to death for violating the Constitution. Despite pleas for forgiveness by Head of State Cemal Gürsel
, and similar pleas from several world leaders, including American President John F. Kennedy
and Elizabeth II of the UK, Menderes was executed by the junta
at the gallows on the island of İmralı
on 17 September 1961. Two months later, Menderes' nemesis
İsmet İnönü formed a new government under military tutelage, in coalition and with the help of the newly emerging Justice Party
(in Turkish: "Adalet Partisi"), after these two major parties among themselves took the majority of the votes in 1961 elections. Adalet Partisi, which was seen as the successor of the heritage of Menderes, would win victories in later elections especially under the leadership of Süleyman Demirel
.
named after him in Istanbul. Fatin Rüştü Zorlu
and Hasan Polatkan
, who were the Foreign Affairs Minister and Finance Minister, respectively in the last Menderes administration, and who were hanged with Menderes by the junta
in 1961, were also posthumously cleared of any misconduct. Adnan Menderes University
in Aydın
and Adnan Menderes Airport
in İzmir
are named after him. Two high schools, Istanbul Bahcelievler Adnan Menderes Anadolu Lisesi and Aydın Adnan Menderes Anadolu Lisesi, also adopted his name. There are numerous city districts, boulevards and streets named after him by democratically elected city councils in cities large and small, all across Turkey.
In 2006, Mehmet Feyyat, Attorney General of Istanbul at the time, suggested that "İsmet İnönü and Cemal Gürsel placed phone calls to the prison's administration for Menderes' execution to be halted but the Communications Office of the junta cut the lines off" (see below).
Military junta
A junta or military junta is a government led by a committee of military leaders. The term derives from the Spanish language junta meaning committee, specifically a board of directors...
after the 1960 coup d'état, along with two other cabinet members, Fatin Rüştü Zorlu
Fatin Rüstü Zorlu
Fatin Rüştü Zorlu was a Turkish diplomat and politician. He was executed by hanging after the coup d'état in 1960 along with two other politicians.-Biography:...
and Hasan Polatkan
Hasan Polatkan
Hasan Polatkan was a Turkish politician and Minister of Labor and Finance, who was executed by hanging after the coup d'état in 1960 along with two other cabinet members.-Biography:...
. He was the last Turkish political leader to be executed after a military coup and is also one of the three political leaders of the Turkish Republic (along with Atatürk and Turgut Özal
Turgut Özal
Halil Turgut Özal was Prime Minister of Turkey and President of Turkey . As Prime Minister, he transformed the economy of Turkey by paving the way for the privatization of many state enterprises.-Early life and career:...
) to have a mausoleum
Mausoleum
A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or persons. A monument without the interment is a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type of tomb or the tomb may be considered to be within the...
built in his honour.
Early life and career
He was born in 1899 in AydınAydin
Aydın is a city in and the seat of Aydın Province in Turkey's Aegean Region. The city is located at the heart of the lower valley of Büyük Menderes River at a commanding position for the region extending from the uplands of the valley down to the seacoast...
, as the son of a wealthy landowner, whose roots were from Crimean Tatars
Crimean Tatars
Crimean Tatars or Crimeans are a Turkic ethnic group that originally resided in Crimea. They speak the Crimean Tatar language...
. After primary school, Menderes attended the American College in İzmir
Izmir
Izmir is a large metropolis in the western extremity of Anatolia. The metropolitan area in the entire Izmir Province had a population of 3.35 million as of 2010, making the city third most populous in Turkey...
. He fought against the invading Greek
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
army during the Turkish War of Independence
Turkish War of Independence
The Turkish War of Independence was a war of independence waged by Turkish nationalists against the Allies, after the country was partitioned by the Allies following the Ottoman Empire's defeat in World War I...
and was awarded a medal of honour. He graduated from the Law School
Ankara University, Law School
The Ankara University, Law School is a faculty for law of the Ankara University in Turkey.- History :Ankara University, Law School, was founded as a part of legal revolution in Turkey by endeavours of Mahmut Esat Bozkurt. The school was opened by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Turkish...
of Ankara University
Ankara University
Ankara University is a public university in Ankara, the capital city of Turkey. It was the first higher education institution founded in the Turkish Republic....
. In 1930, Menderes organized a branch of the short-lived Liberal Republican Party
Liberal Republican Party (Turkey)
The Liberal Republican Party was a political party founded by Ali Fethi Okyar in the early years of the Turkish Republic....
(Serbest Cumhuriyet Fırkası) in Aydın. After this opposition party was banned as well, he was invited by Atatürk himself to join the ruling Republican People's Party
Republican People's Party (Turkey)
The Republican People's Party is a centre-left Kemalist political party in Turkey. It is the oldest political party of Turkey and is currently Main Opposition in the Grand National Assembly. The Republican People's Party describes itself as "a modern social-democratic party, which is faithful to...
and was elected deputy of Aydın in 1931. In 1945, he was expelled from the party with two other colleagues due to inner-party opposition to the nationalization
Nationalization
Nationalisation, also spelled nationalization, is the process of taking an industry or assets into government ownership by a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to private assets, but may also mean assets owned by lower levels of government, such as municipalities, being...
policies of the then self-declared "National Chief" İsmet İnönü
Ismet Inönü
Mustafa İsmet İnönü was a Turkish Army General, Prime Minister and the second President of Turkey. In 1938, the Republican People's Party gave him the title of "Milli Şef" .-Family and early life:...
.
Rise to power
On 7 January 1946, he and former prime minister Celal BayarCelal Bayar
Celâl Bayar was a Turkish politician, statesman and the third President of Turkey. At the time of his death, he was the longest lived former head of state, living over 103 years .-Early years:He was born in 1883 at Umurbey, a village of Gemlik, Bursa as the son of a religious leader and teacher...
formed the Democratic Party (DP), the fourth legal opposition party in Turkey, after the Progressive Republican Party formed by Ret. Gen. Kazım Karabekir
Kazim Karabekir
Musa Kâzım Karabekir was a Turkish general and politician. He was commander of the Eastern Army in the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I and served as Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey before his death.-Early years:Karabekir was born in 1882 as the son of an Ottoman General,...
in 1924, the Liberal Republican Party
Liberal Republican Party (Turkey)
The Liberal Republican Party was a political party founded by Ali Fethi Okyar in the early years of the Turkish Republic....
established by Ali Fethi Okyar
Ali Fethi Okyar
Ali Fethi Okyar was a Turkish diplomat and politician who also served as a military officer and as a diplomat during the last decade of the Ottoman Empire...
in 1930, and the National Development Party (Milli Kalkınma Partisi) established by Nuri Demirağ
Nuri Demirag
Nuri Demirağ was an early Turkish industrialist. He was one of the first millionaires of the Turkish Republic. His first innovation was the production of cigarette paper. Demirağ then invested his capital in the development of the Turkish railway network...
in 1945, the first two of which were banned in at most a few months after their founding by the Republican People's Party
Republican People's Party (Turkey)
The Republican People's Party is a centre-left Kemalist political party in Turkey. It is the oldest political party of Turkey and is currently Main Opposition in the Grand National Assembly. The Republican People's Party describes itself as "a modern social-democratic party, which is faithful to...
(CHP), which was the party in power until 1950 elections in Turkey. He was elected deputy of Kütahya
Kütahya
Kütahya is a city in western Turkey with 212,444 inhabitants , lying on the Porsuk river, at 969 metres above sea level. It is the capital of Kütahya Province, inhabited by some 517 804 people...
in the 1946 elections, in which the votes were cast out in the open and were counted in secret by the state apparatus working for the governing CHP. He became the highest-ranking man in the party after Celal Bayar
Celal Bayar
Celâl Bayar was a Turkish politician, statesman and the third President of Turkey. At the time of his death, he was the longest lived former head of state, living over 103 years .-Early years:He was born in 1883 at Umurbey, a village of Gemlik, Bursa as the son of a religious leader and teacher...
. When the DP won 52% of the votes in the first free elections in Turkish history on 14 May 1950 (in which votes were cast in secret and counted openly), Menderes became prime minister, and in 1955 he also assumed the duties of foreign minister. He later won two more free elections, one in 1954 and the other in 1957.
During the 10 years of his term as prime minister, Turkish domestic and foreign politics underwent great changes. Industrialization and urbanization, which were started by Atatürk, but staggered by nationalization policies of İsmet İnönü
Ismet Inönü
Mustafa İsmet İnönü was a Turkish Army General, Prime Minister and the second President of Turkey. In 1938, the Republican People's Party gave him the title of "Milli Şef" .-Family and early life:...
and the effects of war, underwent rapid acceleration in Turkey. The Turkish economy grew at an unprecedented rate of 9% per annum over his 10 year administration, a feat which had and so far has not yet been duplicated. Turkey was admitted to NATO. With the economic support of the United States via the Marshall Plan
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was the large-scale American program to aid Europe where the United States gave monetary support to help rebuild European economies after the end of World War II in order to combat the spread of Soviet communism. The plan was in operation for four years beginning in April 1948...
, agriculture was mechanized; transport, energy, education, health care, insurance and banking progressed. In 1955, the Menderes government was blamed by his political opponents for orchestrating the Istanbul Pogrom
Istanbul Pogrom
The Istanbul riots , were mob attacks directed primarily at Istanbul's Greek minority on 6–7 September 1955. The riots were orchestrated by the Turkish government under Adnan Menderes. The events were triggered by the false news that the Turkish consulate in Thessaloniki, north Greece—the...
, which targeted the city's substantial Greek
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
minority.
Plane crash survival
On 17 February 1959, the Turkish AirlinesTurkish Airlines
Turkish Airlines is the national flag carrier airline of Turkey, headquartered in the Turkish Airlines General Management Building on the grounds of Atatürk Airport in Yeşilköy, Bakirköy district, Istanbul...
aircraft Vickers Viscount
Vickers Viscount
The Vickers Viscount was a British medium-range turboprop airliner first flown in 1948 by Vickers-Armstrongs, making it the first such aircraft to enter service in the world...
Type 793, registration TC-SEV, carrying Adnan Menderes and a party of government officials on a special flight
1959 Turkish Airlines Gatwick crash
-Accident:TC-SEV, cruising at , left Epsom at 16:27 hrs for Mayfield, East Sussex, the holding point for Gatwick. The airport's approach control informed the pilot that it would be positioned by radar for an ILS approach to the easterly Runway 09....
from Istanbul to London Gatwick Airport
London Gatwick Airport
Gatwick Airport is located 3.1 miles north of the centre of Crawley, West Sussex, and south of Central London. Previously known as London Gatwick,In 2010, the name changed from London Gatwick Airport to Gatwick Airport...
crashed a few miles short of the runway, near Rusper
Rusper
Rusper is a village and civil parish in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England. It lies north of the town of Horsham and west of Crawley. Rusper is the centre of Rusper Parish which covers most of the northern area between Horsham and Crawley. Rusper is governed by the Horsham District...
, Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
in heavy fog and caught fire. Nine of the 16 passengers and 5 of the 8 crew lost their lives. Menderes, sitting in the back part of the plane, survived the accident almost uninjured and was hospitalized at The London Clinic
The London Clinic
The London Clinic is a private healthcare organisation based in central London. Although it maintains several consulting rooms in the traditional doctors' street of Harley Street, the main hospital site is on the corner of Devonshire Place and the Marylebone Road...
90 minutes after receiving first aid from Margaret Bailey, a local resident who rushed to the crash site.
He was on his way to sign the London Agreement
Zürich and London Agreement
The Zürich and London Agreement for the constitution of Cyprus started with an agreement on the 19 February 1959 in Lancaster House in London, between Turkey, Greece, the United Kingdom and Cypriot community leaders...
s on the Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
issue with the British Premier Harold Macmillan
Harold Macmillan
Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, OM, PC was Conservative Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 10 January 1957 to 18 October 1963....
and Greek Prime Minister Constantine Karamanlis
Constantine Karamanlis
Konstantínos G. Karamanlís , commonly anglicised to Constantine Karamanlis or Caramanlis, was a four-time Prime Minister, the 3rd and 5th President of the Third Hellenic Republic and a towering figure of Greek politics whose political career spanned much of the latter half of the 20th century.-...
, which gave the three sides the right to intervene in Cyprus in case peace is broken by any of the parties.
Menderes signed the London Agreement on 19 February 1959 in the hospital. He returned home on 26 February 1959 and was welcomed by even his arch-rival İsmet İnönü
Ismet Inönü
Mustafa İsmet İnönü was a Turkish Army General, Prime Minister and the second President of Turkey. In 1938, the Republican People's Party gave him the title of "Milli Şef" .-Family and early life:...
and a huge crowd.
Political style and beliefs
Menderes became quite famous for selling or distributing most of the estate he had inherited to small shareholders. He was more tolerant towards traditional lifestyles and different forms of practice of IslamIslam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
than Atatürk and his party had been – he campaigned in the 1950 elections almost exclusively on the platform of legalizing the Arabic language
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
Islamic call to prayer (adhan
Adhan
The adhān is the Islamic call to prayer, recited by the muezzin at prescribed times of the day. The root of the word is meaning "to permit"; another derivative of this word is , meaning "ear"....
), which had been banned. He re-opened thousands of mosques across the country which had been left to rot like the banned churches in Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, and as such he was blamed by his political opponents for using religion as a tool for political gain. One of his first political moves was to exclude the pictures of İsmet İnönü
Ismet Inönü
Mustafa İsmet İnönü was a Turkish Army General, Prime Minister and the second President of Turkey. In 1938, the Republican People's Party gave him the title of "Milli Şef" .-Family and early life:...
on Turkish banknotes and stamps and instead put Atatürk pictures back, which were taken off when Inönü became President in 1938. Thanks to the public support and the legacy of Atatürk, it was a successful move, even if the Turkish law under the former President was stating that the image of the President of the country would be placed on the banknotes (in this case Celal Bayar
Celal Bayar
Celâl Bayar was a Turkish politician, statesman and the third President of Turkey. At the time of his death, he was the longest lived former head of state, living over 103 years .-Early years:He was born in 1883 at Umurbey, a village of Gemlik, Bursa as the son of a religious leader and teacher...
). In one of his speeches, he said that members of parliament could bring back sharia
Sharia
Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...
law if they so desired.
While remaining pro-Western, he was more active than his predecessors in building relations with Muslim states. Menderes had a more liberal economic policy than earlier prime ministers, and allowed more private enterprise. In general his economic policies made him popular among the poor half of the population, but it also brought the country to insolvency due to an enormous increase in imports of goods and technology.
He was most intolerant towards criticism, so he instituted press censorship
Censorship in Turkey
Censorship in Turkey is largely focused on "insults to Turkishness" and expressions of political extremism. Censorship in Turkey is regulated by domestic and international legislation, which takes precedence over domestic law according to Article 90 of the Constitution following its amendment in...
and had journalists arrested, as well as attempting to oppress the opposing political parties and take institutions such as universities under his control. Menderes who was well liked by the people in general and also had the support of the Army Chief of Staff General Cemal Gürsel
Cemal Gürsel
Cemal Gürsel , was a Turkish army officer, and the fourth President of Turkey.- Early life :He was born in the city of Erzurum to the Turkish parents as the son of an Ottoman Army officer, Abidin Bey, the grandson of Ibrahim and the great-grandson of Haci Ahmad...
who, in a personal patriotic memorandum, had advocated that Menderes should become the president of the republic to secure the national unity, became increasingly unpopular among the intellectuals, university students and a group of radical young officers in the military, who feared that the ideals of Atatürk were in danger. This eventually brought about his fall from power.
Coup, trial, execution
On 27 May 1960, a military coup organized by 37 "young officers" deposed the government, and Menderes was arrested along with all the leading party members. They were charged with violating the constitutionTurkish Constitution of 1924
The Constitution of 1924, formally titled the Constitution of the Republic of Turkey , was the fundamental law of Turkey from 1924 to 1961. It replaced the Constitution of 1921 and was ratified by the Grand National Assembly of Turkey following the proclamation of the republic on 29 October 1923....
. He and all the leaders of the DP were put on trial by a hastily formed quasi-military kangaroo court
Kangaroo court
A kangaroo court is "a mock court in which the principles of law and justice are disregarded or perverted".The outcome of a trial by kangaroo court is essentially determined in advance, usually for the purpose of ensuring conviction, either by going through the motions of manipulated procedure or...
on the island of Yassıada
Yassiada
Yassıada is one of the Princes' Islands in the Sea of Marmara. The island, which has an area of 0.05 km², is officially a neighbourhood in the Adalar district of Istanbul, Turkey.x...
. In addition to the charges of violating the constitution, the trial also referenced to the Istanbul Pogrom
Istanbul Pogrom
The Istanbul riots , were mob attacks directed primarily at Istanbul's Greek minority on 6–7 September 1955. The riots were orchestrated by the Turkish government under Adnan Menderes. The events were triggered by the false news that the Turkish consulate in Thessaloniki, north Greece—the...
, for which he and his fellow defendants were blamed.
Menderes was sentenced to death for violating the Constitution. Despite pleas for forgiveness by Head of State Cemal Gürsel
Cemal Gürsel
Cemal Gürsel , was a Turkish army officer, and the fourth President of Turkey.- Early life :He was born in the city of Erzurum to the Turkish parents as the son of an Ottoman Army officer, Abidin Bey, the grandson of Ibrahim and the great-grandson of Haci Ahmad...
, and similar pleas from several world leaders, including American President John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
and Elizabeth II of the UK, Menderes was executed by the junta
Military dictatorship
A military dictatorship is a form of government where in the political power resides with the military. It is similar but not identical to a stratocracy, a state ruled directly by the military....
at the gallows on the island of İmralı
Imrali
İmralı is a small Turkish island located in the south of the Sea of Marmara, west of Armutlu-Bozburun peninsula within Bursa Province. It served from 1999 until 2009 as a maximum-security prison island for its only inmate, Abdullah Öcalan...
on 17 September 1961. Two months later, Menderes' nemesis
Nemesis
Nemesis may refer to:* Nemesis , in Greek mythology, a spirit of divine retribution against those who succumb to hubris* Archenemy, the principal enemy of a character in a work of fiction-Literature:...
İsmet İnönü formed a new government under military tutelage, in coalition and with the help of the newly emerging Justice Party
Justice Party (Turkey)
The Justice Party was a Turkish political party prominent in the 1960s and 1970s. A descendant of the Democrat Party, the AP was dominated by Süleyman Demirel, who served six times as prime minister, and was in office at the time of the military coup on September 12, 1980...
(in Turkish: "Adalet Partisi"), after these two major parties among themselves took the majority of the votes in 1961 elections. Adalet Partisi, which was seen as the successor of the heritage of Menderes, would win victories in later elections especially under the leadership of Süleyman Demirel
Süleyman Demirel
Sami Süleyman Gündoğdu Demirel, better known as Süleyman Demirel , is a Turkish politician who served as Prime Minister seven times and was the ninth President of Turkey.-Life:Demirel was born in İslamköy, a town in Isparta Province...
.
Legacy
On 17 September 1990, the 29th anniversary of Menderes' execution, he was posthumously pardoned by the democratically elected Turkish Parliament and his grave was moved to a mausoleumMausoleum
A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or persons. A monument without the interment is a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type of tomb or the tomb may be considered to be within the...
named after him in Istanbul. Fatin Rüştü Zorlu
Fatin Rüstü Zorlu
Fatin Rüştü Zorlu was a Turkish diplomat and politician. He was executed by hanging after the coup d'état in 1960 along with two other politicians.-Biography:...
and Hasan Polatkan
Hasan Polatkan
Hasan Polatkan was a Turkish politician and Minister of Labor and Finance, who was executed by hanging after the coup d'état in 1960 along with two other cabinet members.-Biography:...
, who were the Foreign Affairs Minister and Finance Minister, respectively in the last Menderes administration, and who were hanged with Menderes by the junta
Military dictatorship
A military dictatorship is a form of government where in the political power resides with the military. It is similar but not identical to a stratocracy, a state ruled directly by the military....
in 1961, were also posthumously cleared of any misconduct. Adnan Menderes University
Adnan Menderes University
Adnan Menderes University was founded in Aydın, Turkey in 1992. The name of the university comes from the former Turkish Prime Minister Adnan Menderes.-External links:*...
in Aydın
Aydin
Aydın is a city in and the seat of Aydın Province in Turkey's Aegean Region. The city is located at the heart of the lower valley of Büyük Menderes River at a commanding position for the region extending from the uplands of the valley down to the seacoast...
and Adnan Menderes Airport
Adnan Menderes Airport
İzmir Adnan Menderes International Airport is an airport serving İzmir and is named after former Turkish prime minister Adnan Menderes. It is located in the Gaziemir area of İzmir....
in İzmir
Izmir
Izmir is a large metropolis in the western extremity of Anatolia. The metropolitan area in the entire Izmir Province had a population of 3.35 million as of 2010, making the city third most populous in Turkey...
are named after him. Two high schools, Istanbul Bahcelievler Adnan Menderes Anadolu Lisesi and Aydın Adnan Menderes Anadolu Lisesi, also adopted his name. There are numerous city districts, boulevards and streets named after him by democratically elected city councils in cities large and small, all across Turkey.
In 2006, Mehmet Feyyat, Attorney General of Istanbul at the time, suggested that "İsmet İnönü and Cemal Gürsel placed phone calls to the prison's administration for Menderes' execution to be halted but the Communications Office of the junta cut the lines off" (see below).
Quotes
Film and television
- The last period of Menderes' life beginning with his 1959 aircraft crash1959 Turkish Airlines Gatwick crash-Accident:TC-SEV, cruising at , left Epsom at 16:27 hrs for Mayfield, East Sussex, the holding point for Gatwick. The airport's approach control informed the pilot that it would be positioned by radar for an ILS approach to the easterly Runway 09....
survival until his execution was depicted in the television series Hatırla SevgiliHatirla SevgiliHatırla Sevgili was a Turkish TV series broadcast on channel ATV Turkey. The series started on October 27th 2006 on the Turkish TV channel ATV, aired on Friday evenings at 22:15 hrs local time....
(Remember Darling) as background events.