BAHÇEŞEHİR (Spring 2008)

PART 1

TRANSITION TO DEMOCRACY 1945-1950

From Single-Party Era to Multi-Party Era

DEMOCRAT PARTY ERA 1950 -1960

Transition to Democracy and Liberalism

THE SECOND REPUBLIC 1960-1961

27 May 1960 and the 1961 Constitution

PLANNING AND ECONOMIC GROWTH 1961-1973

Problems of Pluralism and Democracy

WORLD RECESSION AND CRISIS 1974-1980Political and Economic Distress

THE THIRD REPUBLIC AND REFORMS 1980 - 1991Political and Economic Restructuring

CREDITS AND DEBITS OF GLOBALIZATION

UPS AND DOWNS AND RECOVERY 1991 – 2008

Towards the 21st Century

Transition to Democracy  

Wartime Developments

Social Stata (Classes)

 1. Peasantry 1945 :% 83 – 40.000 villages1955: % 71

Small property: the dominant type

2. Industrial Workers – Working Class

3. Middling Strata:

Landowners, Businessmen, Intellectuals

Statism created capital

and allowed accumulation in private hands

Classes / strata differentiated

Conflicts arouse 

Difficulty in maintaining social policy and statism

General discontent 

Peasantry – The largest social group

Living standard of peasantry deteriorated

Villages confronted with following problems:

1.    Shortages of land

2.    Farming methods and techniques

3.    Large estates

Distribution of national income unbalanced 

Measures necessitated by war:

a) Industrialization in its initial stage

possible only

by exploiting internal markets

chiefly the rural ones. 

b) Heavy taxes & unfavorable internal terms of trade

despite the removal of tithe (aşar)

Office of Soil Products 1938

1. To protect peasant through price supports

2. To accumulate farm supplies for army, schools, & needy regions

Uneven distribution of burden when war broke out

1.    Sharp increase in consumption of soil products

Army – from 120.000 to 1.500.000

No official mobilization

Ministry of Defence budget % 30 to % 50

Tax raises

Increase in money supply – Printing money

2.    Decrease in agricultural production

producers drafted into the army 

Shortage of bread

The Office: authoritarian & unrealistic policy

Uneven distribution of the burden

Inflation

Consumer price index increase: from 100 to 459

Excluding black market prices

Four legislations affecting Single-Party Era

1. National Defence Law - January 1940(Milli Korunma Kanunu)

 2.    Tax on capital (Varlık Vergisi) 1942

3. Agricultural Products Law (Toprak Mahsulleri Vergisi) 1942 

    4. Land Reform Law

(Çiftçiyi Topraklandırma Kanunu) 1945

The Memorandum of the Four (Dörtlü Takrir)

Celal Bayar, Adnan Menderes,

Refik Koraltan Fuat Köprülü

supported by Vatan and Tan [newspapers]

a) Turkish constitution be implemented in full

b) Democracy established 

Democratic Party (Demokrat Parti) January 1946

National Development Party

(Milli Kalkınma Partisi)

by Nuri Demirağ - industrialist

The liberalization of the economy

The development of free enterprise 

Sixth Congress of RPP - 1943

RPP extraordinary congress – May 1946

1. Liberalizing measures

2. Direct elections

3. The position of permanent chairman of the party abolished

4. The title of “National leader” (Milli Şef) abolished

After the congress

1. A liberal press law

2. Autonomy for the university

National elections brought forward

from July 1947 to July 1946

 Catching the Democrats before they fully organize 

Elections

 DP won 62 of the 465 seats

1. Massive vote-rigging

2. No guarantee of secrecy during the actual voting

3. No impartial supervision of the elections 

As soon as the results were declared

actual ballots were destroyed

making any check impossible

Turkey desperate for foreign financial assistance

 To facilitate this applied for membership of the IMF

 

1946 - A new economic five-year plan similar to pre-war plans Emphasis on autarky and state control

 1947 - A new Development Planechoed the wishes of the Istanbul businessmen and of the DP

1. Free enterprise

2. Development of agriculture and agriculturally based industry

3. Road instead of railways

4. Development of energy sector (oil)

Hardly any difference between the economic policies of the DP and of the RPP

Exception: the DP wanted to sell off the state industries

July 1947 Twelfth of July Declaration by İnönü

a) Legitimized the existence of the opposition

b) Called upon the state apparatus to be impartial 

Defeat of hard-liners in the RPP

Hasan Saka replaced Recep Peker

1949 Şemsettin Günaltay, - a compromise figure

1947 RPP Congress

 RPP moved even closer to the DP program

1. Advocated free enterprise

2. Decided to retract /withdraw art. 17 of Land Reform

3. Allowed religious education in the schools

4. Reformed the Village Institutes

Istanbul Economic Congress - 1948

emphatic in its support for liberal economic policies

 1945-1950 years of growth (11 % growth in GDP per year)

Economic growth in agricultural sector

From 1947 onwards,

trade surplus changed into a persistent trade deficit due

to fast-rising imports of machinery.

Turkey

moving in the direction of a more effective

parliamentary democracy

Transition to

modern community of mobile, participant citizens

Population increased

13,5 million in 1927 21 million in 1950

The proportion living in cities rose significantly

An increase in urbanization

Literacy increased

A literate, urban population

New interests and habits

Anxious to be kept informed – Public opinion

The number and circulation of newspapers rose steadily

The number of wireless sets increased

The modernization of communication

THE END OF STATISM

Statism created capital

&

allowed its accumulation in private hands

Classes became differentiated - Conflicts were bound to arise

 

Difficulty in maintaining the social order

General discontent

The living standard of the peasantry worsened

Turkey was desperate for foreign financial assistance

Applied for membership of the IMF 1947

IMF established in 1944 

To qualify for membership:

7 September 1947 Decisions

a) A devaluation of Turkish lira by % 120

b) A number of liberalizing measures

aimed at the integration of Turkey into the world economy

Truman doctrine: 1947

Civil War in Greece

American commitment

Military and financial support for Greece & Turkey

to the defence of anti-communist regimes

Marshall Plan 1947 - 1948

Financial support to European countries

Main aim: a) To help them to rebuild their economies

Complementary aims:

b) To sustain lucrative export market for US industry

c) To eliminate poverty as a breeding ground for communism

 RECOVERY

1945-1950 - years of growth

(11 % growth in GDP per year)

From very low level of economic activity of WWII

Large gold & foreign exchange stocks

accumulated during WWII

Purchase of chrome ore by belligerents

Nonavailability of imports

Investment Program

A good position to step up investment program

Machines, contruction materials, etc. to be imported

A disguised form of investment in agriculture

Money Supply

An increase in money supply

Subsidizing basic crops to a level above world prices

(wheat price about double the going world price)

Tax Burden

Tax burden of rural populace decreased compared to urban population

To stir economic incentiveLarge share of the national income channeled

into the rural areas

Assistance

Military and economic assistance from the US

- International position strengthened

-Domestic investment load lightened

Autarky came to an end – Incorporation speeded up

Economic growth in agricultural sector

From 1947

Trade surplus changed into a trade deficit

due to fast-rising imports of machinery

Social policies

 

The ban on organizations with a class base lifted (1946)

Trade unions established – 1946 - linked to socialist parties

Martial law – close them down

 

International Labor Organization

Turkey joined the ILO

1947 Law on Trade Unions

a) gave to the workers the right of organization in trade unions

b) forbade political activity & strikes 

DP promised to grant workers the right to strike (grev hakkı)

Restictive policies of the governments

Until 1950 – labor unions acting as adjuncts of the RPP

After 1950 – an independent labor movement

Special courts to handle labor cases (1950)

Weak Trade Unions

because:

a) Small number of industrial workers

b) Low level of education

c) Extreme poverty of working class – insufficient union dues (aidat)

Private Banking Institutions

Yapı Kredi 1944

Garanti 1946

Akbank 1948

The Industrial Development Bank of Turkey

(Sanayi Kalkınma Bankası) 1950

Purpose:

Recruiting capital for private business

at more reasonable terms

Liberalism

in the air before the Democrats came to power

A powerful industrial bureaucracy

developed under RPP eagis – State industries

Difficult to unseat KİTs.

By 1950:

Literacy % 34.5

Population : 20.9

Labor force: 10.6 million

Persons employed in industry and crafts: % 8.7 of the labour force

Per capita real income: index 107

(1938 the base year_(100)) - 1929 : 87

Bank deposits: from 197 million TL (1937) to 1.031 million TL (1950)

DP = A splinter group from RPP

Split off from the DP

 

Nation Party (Millet Partisi) – Marshal Fevzi Çakmak

A more uncompromising opposition to the RPP Religiously motivated

Election law - Bone of contention – February 1950

1. Free and fair elections

2.Supervision of the elections by the judiciary

The elections of 14 May 1950

– free and fair

– without major incident

– very high turnout ( % 80) (of the electorate casting its vote)

Electoral system Majoritarian (Çoğunluk sistemi)

versus Proportional Representation (Nisbî temsil)

DP received 408 seats (% 53.5)

against the RPP’s 69 (39.8)

Nation Party (Millet Partisi) won 1 seat

RPP votes from east of Ankara:

notables, tribal chiefs & large landowners controlled the vote

DP - First political organization with a mass following 

Catch-all Party

Peaceful handover of power (1950)

Peaceful transition

from autoritarianism to multi-party democracy (1946)

Unique experience in the developing world

A democratic heritage

Experiments with parliamentary election ( since 1876)

Multy party democracy (1908-1913) (1924) (1930)

1950 – 1960 Democrat Party Era

1. Liberal economic policies

2. Authoritarian methods to curb the opposition

3. Relaxation of secularist policies

4. Strengthening ties with the West

1951 and 1953 RPP congresses

1. Six arrows redefined

2. More emphasis on social policies

 

In 1953 Democrat Party

a) dominated National Assembly

b) requisitioned all the RPP’s material assets

c) closed People’s Houses (Halkevleri) & People’s Rooms (Halk odaları)

Insecurity within DP

1953 : Amendments

Government control of the press and the universities

  1954 (before the elections)

The press law tightened 

 

1954 Elections

Increased DP majority: 503 seats for the DP

RPP left with 31 seats

A tremendous success for Menderes

Massice support of peasantry

Policies vindicated by the economic boom

 

Nation Party (Millet Partisi)

banned in 1953

reconstituted as the Republican Nation Party

(Cumhuriyetçi Millet Partisi)

won 5 seats in 1954

Economic Development

 

DP trusted implicitly in the working of the market

 

Foreign Capital

The Law to encourage foreign investment 1951

Foreign investment remained extremely limited

% 1 of total private investment  

No more than 30 firms invested

 

Emerging Turkish Bourgeoisie

expected to start investing the profits accumulated in the 1940’s

Family businesses

hesitated to invest on the scale desired by DP

Privatization

of large state enterprises - a dead letter

Contributions

from private sector & foreigners disappointing

 % 40 to 50 of investment came from the State

 

Investments concentrated:

1. Road network

2. Building industry (İnşaat Sektörü)

3. Agro-industries

 

New roads

Switch to road transport

a changeover from public to privately owned transport

to lower transport costs

Tied the country together – National market

Opened up access to the villages

More effective marketing and distribution

End of Railways

The building of railways came to an almost complete halt

Highways

1600 km of hard-surfaced roads in 1950

5400 km of hard-surfaced two-lane highways

built between 1950-1960

with American technical and financial assistance

Turkey obtained the services of the U.S. Public Roads Administration

Fast-rising number of cars, buses and trucks

in private hands

Effectiveness of the investments

lessened in three ways:

 

1. Investments uncoordinated

2. Quick and tangible results expected

3. Investment decisions politically inspired

  

  

1. Investments uncoordinated

Menderes - allergic to economic planning

Associated it with the evils of statism

Denounced planning as synonymous with communism

2. DP wanted quick and tangible results

(to reach the level of Europe within 50 years )

  DP confused development with growth

a) Use of credit facilities and investments short-sighted

b) Aimed at a high level of growth rather than

a long-term improvements in the productive capacity

 

3. Investment decisions politically inspired

Factories put up in:

a) economically unpromising locations

b) the wrong sectors

Income distribution & social policies

a) Agricultural incomes grew faster

than non-agricultural incomes

Larger farmers profited most

 

b) Profits grew faster than wages & salaries in the towns

 

Traders and industrialists were relatively better off

 

 

Worsening inflation from 1955

hit wage- and salary- earners

 

Still, by 1960,

their real incomes had grown considerably

compared

with the immediate post-war years

Demographic Transformation – Revolution

1. Respectable increase in total population

2. Unbanization:

Mass migration from countryside to towns

Major cities growing by % 10 a year

Labor migration - permanent rather than seasonal

3. Emigration to European countries (Germany etc.)  

 

Limited Capacity

of new industries

to accommodate fast-growing but unskilled workforce

Small proportion found permanent jobs in industry

Most of the migrants ended up

as casual labourers or as street vendors (sokak satıcısı)Disguised Unemployment (Gizli işsizlik)

 

Lack of infrastructure

Cities - not equipped to receive large numbers of new inhabitants

 

Satellite towns (shanty-towns)

sprang up without infrastructure

No water, electricity, roads, or sewage system

(Gecekondu)

Settlers built their houses

on unused land on the outskirts of town

 

Labour Conditions

 Trade Unions Law of 1947

Most unions were linked to the RPP

through “Workers Bureau” (İş Bürosu)

 

Unions forced on the workers by the RPP

 

DP powerful weapon: The promise to grant

the right to strike

After the elections this promise forgotten

The trade Unions Confederation (Turk İş) 1952

 

Founded with moral and material assistance

from the International Conference of Free Trade Unions

 

The position of the unions remained week

 

Extremely low living standards of the members

Contributions (Aidat)

insufficient for the running of the organizations

 

Economic Problems

 Turkey suffered a trade deficit from 1947 onwards

even during the boom years of 1950-53

 

Turkey had a wheat surplus

became a major wheat exporter

The boom was over by 1954 

Weather conditions worsened

Turkey imported wheat once again

1956 -59 marked by spiralling inflation

Prices rising at % 18 per annum

Growth rate levelled out to a mediocre % 4

Barely enough to keep up with the high birth rate

No sign of self-sustaining development

Agricultural growth

 Extensive farming dominant

achieved by a combination of:

1. Extension of the sown area

2. Exceptionally good weather 

Intensive farming marginal

a) Improved agricultural techniques

b) Irrigation

c) Use of fertilizers

 

Economic growth

fell from around % 13 to % 4

 

Trade deficit

in 1955 was 8 times that of 1950

 

Government kept up

the rate of imports and investment

Turkey’s strategic position in the Cold War

to get

financial aid and easily borrowing terms

 

In 1960

total external debt stood at 1.5 billion $ = ¼ of the GNP

The weakness of the economy

Solution for financial problems :

effective taxation

taxing the new wealth in the countryside

Finances

Rich (large) landowners & substantial farmers

earned more than a % 20 of the GDP

paid only 2 % of the total tax revenue

Political considerations = Populism

prevented DP from levying taxes in rural areas

 

 Inflation

Instead of taxation

borrowed from Central Bank = printing money

Inflation went up

from 3 % in 1950 to 20 % in 1958

hitting

a) wage-earners

b) salary- earners & pensioners

c) consumers in towns 

Measures (from September 1953)

Import and foreign exchange controls

Ending

1. Five-year period of gradual opening up of the economy

2. Rapid integration into the world economy

 

From 1954

International financial institutions began to caution DP

Classical “IMF package” prescribed:

1. Devaluation of TL

2. End to artificial prices and to subsidies

3. End to import and export restrictions

DP resisted these pressures

Stuck to official fixed exchange rate of TL

 Result:

a) Economy deteriorated

b) Inflation grew

Gap between the official rate & the real value of TL widened

Black-market in foreign currency by 1958

Instead of recognizing the economic realities

DP revived National Defense Law

Milli Korunma Kanunu (1940)

to enforce price controls

Result:

Black market = Goods disappeared from shelves

Finally

DP agreed to the demands of the IMF (August 1958)

1. Devaluated TL

2. Rescheduled debts

3. Rised prices of KİT products

 In exchange: Loan package

 from USA, European countries, IMF

The debit side of DP’s Economic Policy

Unsound financial and fiscal structure

Creating

1. Huge deficits in balance of payment = Debts

2. Inflation at home = Black market

The credit side

mobility and dynamism

 

1.  Modernized agriculture

Passage from extensive farming to intensive farming

2.   Increased the industrial base

Large industrial firms have their roots in the 1950s

3.   Built new road network opening up the country

Villages came into contact with the outside world

From 1954

Economic downturn eroded support for the DP

Reasons:

a) Deterioration in standards of living

Limits put on the imports of consumer goods

b) Rise in the expectations of material improvement

1957 Elections:

Gradual loss of support for DP in the countryside

Still kept the support of the majority

Serious problem:

Crumbling / decaying support of

1) intellectuals

2) bureaucracy

3) armed forces

Results:

a) Groving economic difficulties = inflation

hitting salaried people, civil servants, pensioners

b) Groving authoritarianismhitting intellectuals & universities

Measures against bureaucracy

Suspected of loyalty to İnönü and RPP

Political control over the executive and judiciary

Restricted academic freedomIncidents in the universities

Increased hold over the bureaucracy

Civil servant: over 25 years of service

could be suspended and sent into retirement

Applied also to judges & university professors

Tension in foreign policy:

Riots of September – The future of Cyprus

6-7 Eylül Olayları – Events of September 6-7

Impasses in negotiations - Nationalist fervour

fanned by the press

Expected:

A limited spontaneous demonstration by students

to demonstrate public feeling

Result:

Demonstrations got out of hand

Developed into a pogrom (plunder)

against orthodox citizens

Attack on wealth

by the inhabitants of the gecekondus

Martial law declared (İstanbul, Ankara, İzmir)

Interior minister resigned

Opposition to authoritarian policies within DP (1955)

vis-a-vis the press, the universities & the judiciary

Bone of contention within DP

Right to Prove (Ispat Hakkı)

journalists taken to courts

should have the right to prove the truthof what they have written

Proposal rejected by DP parliamentry group

Vote of confidence - Dissent / dissagreement within the DP

Liberal wing broke away

Freedom Party (Hürriyet Partisi) - December 1955

under the leadership of Fevzi Lutfi Karaosmanoğlu

Became the biggest opposition party

supported by big business

Wanted:

A more sophisticated economic policy – planning

1956

Authoritarianism continued

National Defence Law revived to control prices and supplies

Press Law changed

to strengthen further government control of the media

Political meetings prohibited except during election campaigns

Elections due in 1958

pulled back (27 October 1957)

a) Prices of agricultural products raised

b) Ten-month moratorium on farmer’s debts

Cooperation between opposition parties

Joint declaration of principles (4 September)

Law (11 September) banned

the use of combined lists in elections

1957 Elections – A major setback for DP

DP = the largest party, but lost the absolute majority

DP % 47.3 & 424 seats

RPP % 40.6 & 178 seats (in 1954 31 seats)

FP (extremely disappointing) % 3.8 & 4 seats

Republican Nation Party (ultra-conservative) % 7 & 4 seats

After the elections

RNP merged with Peasants Party (Köylü Partisi) to form

The Republican Peasants National Party (Cumhuriyetçi Köylü Millet Partisi)

December 1958

FP – no grassroots organization - merged with RPP

Infusion of new ideas to reorientate the RPP

a) social justice

b) democratic safeguards

Secularism

DP confronted with an hostile opposition

A worsening economic crisis

Crubling support among city-dwellers & intellectuals

DP (1957) appealed to religious sentiments

a) Described the Republicans as communists and unbelievers

b) Boasted about the number of mosques and religious schools opened under DP

DP charged / accused of

a) using religion for political purposes

b) reneging on the secularist principles of the state

DP used religion for political purposes

However

DP did not undermine the secular character of the republic

Kemalism (Single-Party Era)

A modernization strategy based on a positivist world vision

Religion seen as a hindrance to progress in modernization

Kemalist secularism

subjugation and integration of religion

into the state bureaucracy

rather then

separation of church and state

In the 30s and 40s – extremely repressive

After 1946 (Multi-Party Era)Parties started to court the Muslim vote

RPP : (After 1947 congress)

more tolerant of religion

a) Reintroduced elective religious education in schools & training establishments for preachers

b) Faculty of Divinity in Ankara University

c) Tombs and shrines (türbe) reopened (1949)

But: tried to guard against religious reaction in politics

Article 163 (Penal code) :

Prohobited

propoganda attacking the secular character of the state

DP (Before 1950)

Great care to emphasize secularism

Islamic currents (Sebilürreşat etc.) attacked the DP

Formation of more radical opposition parties:

Nation Party

Dissolved in 1953

for alleged complicity in reactionary religious plot

DP (After 1950)

Relaxation of secularist policies

a) Restrictions relaxed on expressions of religious feeling

b) Concessions to the feelings of the Muslim population

c) Koran reading on the wireless

& reversion to Arabic for the prayer call

d) Religious education expended

e) Parents had to opt out instead of having to opt in

f) The number of preacher schools enlarged

g) Increase in the building of mosques

h) The sale of religious literature allowed again

i) accepted the existence of autonomous religious organizations (legitimized brotherhoods)

But still:

The DP’s understanding of the secularism

- not significantly different from that of the RPP

- did not end the integration of the religious establishment

into the bureaucracy

-Preacher remained civil servant

-The administration of religious endowments in state hands

Emergence of anti-secularism

1950-51 Dervish sheikhs came out into the open

with large following

Ticani dervish order started to smash busts of Atatürk

Persecuted vigorously by the government

Their leader, Kemal Pilavoğlu sent to jail

Law against defaming Atatürk’s memory passed in 1951

However

Nurcu movement supported DP in the elections

DP tacitly admitted:

Religion was not necessarily incompatible with development

Within the army

seen as betrayal to the Kemalist traditions

Result:

Islam made much prominent in everyday life in the cities

visible in urban milieux through migration

But seen a a resurgence of Islam by intellectuals

Religious Dilemma

Obscurantism or traditional culture of the mass of population ?

Interpreted as:

The former subject class reasserting its right to express itself

Economic Convergence

Economic policies of RPP and DP

differed in emphasis

Not in direction

SEE not turned over to private capital

State continued to invest heavily

Illiberal spirit

After 1954

DP sought to buttress their strong position

by restricting political liberties

1954-59Prosecutions of

journalists, editors &

newpaper owners

Ammendments to the press & libel (iftira / hareket) laws – 1956

Severe penalties for criticizing persons in official positions

Control of the allocation of newsprint – 1958

Amendments to Civil Service Law 1954

a) judges and university teachers after 24 years service or at age 60 sent to retirment (emeklilik)

b) Dismissal of civil servants after a period of suspension (görevden el çektirme)

Activites of political parties curtailed

Amendment to the electoral law to prevent electoral coalitions

Public meetings & demonstrations banned except

in the 45 day campaign period preceding elections

Rise in the political temperature

Opposition accused of intirfering witha) the armyb) arming its own followers

Fatherland Front (Vatan Cephesi) 1958

To broaden the DP’s base

To mobilize the mass of population

1960 Investegatory Commission

to investigate activities of the opposition

(Tahkikat Komisyonu)

Commission set up with powers

a) To suppress newspapers

b) Subpoena (summon to appear before the Commission) persons and documents

c) To imprison for up to 3 years those who impeded its investigations

Commision denounced as unconstitutional by law professor

Accused of engaging in politics

Disciplinary action taken against them

Student demonstrations and riots

The effect of the restrictions

Political strife driven out into the streets

The events of 28 & 29 April 1960

Use of the troops to suppress demonstrations

One student killed

Silent demonstration by cadets of the War Academy (Harbiye)

21 May 1960

Dubious legitimacy of the measures

Encouraged illegitimate means of action

Opposition strong in large towns

Particularly amongst students

Educated sections of society

a) Schools & Universities

b) Civil service

c) Military officer class

Former elite displaced from the center of the stage

Fall in purchasing power of the salaries

Displaced as the elite in society

New centers of wealth and influence

Necessity to call in the army to suppress demonstrations

Army – sympathy with İnönü

Why did DP cling so obstinately to power ?

1 . The character of the DP leadership

2. Restriction on personal basis rather than rational basis

3. Excessive confidence in their popularity & their own legitimacy

1 . The character of the DP leadership.

Active participation in the authoritarian RPP

not democratic by training

2. Restriction on personal basis

rather than rational basis

İnönü complex

frustrated in the RPP

unable to unseat İnönü

3. Excessive confidence in their popularity

&

their own legitimacy

Support of the bulk of the electorate

Little interference with traditional and religious customs

Underestimated the power of the Opposition

The Second Turkish Republic 1960-1980

 The military takeover of 27 May 1960 (27 Mayıs Devrimi)

a)    “to prevent fratricide” (kardeş katli)

b)   “to extricate the parties from the irreconcilable situation into which they had fallen”

 

The conspirators:

a number of radical colonels, majors and captains

 

Greeted with explosions of public joy

among student an the intelligentsia

The rest of the country showed no such reaction

General Cemal Gürsel: as a figurehead,

former commander in-chief of the land forces

 National Unity Committee (NUC) (Millî Birlik Komitesi)

headed by Cemal Gürsel – 38 officers -

Alpaslan Turkeş – the most influential member

Declaration of professors justifying the intervention:

DP acted unconstitutionally

The investigatory commission – Tahkikat Komisyonu

became illegal 

Young Turks

Tradition of military leadership of modernizatation

ceased to be under the Single-Party regime

Fevzi Çakmak = Millet Partisi

Restructuring of Army in the 50s.

Extensive rearming and retraining of the military (NATO)

The modern army = the most progressive element

The process of modernization created expectations

Under the guise of Atatürkism or Kemalism

Underlying factor encouraging the military to intervene:

A combination of frustration & renewed self-confidence

Most prestigious elements in society in the 1950’s

Free professions in law, medicine, engineering and the like

Not military nor civil servants

Social background &

social and economic views of the instigators of the coup

NUC – discontented with DP’s economic and social policies

a) A more balanced economic growth

b) A more equitable distribution of wealth

c) Land reform

for DP social justice was not a main consideration

Military Rule May 1960 – October 1961

NUC decision (3 August)

to retire 235 out of 260 generals &

some 5000 colonels and majors

 

Democrat Party suspended on 31 August

&

dissolved on 29 September 1960 

A speedily return to constitutional rule

Onar Commission – Prof. Sıddık Sami Onar

A provisional constitution – 12 June 1960

giving legal basis both to the coup and to NUC

The cabinet of technocrats as an executive organ

To finalize the text of the constitution

The Constituent Assembly (Kurucu Meclis)

convened in January 1961 

Consisted of two chambers

Bicameral parliament

1. An upper house in the legislature:

the NUC (Milli Birlik Komitesi)

2. A lower house: 272 (Kurucu Meclis)

representatives of

a) the remaining political parties

b) the professional (occupational) groups

c) the provinces

The New Constitution: (1961)

The Republic is described as

nationalist, democratic, secular and social

Social and democratic are not in the 1924

Populist and revolutionary (1924) are omitted

Legislative and executive power are no longer concentrated in the GNA

From an assembly, or convention, system to a parliamentary one

The New Constitution: (1961)

to prevent a power monopoly

from using its majority to become despotic

by counterbalancing

the National Assembly (Millet Meclisi)

with other institutions

1961 Constitution derived from 3 main sources:

a) The historical legacy of the Constitutions of 1876 & 1924

b) The experience of contemporary democratic states

c) Turkey’s present social needs

a) Historical legacy

1876 Constitution

Created an elected parliament

Gave place to individual rights (limited)

Gave recognition to the idea of limitation of the Sultan’s powers

in the name of the people

Participation of the ‘people’ in a system dominated by the Sultan

The emergent principle of division of powers

To replace the concentration of all legislative, executive and judicial powers in the hands of the Sultan

1924 Constitution

A victory for the principle of pupular sovereignty [milli hakimiyet = halk egemenliği ]

at the expence of the separation of powers

Sovereignty firmly invested in the nation

Nation’s soveregn rights exercised on its behalf by the GNA

Only the nation and its representative GNA possessed authority

GNA the source of executive as well as legislative power

1961 Constitution

Provided greater degree for the separation of powers

An impartial Presidency

A parliamentary form of government

in which a balance between government and parliament

1876 & 1924 “government with parliament”

1961 parliamentary government

b) Contemporary experience

Illuminated by ideas about representative democratic government

Insistance on patriotism = national (rather than nationalism), on laicism, on the legitimacy of power only through elections

Subjecting political power to the inspection of public opinion & political institutions.

c) Present needs

i) Strong democratic government to carry through

economic and social development in a planned way

ii) Inclusion of social rightsConstitution is a foundation stone for a democratic welfare

state (refah devleti)

1. 2 Chambers: National Assembly and Senate

The National Assembly 450 members

The supremacy of the lower house - the last voice

More representative on account of its system of election by proportional representation

Term of office is 4 years

Deputies need only be 30 years of age and be literate

A second chamber : Senate (Senato) 150 elected members

Natural memberslife membership for member of the NUC 15 members appointed by the Presidentformer presidents

The term of office of all elected and appointed senators is 6 years

1/3 of elected and appointed members of the Senate retire every 2 years

Senators have to be at least 40 years of age & to have had higher education

2. An independent Constitutional Court (Anayasa Mahkemesi)

to review the constitutionality of the laws of the GNA

High Council to try the President, the PM, & other ministers &

highest legal personages for offences arising out of their duties

Suits for annulment of laws and standing orders

Suits for the closing down of political parties

3. Full autonomy for the judiciary, the universities and the mass media

4. The system of proportional representation:

to prevent the division of the country into two hostile camps

to lessen the chance of one party

to make single-party government unlikely

holding an overwhelming majority

5. A full bill of civil liberties -

To strengthen the basic rights

Social and economic rights and obligations

the right to bargain collectively and to strike

the right to social security and medical care

6. A constitutional role for the military:

the National Security Council (NSC) (Milli Güvenlik Kurulu)

National Security Council March 1962

advised the government on internal and external security

Members: 

The chief of the general staff [genel kurmay başkanı The service chiefs [kuvvet komutanları] & The ministers concerned [ilgili bakanlar]

A powerful watchdog,

sometimes replacing the cabinet

as the center of real power and decision-making

The President of the Republic

A tendency to make the President an arbiter

in the political struggle

More distant from the GNA than formerly

The requirement of political neutrality

Yet, the break from Parliament is not complete

President chosen by the GNA

for seven 7 years (longer term of office)

by a 2/3 majority of the GNA in plenary session [NA + Senate]from among members of the GNA who are at least 40 years old + higher education

should not be responsible to GNA

The president is not eligible for re-election

The referendum

on the new constitution (9 July 1961)

A severe setback for the forces of 27 May

Accepted with 61.7 against 38.3 per cent of the votes cast

 

The ban on political activity lifted (13 January 1961)

RPP & RPNP reactivated

New Parties

1) The Justice Party [Adalet Partisi]

headed by Ragıp Gümüşpala; retired general

Primary goal

full rehabilitation of the retired officers and arrested democrats

2) The Workers [Labor] Party of Turkey [Türkiye İşçi Partisi]

headed by Mehmet Ali Aybar, publicist, lawyer, former University academics

3 ) The New Turkey Party [Yeni Türkiye Partisi]

headed by Ekrem Alican

The parliamentary elections (15 October 1961)

RPP gained % 36.7 : (171 seats) disappointed

JP polled % 34.7 (158 seats)

The New Turkey Party got % 13.9:

A continuation of the Freedom Party

founded by dissident Democrats in 1955

The conservative RPNP polled % 13.4

Taken together,

the parties which were considered heirs to DP

were still the strongest in the country

The new constitution more liberal than the old one:

It tolerated a wider spectrum of political activity than before,

both to the left and to the right

 

The trial of the old regime: Yassıada Mahkemeleri

 

31 sentenced to life imprisonment &

418 to lesser terms,

while 15 sentenced to death (11 death sentence commuted) müebbed hapis

Adnan Menderes, Fatin Rüştü Zorlu and Hasan Polatkan hanged

Celal Bayar’s death sentence

commuted

because of his advanced age

A Period of Transition – the Period of Coalitions

  1961-1965

Heavy pressure on the two party to collaborate in a coalition

to be led by İsmet İnönü

 The First İnönü Coalition

A marriage of convenience, not love

Failure: a) the amnesty for the former DP politicians

b) the project for a planned economy

The JP rejected as insufficient a proposal to reduce the sentences of the Democrats 

 The Second İnönü Coalition

İnönü formed a new cabinet

A coalition with the two smaller parties

Many frictions

The worst: the proposal for a land tax

Cemal Gürsel asked the JP leader, Ragıp Gümüşpala

to form a government.

He failed in his attempt

 

The Third İnönü Coalition

A minority coalition of RPP and independents

JP brought it down:

budget is not approved

A Caretaker Cabinet

headed by Suat Hayri Ürgüplü (a former diplomat)

 

Elections in October 1965

 

JP won a landslide victory

gaining an absolute majority of the votes cast ( % 52.9)

RPP was down to % 28.7.

The other parties gained les than % 7

Workers’ Party of Turkey (WPT) in the parliament: 15 deputies

National remainder system NRS

Milli Bakiye Sistemi

% of votes = % of seats in parliament

Permitted the Workers’ Party 15 seats in the assemby

Demirel, prime minister.

 He dominated Turkish politics for the next five years

 

Goods years for Turkey

High economic growth - % 6.9 growth rate & Continual increases in real incomes

 

Demirel’s most important achievementReconciliation of the army & the rule by civilians

The price paid: The armed forces were granted almost complete autonomy

JP was a coalition of

1.    industrialists

2.    small traders and artisans

3.    peasants and large landowners

4.    religious reactionaries

5.    Western-orientated liberals

 

It had very little ideological coherence

 

Demirel’s frequent recourse to two tactics

  To preserve the unity of the party and his own position

1.  Emphasis on the Islamic character of the party

He stood for traditional values

Flirted with leaders of Nurcu movement

 

2. Constant anti-communist propaganda campaign &

harassment of leftist movements

He became unpopular among intellectuals

But his support held up well in the countryside

The elections of 1969

 JP suffered slight losses ( %46.5)

RPP polled only % 27.4

 

JP formed a new cabinet

Slightly more centrist than the old one

 

Problems within JP – Opposition to Demirel.

He lost the support of the most conservative wing

a) Anatolian landowners

&

b) small traders and artisans

over his proposals for new taxation

to help pay for industrialization

February 1970

The right wing of the JP voted with the opposition

& forced Demirel to resign

 March 1970

New cabinet - No alternative to Demirel 

Rift (split - dissention) superficially healed

December 1970

JP decedents

41 deputies and senators left the JP

&founded the Democratic Party (Demokratik Parti)

led by Ferruh Bozbeyli

its name, recalling DP

Left of Center (Ortanın Solu) 

New definition for RPP

The RPP moved left of center A new manifesto in the 1965 elections

written by two coming men of RPP

Turhan Feyzioğlu and Bülent Ecevit

 

Emphasis on social justice and social security

without being explicitly socialist

 

To mobilize the votes of

1) workers

2) inhabitants of the shanty towns (slum areas of towns)

RPP new stance did not profit in 1965 elections

Lacked credibility as a progressive party

The people in the squatter towns basically villagers

who had moved to the big city

taking their village values with them

 

as in the villages, they voted JP

 

JP propogandists’ tactics:

Left of center is the road to Moscow

Ortanın Solu Moskova’nın Yolu

 

After the defeat – Acrimonious (bitter) debate – Infighting

Blaming “the left-of-center” tactics

Extraordinary Congress of RPP - 1967

Increase of the central office’s hold over the party

Party dicipline

A group of 47 representatives and senators

who opposed the left-of-center line

left the party

to found the Güven Partisi (Reliance Party)

led by Turhan Feyzioğlu

Right of center

Ecevit’s main competitor for the position of “Crown prince”

Personal jealousy

The growth of political radicalism

 

On the left:

A growing student population

&

a growing industrial proletariat

 

On the right:

JP policies served the interests of

the modern industrial bourgeoisie, of big business

 

However, JP’s electoral base consisted of

a) farmers

&

b) small businessmen

They became the prime targets of both

a) the Islamic party

b) the ultra-nationalist party

NAP

The NAP led by Alpaslan Türkeş – an ultra-nationalist

(Nationalist Action Party / Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi)

Claimed to be opposed to both monopoly capitalism & communism

 From RPNP to NAP – 1969

Hierarchically organized, militant with ultra-nationalist program – Nine Lights (Dokuz Işık)

Youth Organization – Ülkü Ocakları + Bozkurtlar

NOP

The NOP ( National Order Party / Milli Nizam Partisi ) 1970

headed by Necmettin Erbakan.

Voice of smaller businessmen 

Used “Islamic” discourse to criticize the monopolies as lackeys of the Christian/Jewish West

They posed a serious threat te Demirel’s power

 

Political violence in the late 1960s

Bombing attack, robbery and kidnapping

National Remaider System abolished in March 1968

Representatives of WPT played a very important role as opposition

Left, without ouftlet for expressing discontent in the assembly, vented their frustrations in the street

The violence of the left met and surpassed by violence from the militant right

By early 1971:

Demirel weakened by defections - Became paralyzed

 

He was powerless to curb the violence

on the campuses and in the streets.

 

He could not hope to get

any serious legislation on social or financial reform

passed in the assembly

The fragmentation of the Right

became the major factor of political instability

By the early 1970s

Situation became explosive

A dangerous mix

Student and working-class militancy

Social and economic changes

Growing political conflict

World situation

A revolution of rising expectations

Expectation were not met

German economic miracle had syphoned off workers

Population growth

Widespread unemployment

Job market unable to absorb the younger population

Overcrowded schools and universities

Ideal for recruiting militants for the Left and the Right

Youth played a crucial role in creating political instability

Demirel sided with Turk İş

Wanted to destroy DİSK

A Law : Unless represented at least 1/3

Workers came out in protest on 15-16 June 1970

Paralysed the Istanbul-Marmara region

The Right described the protest as

“a dress rehearsal for revolution”

Beginning of 1971 – A state of turmoil

Leftist student militants robbed banks

Kidnapped US servicemen

Attacked American targets

Constant strike activity

The Gray Wolves, neo-fascist militants

Attacked professors who were critical of the goverment

Islamists became more aggressive

Openly rejected Atatürk and Kemalism, infuriating the armed forces

12 March Memorandum (12 Mart Muhtırası)

Handed by the chief of the general staff

It amounted to an ultimatum by the armed forces

 

The memorandum demanded:

 

A strong and credible government

to end the “anarchy”&

and carry out reforms “in a Kemalist spirit”

 

If demands were not met, the army would “exercise its constitutional duty” and take over power itself

Demirel resigned

İnönü denounced any military meddling in politics

 

The new government installed by the generals

headed by Nihat Erim, member of the right wing of the RPP

Ecevit, infuriated, resigned as secretary-general

 

A cabinet consisted largely of technocrats

from the outside the political establishment.

 Nihat Erim announced that his government would:

1.    restore law and order

2.    enact a number of long-overdue socio-economic reforms

Atilla Karaosmanoğlu (World Bank) drew up a reform program:

 1.    Land reform

2.    Land tax

3.    Nationalization of the mineral industry

4. Joint ventures to protect Turkish industry at least % 51 Turkish-owned

 

Stubborn opposition from vested interests in business and agriculture

But sophisticated industrialists

like Vehbi Koç and Nejat Eczacıbaşı

supported the reform proposals

Renewed terrorist attacks

NSC proclaimed martial law in 11 provinces

 Renewed every two months for two years

Persons suspected of terrorism rounded up

Witch-hunt - The persecution of the left

Progressive liberal sympathisers arrested

5000 people put to jail

leading intellectuals (writers, journalists, professors),leading members of the Workers Party of Turkey

prominent trade unionists 

The NOP & WPT closed down in May & July 1971

Erbakan allowed to resume his activities in October 1972

under National Salvation Party (Milli Selamet Partisi)

 

Erim to compromise with the conservatives in the assemby

 Demirel’s old ministers in the cabinet

11 reformist technocrats resigned

Replaced by politicians from the right 

Erim’s new cabinet

amendments to the constitution

aiming at making it less liberal

support of the parties of the right

 44 articles were changed.

Basically:

1. Limits to civil liberties

2. End to the autonomy of the universities and of radio and TV

3. Limit to freedom of the press

4. Curtailment of the powers of the Constitutional Court

5. Increase of the powers of the NSC

giving unsolicited advice to the cabinet - Binding advice

6. Foundation of special State Security Courts (Devlet Güvenlik Mahkemeleri) to try over 3000 people

Abolished in 1976

The assembly refused

the right to rule by decree (kanun hükmünde kararname)

Nihat Erim resigned (April 1972)

 

Succeeded by Ferit Melen

one of the leaders of the Reliance Party

Collaborated more closely with JP

Principled stance  of Ecevit

Ecevit ousted İnönü from the RPP chairmanship

succeeded him in Party conference (May 1972).

İnönü resigned from the RPP (November 1972)

The term of office of Cevdet Sunay (1966-1973) came to an end

 

The army put forward the chief of general staff Faruk Gürler

as his successor

 

Gürler was defeated

Fahri Korutürk, a retired admiral, became the president

 

He appointed the economist Naim Talu

to lead a caretaker government

to take the country to the free elections

October 1973 Elections:

 produced a surprise result

RPP polled % 33.5 against % 29.5 won by JP

NSP: % 11.9

None of the parties had an absolute majority

 Long-drawn-out negotiations

January 1974 - a new cabinet

Based on the surprising combination of RPP with NSP

 

 RPP:

Social Democratic Identity

Won its votes in the progressive, industrial belt

Not in its traditional stronghold of backward, east and central Anatolia

Attractive to urban migrants

Social democracy as the ideology of the future

 NSP :

Opposition to the growth of monopolies &

dependence on foreign capital

Call for heavy industry &

an economy based on Islamic values (interest-free banking)

The New Cabinet

A marriage of convenience: Common basis: the distrust of

a) European and American influence

b) Big business

Cyprus crisis broke out

Turkish forces in Cyprus

Ecevit became a national hero overnight

Karaoğlan

He wanted to use his popularity

to gain an absolute majority in early elections

Resigned to instigate new elections (September 1974)

 

 

A major miscalculation

A caretaker cabinet under Professor Sadi Irmak

 Demirel finally formed a coalition:

First Nationalist Front

JP, the NSP, the NAP, RRP and defectors from the DP

Bribing them with cabinet posts – 30 ministers

Disproportioned influence of NSP & NAP

Colonizations of ministries in an unprecedented way

Thousands of civil servants discharged or demoted

Replaced with party loyalists

Increased violence and economic crisis

The elections of 1977

Ecevit’s popularity - RPP got % 41.4

JP went up to % 36.9

A stalemate

Attempt by Ecevit to form a coalition with the independents

Failure

Second “Nationalist Front” coalition by Demirel

Influence of the NSP and NAP greater than in the first one

 Short lived. JP deputies defected

 

Ecevit formed a cabinet with defectors now independents

The independents given cabinet posts

It survived until October 1979

 

It could not master the rising tide of violence

The military grew increasingly disillusioned with

Ecevit’s soft attitude to terrorism and Kurdish separatism

 

October 1979 elections for the senate

Drop in support for the RPP

Defections from RPP

Ecevit lost majority - Resigned

 

Demirel returned to power

Minority government supported by independents

JP-RPP coalition

proved impossible to realize throughout 1973-80

They were unable to cooperate

 The political system gradually became paralysed

giving small extremist groups disproportionate influence

 

Polarization of the big parties due to ideological factors

 

President Fahri Korutürk’s term ended in 1980

Paralysis -The assembly proved incapable of electing president

after 100 rounds of voting

Overwhelming problems Turkey faced in the 1970s

 

(1) Political violence (2) Economic crisis.

 

The development policies of the governments :

the substitution of imports through industrialization

 

Direct investment incentives:

subsidies & tax rebates

Economic crisis

1973 – 1980

 

The creation of a home-grown industry:

 

1. Extensive import restrictions and high tariffs

 

2. Manipulation of the exchange rates

3. Creation of a buoyant internal market

1. Extensive import restrictions & high tariffs

to keep out European & American industrial products

 

2. Manipulation of the exchange rate

by keeping the rate of the TL artificially high

Firms, to buy foreign investment goods & raw materials,

allowed to purchase $ or DM comparatively cheaply

3. Creation of a buoyant internal market through Populism:

a) paying high guarantee prices to farmer (above world price)

b) allowing industrial workers high wage rises

Industries

which would never have been able to compete on world market

made handsome profits on the home front.

 

New industries spread unevenly among regions

 

Vast majority established in the Istanbul area

smaller concentrations around İzmir and Adana

 

Import-substitution strategy

successful for some time

1963 - 1976 the annual rate of growth averaged % 6.9

Role of the state economic enterprises still important

% 40 of total industrial production

 

Inefficiency: Reasons:

1) Political concern

2) Social concern

1. Business decisions in the state state sector, including the pricing of products, remained politically influenced

 

2. Huge overstaffing as a result of patronage system

 

Result: Heavy losses to be covered through the state budget

New industries heavily dependent on imports(foreign parts & materials for production)

dependency:

on the availability of foreign reserves to pay for them

Economy became extremely vulnerable

 

Since the 1950s

Increasing dependence on oil as a source of energy

 

The oil crisis of 1973-74

quadrupled price on the international market

Steep rise in import bill

Second oil price shock in 1979-80

2/3 of foreign currency earnings to meet oil bill

Recession in Europe

Western market for Turkish products declined

 

For a while

Possibility to keep up economic growth

by depleting the Central Bank’s foreign reserves

Using the transfers of the Turkish workers in Germany

 

Remittances began to decline steeply after 1974:

a) Recession – Unemployment

b) Political unrest – Loss of trust

1. The situation of the workers in Europe deteriorated

2. They lost confidence in the situation in Turkey

 They kept their money in Germany 

Governments tried to solve problems by:

1.    concluding costly short-term Eurodollars loans

2.    printing money

3.    conserving foreign reserves through import restrictions

 

Scarcety of oil for industry & electricity generating

By 1979 power cuts off up to 5 hours a day

Fuelled inflation

a) Rising price of energy b) Irresponsible financial policies

Inflation running around % 20 during the early 1970s

 

By 1979 it was at % 90

 

To keep inflation down:

1) price control thought Price-Control Board

 Result = huge black market

 2) Artificially high rate of exchange for the TL

Devaluation always came too late

Import restrictions imposed to save foreign exchange

a) fuelled the black market

b) gave rise to large-scale smuggling

 

Radical measures

to extricate Turkey from its financial and economic impasses

 

Ecevit negotiated with IMF, World Bank and OECD

for new credits (1978)

Creditors demanded drastic economic reforms

Agreement to release 1.8 billion $ in new credits (July 1979)

Dependent on a reform program to be implemented  

1. Abolishing import and export controls

2. Cutting subsidies

3. Freeing interest rates

4. Raising prices

5. Cutting government expenditure

Demirel’s government

The task of implementing given to Turgut Özal

the under-secretary (müsteşar)

for economic affairs in charge of planning

24 January 1980

Reform package launched (called “Chilian solution” )

Credits began to arrive

 

Widespread resistance

 

Activities of the trade unions

made it impossible to implement economic package

 

Members of DISK occupied factories - Strikes

 accompanied by clashes with the security forces

The Third Republic

Political Structure

1980 - 2002

 

The Third Republic

The coup: 12 September 1980

Armed forces took over political power – To save democracy

The communiqué

State organs had stopped functioning

 

The the existing political system uprooted

 

1.    Parliament dissolved

2.    Cabinet deposed

3.    Immunity (dokunulmazlık) of the deputies lifted

4.    Political leaders arrested

5.    Political parties abolished

6.    Radical trade unions confederations, DİSK and MİSK suspended

7.    Mayors & municipal councils dismissed

A state of emergency (olaganüstü hal) declared

Concentration of all power in the hands of the military

National Security Council (Milli Güvenlik Konseyi)

headed by General Kenan Evren

declared head of state (devlet başkanı)(14 September 1980) 

Local commenders, under martial law, given wide-ranging powers

Closures of newspapers – Arrests of journalists & editors

Eventual return to democratic system envisaged

 

 

Enforcement of radical changes

before handing power back to the civilians  

Undoing work of their predecessors,

perpetrators of 27 May

Saw their task:

a) saving democracy from the politicians

b) Purging the political system

A 27-member cabinet under Bülent Ulusu (Retired admiral)

Composed of bureaucrats and retired officers

A wave of arrests swept the country after the coup

In the first 6 weeks - 11.500 people arrested

By the end of 1980 - the number grew to 30.000

After one year - 122.600 arrests had been made

 

Politically motivated terrorist attacks diminished

but at great human and social cost

 

Trials held before military courts under martial law

Within 2 years - 3600 death sentences pronounced

15 carried out.  Tens of thousands of lesser sentences

The new constitution prepared by a constitutional committee

headed by Professor OrhanAldıkaçtı (İstanbul University)

 

A constituent assembly (Danışma Meclisi) of 160 members met on 23 October 1981

(120 appointed by the military governors, 40 by the NSC)

Elected 15-member constitutional committee 

The Constitution of 1982

 

A reversal of the 1961 constitution

 

1. Concentration of power in the hands of the executive

2. Increase of the powers of the president and the NSC

3. Limits to freedom of the press, freedom of trade unions (banning political strikes, solidarity strikes & national strikes)

4. Limits to rights and liberties of the individual

 The usual rights and liberties (freedom of speech, freedom of association, etc)

included in the constitution

Rights & Liberties could be annulled, suspended or limited

on the following considerations:

1.    the national interest,

2.    public order,

3.    national security,

4.    danger to the republican order and public health.

Constitution subjected to a referendum 7 November 1982

 Voting made compulsory

Anyone who chose not to or neglected to vote:

a) had to pay a fine b) lost the right to vote for five years

Criticism of

a) the constitution

b) speeches General Evren held in favour of yes vote

banned

The referendum yielded expected result:

a yes vote of % 91.4

 

New Law on Political Parties promulgated (March 1983)

 

Politicians active before September 1980 banned from politics

for 10 years

New parties could be formed

but their founders needed the approval of the NSC

 

Students, teachers & civil servants barred from party membership

 

Parties not allowed

a) to found women’s or youth branches

b) b) to develop links with trade unions

c) to open branches in villages.

15 parties founded,

but 12 not approved by the military

3 parties allowed to take part in the elections

 1.    The Party of Nationalist Democracy Milliyetçi Demokrasi Partisi Identified with & supported by the generals Led by retired general Turgut Sunalp

2.    The Populist Party Halkçı Partı

led by Necdet Calp

3. The Motherland Party Anavatan Partisiled by Turgut Özal

 

Turgut Özal - behind the economic reform program served as a minister in charge of the economy under the military regime (Bülent Ulusu government)

6 November 1983 Elections

MP scored an overwhelming victory - polling over % 45

PP did reasonably well to poll % 30

PND came the third with % 23

 

New electoral system heavily weighted in favor of majority

To limit the disproportionate influence of the small parties

Before 1980 = one of the reasons for the breakdown of system

The % 45 gave the MP an absolute majority

Under Turgut Özalslow process of further democratization went on

 

Before the municipal elections of March 1984

the parliament voted to allow some of the parties

banned the year before to participate

 

The Municipal elections of March 1984

 

The MP did only marginally less well than five months earlier % 41.5

The Social Democratic Party 23.5 per cent[Sosyal Demokrat Parti ]led by professor Erdal İnönü

 

The True Path Party polled % 13.5 [Doğru Yol Partisi] Süleyman Demirel’s party, - fronted by other politicians

 

The National Salvation Party, got % 4.5 of the vote[Milli Selamet Partisi]Necmettin Erbakan’s party, - fronted by other politicians

 

The Populist Party less than % 9

The Party of Nationalist Democracy only % 7

Strange political landscape

 

Opposition parties in parliament lost their legitimacy

 

Parties with sizeable portion of the electorate behind them

not represented on a national level

Solutions:  

On the Left:

PP and SDP merged to form Social Democratic Populist Party

[Sosyal Demokrat Halkçı Parti – SPP] November 1985.

A new challenger for the inheritance of old RPP

The Democratic Left Party DLP Demokratik Sol Partisi - DSP

Led from behind the scenes by Bülent Ecevitfronted by his wife, Rahşan Ecevit - party chairwoman

 The Ecevits

a) depicted SPP as elitist and old fashioned

b) declared the PDL as the only true workers’ party

On the Right

The leadership of PND dissolved the party - May 1986

Representatives joined the MP & PTP

18 members of SPP deserted to the DLP - December 1986

giving DLP representation in parliament

 

Özal accepted the challenge of the old guard

Referendum on a change in the constitution

to allow the old politicians to take part in politics

 Referendum - 6 September 1987.

 % 50.24 yes against % 49.76 no

The result of the referendum led Özal to announce

early national elections

29 November 1987 Elections

 

The MP managed to retain its absolute majority

MP polled % 36.3

SPP % 24.5

PTP came third - % 19.2

Other parties failed to pass the threshold [baraj] (% 10)

 

March 1989: Municipal elections

The results:

Support for the MP severely eroded

MP suffers major defeat in local elections

Reasons:

Corruption and unpopular economic policies

With both voters and private sector

SPP came out on top, % 28.2

PTP came second % 25.6

MP managed only third place % 21.9

Evren’s term came to an end - November 1989

Regardless of the electoral result

Özal stood as presidential candidate

The opposition boycotted the session of the TBMM

in which the new president was elected

Turgut Özal elected 8th president of Turkey

Yıldırım Akbulut replaced him as PM

He lacks Özal’s authority

&

fortunes of party decline hereafter

Reasons for the decline of Özal’s popularity

 

High inflation - back to pre-1980 level of around % 80

Erosion of purchasing power

 

2. Nepotism and corruption surrounding the regime

 

 

Özal’s belief:

Unrestricted capitalism free-for-all

Resulted in a number of business scandals

 Özal family criticized for

a) nepotism

b) corruption in their business activities

June 1991

Mesut Yılmaz elected leader of MP

Forms new cabinet

He is expected to give party youthful and modern image

20 October 1991 Elections:

 PTP (center-right) won the elections %27

MP % 24

SPP - disappointing result % 20

% 20 included votes for People’s Labour Party (Halkın Emek Partisi)

Their candidates contested the elections on the SPP slate

Personal animosity between Demirel and Özal prevented coalition

A coalition of PTP and SPP

Süleyman Demirel: Prime Minister

Erdal İnönü: Vice Prime Minister

17 April 1993

President Turgut Özal dies of heart attack at age of 66

Parliament elects Süleyman Demirel as Turkey’s 9th president

Leaving his party without strong leader

13 June 1993

Tansu Çiller elected leader of TPP

First woman to lead Turkey, heading coalition with the Social Democrats

25 March 1994

The Welfare Party, (the party of political Islam)

Makes a breakthrough in local elections

Its candidates becoming mayors of Istanbul and Ankara

18 February 1995

Social Democrat parties – RPP and SPD unite under umbrella of RPP

23 July 1995

Parliament passes amendments to 15 articles of constitution, designed to make political life more democratic

20 September

Coalition collapses, leading to early election

24 December 1995

WP (representing political Islam) wins with % 21.38

of votes and 158 seats,

Insufficient to form government

Political crisis follows

6 March 1996

MP and TPP coalition is formed

Unstable - hostility between two leadersMesut Yılmaz – Tansu Çiller

6 June 1996

Mesut Yılmaz resigns

opening way for Necmettin Erbakan

29 June 1996

Erbakan and Çiller announce formation of coalition

Both leaders agree to shelve investigations of corruption against each other

28 February 1997

NSC advises Erbakan-led coalition to clamp down / put pressure on Islamist activity, especially the wearing of

headscarves in universities

18 June 1997

Erbakan decides to resign hoping to be replaced by Tansu Çiller as PM and for coalition to continue

President Demirel appoints Mesut Yılmaz (Motherland Party) to form new coalition

New coalition:Yılmaz + Ecevit

16 January 1998

a) Constitutional court orders dissolution of Welfare Party for violating principle of secularism,

b) Bans Erbakan from party’s leadership for 5 years

17 December 1997

In anticipation

Islamists had already formed Virtue Party (Fazilet Partisi)

21 April 1998

Continuing offensive against political Islam

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Mayor of Istanbul and member of VP sentenced to 10 months’ imprisonment

for a speech made in 1997, exploiting Islam & inciting religious heatred

26 November 1998

PM Mesut Yılmaz resigns amid charges of mafia connections

11 January 1999

DLP leader Ecevit forms new cabinet to lead the country to an early general election

18 April 1999

General election won by Ecevit and NAP (extreme right)center-right parties collapse

3 May 1999

Ecevit is reappointed PM

Coalition with NAP and MP

5 May 2000

Ahmet Necdet Sezer, president of Constitutional Court, replaces Demirel as president

21 June 2001

Constitutional Court dissolves VP,describing it a center of Islamic fundamentalism

21 July 2001

Political Islamists form Felicity Party (Saadet Partisi)as successor to VP

14 August 2001

Moderates from VP, led by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, found Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi)claiming to be secular ‘Muslim democrats’, not successors to

former VP

3 November 2002

Early general election

brings AK Party to power with % 34.3 of ballot and 363 seats

RPP with % 19.4 & 178 seats becomes the opposition

with no other parties managing to clear the % 10 electoral barrier

Economic Structure

1980 – 2005

1980-1991

The efforts to restructure the economy

24 January 1980 :“The “stabilization program”

 

Turgut Özal

the architect of the IMF-inspired economic reform package

of the last Demirel cabinet

The Program become effective after  12 September 1980: Military takeover

 

The suppression of

the trade unions and the political left by the military

Renewal of confidence for Turkey

International business world and financial community represented by

the IMF, the World Bank and the OECD,

 

Flow of credits, denied to pre-1980 governments, resumed.

 

 

National debt

grew from 13.5 billion $ to 40 billion $ in 1989.

But the repayment posed no real problems

The aims of the program. Threefold

 

1.    To improve the balance of payments

2.    To combat inflation

3.    To create an export-orientated free market economy

The means employed to attain these goals:

 

1.    Drastic (and ongoing) devaluation of the TL to make Turkish exports competitive in foreign markets

 

2.    Rise in the interest rates: From – to + interest ratesto reduce over consumption and thus inflation.

 

3.    Wage-freeze of workersto increase competitiveness and lower inflation

 

4.    Price-rises - the abolition or reduction of state subsidies to reduce budget deficit

Exports encouraged through a set of specific measures:

 

1.    Subsidies for exporters – tax examption etc. (vergi iadesi)

2.    Simplification of the notoriously complicated bureaucratic export procedures

3.    Abolition of the customs duties on imported inputs for export-orientated industries

 

A drop in real purchasing power

of between %40 - 60

for most wage-earners in the years 1979-89

Caused by: 

a)   price rises

b)   a freeze on wages

c) high interest rates (purchases on credit reduced)

 

The main winners of the decade:

Large-scale economic units

the existing and emerging big holdings

Types of family holdings in the 80s

1. generation: RPP generation

Koç & Eczacıbaşı group

had roots which went back to the 1920s.  

2. generation: DP-AP generation

Sabancı group

begun their rise in the 1950s

3. generation: ANAP generation

Anka and STFA - Building firms (early 1980s)

profited from building boom in Arab oil-producing countries used the opportunity to branch out into other sectors

Nearly all these firms

a) family-owned

b) structured as holding companies

with their own banks, insurance, trading and production companies.

 

The early stage of accumulation & import substitution

Imports and joint ventures with foreign firms

Main business: production of goods under license

Holdings, in times

became export-orientatedwithout halting their earlier activities

The government tried to keep down prices for industrial goods

by encouraging competition on the home market

through the abolition of import restrictions

 

Luxury items could be freely imported

subject to a special tax

Revenue used for the housing program (toplu konut)

Foreign investors encouraged:

1.    No longer faced discriminatory measures

 

2.    Repatriation of invested capital and the export of profits made possible

 

3.    Investors given preferential treatment regarding import duties

 

4.    Free trade zones instituted in different places (around the ports of İzmir and Mersin and near Adana)

Firms sep up factories & re-exported their products

Government promoted

investment in infrastructure & utilities

 

1.    Telecommunications & road networks modernized

 

 

2.    Construction of natural gas pipelines from the Soviet Union

Significant impact on air pollution

replacing the inferior coal & lignite

New constructions took place on

“build-operate-transfer” basis (yap-işlet-devr et)

 

1. Foreign investor builded a facility (a power plant, airport)

&

2. Operated it until its costs recovered & profit margin achieved

 

3. Handed over facilities to government for further operation

 

Used in energy & tourism sector

The building up of a tourism industry

energetically pursued

By the late 1980s - Turkey

captured a sizeable part of Mediterranean holiday market

became a popular destination for package tours

 

The Gulf crisis - 1990-91

hit the tourism industry hard

It recovered quickly in 1992

following the civil war in the former Yugoslavia 

South-Est Anatolia Project Gigantic

(GAP – Güneydoğu Anadolu Projesi)

energetically pursued project

 

The plan envisaged

the building of a whole complex of dams on Fırat and Dicle including hydro electrical plants and irrigational works

 

a) to produce energy for industry

b) to irrigate 1.6 million hectares in the plain of Harran doubling the area under cultivation

The main part of the project

The enormous Atatürk dam on Fırat opened in 1992

 

The project and the dam built

without financial assistance from international agencies

  For political reasons

to avoid having to reach agreement with downstream countries about sharing the water

Syria and Iraq

The stabilization program achieved many of its aims:

 

1.    Exports grew by an average % 22 yearly during the years 1980-87

 

2. The nature of Turkish exports changed over the decade

 

In 1979

% 60 of exports had consisted of agricultural products

In 1988

this was down to % 20

Over the same period

the % of industrial products in total exports

grew to over 72

 

Among the industrial goods

textiles were of special importance

contributing over a 1/4 of the total value of the exports

 

3. Export destinations changed

The early 1980s coincided with the 2. boom in world oil prices

 

The Turkish exporters, supported by the Government

managed to profit from

the new wealth in the Arab oil-producing countries

 A period

Turkish exports to the Middle East & North Africa

exceeded those to EC

with Iran the single biggest market

 B period

The older pattern re-established itself

E C once again main Turkish export market

Imports went up and exceeded exports

The balance of payments gap closed

by remissions from workers in Europe

 

Political stability & attractive interest rates above the rate of inflation

encouraged workers to put their money in Turkish banks

 

High interest rates & wage freeze

combined to lower inflation - % 30 - 40 in the ½ of 80s

Inflation rose once again

it reached its pre-1980 level in 1988

Reason:

The continuing high budgetary deficit

Causes:

 1.   Failure to curb the growth of civil service

 

2.    Inefficient taxationProfits of the industrial holdings left untouched

 

3.   Huge state industrial sector KİTs

Inefficient and largely loss-making

The privatization program progressed very slowly

 

Reason: State industries - old-fashioned & overstaffed

The private investors not interested in them

 

The abolition of a number of government monopolies:

private airline companies & television stations

 

 1989: The turning-point – Spiriling inflation

 

1.    A serious drought (dry weather) Agricultural producers (and exporters) hit hard

 

2.    Increase in interest rates Cutbacks in government investment

 

 3.    A high exchange rate for the TL The TL’s gradual devaluation dropped behind inflation By 1990 it was overvalued by some 40 per cent

 

The economic policies of the 1980s greatly increased the differences between rich and poor

 

1.    A new class of often very wealthy entrepreneurs arose Fortunes made in import, export & construction

 

2.    The purchasing power - the majority of the population drastically reduced & real poverty in many homes

 

3.    A steep rise in the number of unemployed (İşsizlik)

 

Labor unrest increased - 1990-91 January 1991 – 1.5 million employees held a general strike

The slowdown in the world economy at the end of the 1980s

The projected growth of the 6. Five-Year Plan (1990-94) proved unattainable

 

Turkey more sensitive to global economic trends because of

its export-orientated economy

Turkey entered a period of low growth

combined with high inflation and growing unemployment

1994

Nature of crises

Balance of payments crises

Originating mainly from the capital account

Caused partly by domestic imbalance

Origins:

Fiscal imbalances; Relaxation of austerity measures

steady appreciation of the real exchange rate;

export stagnation, import boom, outflow of short-term capital

External Dimension

Significant over-dependence on fragile short-term capital inflows

following premature capital account liberalization in August 1989

International actors in the post-crisis context:

IMF : the primary actor

EU: involved through the Customs Union

Political consequences

Democratic regime remained intact

An implicit link:

The negative effect of 1994 crisis

The rise of political Islam

Indirect or “postmodern” military intervention February 1997 (28 Şubat)

2000 / 2001 Crises

Nature of crises

Balance of payments crisis caused by

Successive speculative attacks and massive outflows of capital

leading to

a) the collapse of growth b) heavy unemployment

Both internal and external imbalances are important

Origins

Disequilibrium in the banking sector

Private banks in 2000 & public banks in 2001

Strong link:

Disequilibria in the banking sector and fiscal imbalances

External dimension

Highly volatile external environment

Characterized by recurrent crisis in emerging markets&

reversible capital flowsespecially after Asian crisis of 1997

Export performance negatively affected by

the Russian crisis&

weak global demand

Rendered the economy highly vulnerable to a crisis

International actors in the post-crisis context

IMF is the critical actor both in the pre-and post-crisis era

The role of the EU decisive for the first time

IMF and EU anchors are increasingly interrelated

World Bank involved as a secondary actor

What went wrong between 1980 & 2001 ?

There was considerable liberalization in foreign economy policy

Difficulty: undertaking long-term structural reformssuch as

a) privatization &b) achieving the retreat of the state on the domestic front

Özal’s liberalization agenda – accompanied by the expansion & concentration of the state’s economic power

Public sector still dominated in the economy

The creation of the out-of-budget funds (public housing & public transportation) under direct control of PM

The behavior of economic groups (reliance on import substitution policies)

A new export elite prosperedbecause of

export subsidies & export promotion schemes

Side payments to various interest groups - Populism

a) Subsidies for the agricultural elite &

b) Industrial incentives for various industrial groups, lowering of import tariffs on certain goods

Crucial for building large electoral coalitions

Democratic pressures & electoral concerns

increased the need

for more side payments &

extension of state patronage

Although economic policies changed

a) the institutional settingb) the nature of bureaucracy &

c) the personalized, higly politicized distribution of state patronage

remained intact

Payments dstributed to the constituencies

Examples of side payments by existing governments:

TPP (Çiller) farmersabove-the-world-market base prices

RPP - urban workers - wage increases

TPP – WP coalition – support for the new Anatolian business community & small-to-medium-sized enterprises

ANAP coalition – rising base prices for tea

Populist policies resulting from;

Increased political fragmentation in the parliamentThe need for coalition governments and frequent elections

The problem with privitization:

The paradox: Liberal agenda coexisting with a state based on patronage

Some success in the 1980sLess than %10 of the privatization program’s goals in the

1990s

Turkey ranked among the worst three privatizing countries.1987-1997 total revenue from P did not exceed $ 3 billion

Unresolved problems:

Endemic fiscal deficits with inadequate tax revenues & rising external / internal debt

Significant policy contraints introduced by globalization

Transformation of political economy from

A protected and closed regime

to

An export-oriented liberal one

Turkey’s economic performance in the 1990s disappointing

compared to that of the 1980s

& changes in other emerging markets

To attract a significant amount of Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) and portfolio investments

To become significant players in regional and global trade

Turkey became a liberal economy

But not enough to push for public-sector reform & end patronage-based politics

The necessity of setting up institutional framework to resolve the distributional conflicts

resulting from openness and liberalization

Reasons for Turkey’s stagnant economic performance

Extreme forms of popular spending & spiraling public deficits

Rapid technological change

The pace of financial integration

The liberalization strategies adopted in 1980s

As a response to globalization pressures

insufficient to reap the benefits of a highly interdependent global economy

Crucial issues:

Turkey’s ability to implement institutional & public-sector reforms

Turkey’s foreign economic policy:

Turkey applied a liberalization strategey in its external ties

This is not enough / at times counterproductive

Solution: Ongoing coordination of domestic industrial strategies,

technology policies, & incentive mechanismswith those of foreign economic venues

To combine proactive foreign economic strategies with domestic institutional reforms and development goals

Political consequences

A decisive turning point

The democratic regime proved to be highly resilient (recuperating quickly) in the face of the crisis

Collapse of the democratic regimes following 1958/59 & 1978/60 crises

1960 Restoration of democracy over a relatively short period of time

1980 Longer military rule

Restoration of full or unrestricted party competitionover a longer period

The impact of the changed international environment &

The presence of a powerful EU anchor

Turkey finds itself at a crossroads

After having experienced the most serious crisis in its recent history between 2000-2001, the economy has recovered and reveals one of the highest growth levels amongst the OECD countries.

The adoption of a new institutional framework in terms of monetary and budgetary policies as well as product, labor and capital markets, including infrastructure sectors and agricultural subsidies,

a path has opened up that will enable the country to free itself of three traps linked to

a lack of confidence, government weakness &extreme informality in committing itself long term to the road to greater growth

This new framework of measures must be set entirely in motion and completed for it realize its full potential.