ERBAKAN, Necmettin

Born in 1926 in Sinop, son of a cadi (Muslim judge), Necmettin Erbakan was an early Islamic militant. He studied mechanical engineering in Istanbul and Aix-La-Chapelle and became in 1953, at the age of 27, professor at the university of Istanbul. In the following years, he worked as an engineer for a German company, Deutz, on projects concerning the "Leopard" tanks. Back in Turkey, he carried on his academic career and became president of the "industries" department of the Turkish Association of Chambers of Commerce.

His political career started in 1969 when he was elected to the Parliament as an independent candidate (after his exclusion from the party now headed by Tansu Ciller, the DYP). He then created an Islamist party, the National Order Party (MNP) which was forbidden in 1971 and then the National Salvation Party (MSP) which gained 12% of the votes in the elections of 1973. In 1974 and then from 1975 to 1977, he was appointed Deputy Prime Minister in a coalition government. His party was dissolved as a result of the military coup of 1980 and he himself went to prison.

In 1987, he became head of the Welfare Party, Refah (created in 1983), of Islamist tendency. In the municipal elections of 1994, his party won over 17 towns including Istanbul and Ankara. In the legislative elections of December 1995, Refah gained 21.4% of the votes and became the foremost Turkish party. In June 1996, a governmental coalition agreement was signed with Tansu Ciller’s True Path Party (DYP) providing for a rotation of the position of Prime Minister. Erbakan was supposed to exercise this function for two years while Tansu Ciller has became Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister.

Although he spoke hard words during his electoral campaign - about the Turkish secular constitution which he promised to abolish or about Europe which he designated as "a club of Christians aimed at reducing Turkey to slavery" -, his pragmatism has brought him to more open-minded views after his accession to power. He then claimed to respect international commitments binding Turkey - like the Custom Union with the European Union - and to carry on the integration of his country within a European framework. He could even not prevent the signing of a second military co-operation agreement with Israel - the first was signed in February 1996 - or the renewal of the mandate for "Provide Comfort" operation which in particular allows the United States and their allies to intervene in Iraq from Turkish territory. On the other hand, in order to reposition his country in the Muslim world, he visited in Autumn 1996 several countries like Iran (with which he concluded during this visit a gas agreement worth $ 23 billion) and Libya in spite of the irritation of Turkey’s American ally.

His attitude clashed with the strongly based secular state structures and with the military establishment (very powerful in Turkey) and his coalition government fell apart under its pressure in June 1997 . Mesut Yilmaz succeeded him.

In January 1998, the Constitutional Court dissolved the Welfare Party and barred Erbakan from any political party activity for five years. Erbakan is however, behind the screens, heading the newly created "Fazilet", formed to replace Refah.

See also:
Turkey
Turkish political parties
Turkey, Elections and Parliament

(February 1998)