| Alparslan Türkeş | |
|---|---|
| Türkeş's first visit to Yukarı Köşkerli, the village of his great-grandfather Arif Ağa (Pınarbaşı, Kayseri, 1967) | |
| Leader of the MHP | |
| In office February 8 1969 – April 5 1997 |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born | November 25, 1917 Nicosia, Cyprus |
| Died | April 5, 1997 (aged 79) Ankara, Turkey |
| Political party | Nationalist Movement Party |
| Alma mater | Kuleli Military High School |
| Religion | Sunni Islam |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Turkey |
| Service/branch | Turkish Army |
| Years of service | 1933-1963 |
| Rank | Colonel |
Alparslan Türkeş§ (November 25, 1917 in Nicosia, Cyprus – April 5, 1997 in Ankara, Turkey) was a Cypriot-born Turkish nationalist politician who was the founder and former president of the Nationalist Movement Party party.[1][2][3] He represented the far right of the Turkish political spectrum, and was court-martialed on the charges of "fascist and racist activities" in 1945,[4] with the charges being dismissed in 1947.[5] He was called "Başbuğ" (Leader) by his devotees.[6]
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He attained notoriety as the spokesman of the May 27, 1960 coup d'état against the government of then prime minister Adnan Menderes, who was later executed after a trial following this coup. However Colonel Türkeş was expelled by an internal coup within the junta. He later joined the Republican Villager Nation Party (Turkish: Cumhuriyetçi Köylü Millet Partisi, CKMP) and was elected its chairman. In 1969 the CKMP was renamed the Nationalist Movement Party (Turkish: Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi, MHP).[7]
Türkeş served as Deputy Prime Minister in right-wing National Front (Turkish: Milliyetçi Cephe) cabinets.[8]
Through the far-right MHP, Türkeş took the rightist views of his predecessors like Nihal Atsız, who is known for his explicitly racist views [9][10] and transformed them into a powerful political force. In 1965, Türkeş released a political pamphlet titled "Dokuz Işık Doktrini" (Nine Lights Doctrine). This text listed nine basic principles which formed the basis of the nationalist ideology. These were nationalism, idealism, moralism, societalism, scientism, independentism, ruralism, progressivism, populism, industrialism, and technologism.[11]
Türkeş led the vanguard of anti-communism in Turkey; he was a founding member of the Counter-Guerrilla, the Turkish Gladio.[12]
He has been the spiritual leader of the Idealism Schools Foundation of Culture and Art (Turkish: Ülkü Ocakları Kültür ve Sanat Vakfı). His followers consider him to be one of the leading icons of the Turkish nationalist movement.
In 1992, Alparslan Türkeş went to Baku in 1992 to support his sympathizer Abulfaz Elchibey during the presidential election. Once elected as president of Azerbaijan, Elchibey chose as ministry of Interior İsgandar Hamidov, a member of the Grey Wolves who plead for the creation of a Greater Turkey which would include northern Iran and extend itself to Siberia, India and China.
When he died, it was revealed that he had embezzled 2 trillion lira from the European Turkish Federation. The pan-Turkist group had created a secret slush fund to support the Second Chechen War and Ebulfeyz Elchibey in Azerbaijan.[13] The money was formerly administered by Enver Altaylı, who had been implicated in the Azerbaijan coup plot. His daughters, Ayzıt and Umay Günay, quarreled over who was the rightful owner (legally, neither of them).[14] The two appeared before the Ankara 7th High Penal Court for fraud. The indictment said that Türkeş' account in a U.K. branch of the Deutsche Bank held 575,000 DM, 845,000 USD, and 367,000 GBP.[15] The court concluded that Ayzıt had withdrawn 200,000 GBP while Umay Günay had withdrawn 42,000 GBP.[16]
Ayzıt said that she had been living in the U.K. since 1975, and that her father opened the account in 1988, giving her complete access to it. She said that her father had instructed her to fulfill his financial obligations (in support of "the cause of Turkishness") upon his death by making certain payments.[17] Türkeş' second wife, Seval, refuted Ayzıt's claim that she had not kept the money to herself. Seval claims that she and her sons' Ayyüce and Ahmet Kutalmış share of the withdrawn 242,000 GBP is 112,355 GBP.[16]
The MHP's chairman, Devlet Bahçeli, instructed his deputies to keep mum, fearing that the scandal could lead to the dissolution of the party.[18]
The case was closed due to the statute of limitations.[19]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Zeyyat Baykara |
Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey Mar 31, 1975–Jun 21, 1977 |
Succeeded by Orhan Eyüboğlu Turan Güneş |
| Preceded by Orhan Eyüboğlu Turan Güneş |
Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey Jul 11, 1977–Jan 5, 1978 |
Succeeded by Orhan Eyüboğlu Turhan Feyzioğlul Faruk Sükan |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by Ahmet Oğuz |
Leader of the Republican Peasant's Nation Party (CMKP) Agu 1, 1965–Feb 8, 1969 |
Succeeded by renamed to MHP |
| Preceded by renamed from CKMP |
Leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Feb 8, 1969–Apr 5, 1997 |
Succeeded by Devlet Bahçeli |