Adnan Menderes and Cemal Gürsel
Adnan Menderes was one of the prime ministers of
Turkey (1950-60), born in Aydin in 1899 and died in
Istanbul in 1961. In January 1946, he formed the Democratic
party (DP), the first legal opposition party
in Turkey, after Atatürk's
party CHP. When his party
came to power in 1950, Menderes became premier,
and in 1955 he also assumed the duties of foreign minister. In May 1960,
an army coup under General Cemal Gürsel toppled
the government and Menderes was arrested. He was charged with violating the
Constitution and trialed in a prison on Yassiada, one of the Princess Islands off
Istanbul. At the end of the trial, he was found guilty by the military court and sentenced to
death by hanging at Imrali island on September 17th, along with two other cabinet members who were Fatin Rustu Zorlu and Hasan Polatkan.
Today his mausoleum is in Istanbul, next to Turgut Özal's. His son, Aydin Menderes, was in the Turkish Parliament until last elections in 2002.
Cemal Gürsel
Cemal Gürsel was a Turkish army officer and political leader, born in
Erzurum and lived
between 1895-1966. He fought in World War I and in most of the military
campaigns during the War of Independence (1920-23)
led by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Gürsel remained
in the army and in 1958 became commander of Turkish ground forces. A popular
army figure, he led the military coup of May,
1960, which overthrew the government of premiere
Adnan Menderes. Gürsel resisted attempts to continue military rule and
was elected President of the republic in 1961. Because of illness, he was
succeeded as President by Cevdet Sunay in March of 1966, and
died of apoplexy in September 14th of the same year, in
Ankara.