Suleyman Demirel (born November 1, 1924 in Islamkoy, Turkey; died June 17, 2015 in Ankara) was a Turkish politician who served as prime minister seven times and as president from 1993 to 2000. , is a civil engineer.
Demirel was born into a peasant family and graduated from Istanbul Technical University as an engineer in 1948. He entered politics in 1961 and was elected to Parliament the same year. In 1964, he became the leader of the Justice Party (JP). On October 27, 1965, after a general election, he became the youngest Prime Minister in the country’s history. As prime minister, he improved Turkey’s relations with its NATO allies and instituted development programs for Turkey’s farmers, its fundamental constituency.
Demirel was re-elected in 1969, but his moderate policies faced increasing opposition from both the left and the right, as he refused to allow the military to play a policy-making role in the fight against terrorism. The Turkish military commander forced him to resign. In March 1975, a coalition between the JP and the small right-wing party of the Nationalist Front restored Demirel as prime minister.
Demirel pursued economic growth policies despite civil violence, extremist terrorism, inflation, and trade deficits. However, the electoral coalition currently allowing him to remain in power was inherently weak, unstable, and ineffective as a government. Although he lost his fourth prime ministership in June 1977, he achieved his fifth term from July to December 1977, and his sixth term from November 1979 to September 1980. The military overthrew his government on September 12 as the country continued to be torn apart by extremist violence. Demirel was banned from participating in politics for a while, but returned to the post of prime minister in November 1991, when the ruling Fatherland Party lost the election. He resigned from his position in May 1993 after being elected President of Türkiye. In 2000, the National Assembly rejected a constitutional amendment that would have allowed the president to be re-elected for a second term, making Demirel unable to stand for re-election. He retired in 2000.
