62 Years of Unending Controversy

May 27 is the First Military Coup:

May 27 is the date of the first military coup in the history of Turkish democracy after the transition to multi-party system.

May 27 is a military intervention that resulted in death sentences, which will be remembered with regret, as a result of Turkey's failure to internalize democracy.

The mistake of executing a Prime Minister and two ministers, regardless of their crimes, preceded May 27 and the 1961 Constitution, which was considered quite liberal by some.

Adnan Menderes was executed on September 17, 1961, at 13:21, one day after the execution of Fatin Rüştü Zorlu and Hasan Polatkan.

Accusations Against Menderes:

So, what was Adnan Menderes accused of?

1- To embezzle disguised allowances,

2- Not to intervene in the events of 6-7 September even though he was informed beforehand, that is, to liquidate the minorities,

3- To raid the university and to open fire on the people in violation of the law,

4- Restricting the freedom of movement of some opposition deputies and opposition leaders,

5- Using the state radio for political interests,

6- Encouraging the public to destroy the printing house of the newspaper "Demokrat İzmir",

7- Making Kırşehir a district (because it did not vote for the DP) unjustly,

8- Violating the independence of the judiciary,

9- Establishing the Investigation Commission and equipping it with extraordinary powers,

10- To confiscate CHP's properties "unjustly".

Are these enough for the death penalty?

In fact, the penalty for any crime cannot be death.

As someone who is completely against the death penalty, I always think of what if a mistake is made and think that a prison sentence suitable for the crime is sufficient.

From this perspective, the execution of three important political actors, no matter what mistake they made, was wrong.

Two generals, Gen. Cemal Gursel and Gen. Fahri Ozdilek, who were members of the National Unity Committee, who approved the death sentence, voted no to the death penalty. It was not enough for two generals and a brigadier general to vote no, and the sentence was approved by 13 votes to 9.

Colonel Alparslan Türkeş, who announced on the radio that the military took over the government on May 27, 1960, was not a member of this committee and opposed the execution.

In the Yassıada trials, a total of 587 people were tried, a total of 464 people were convicted, of which 15 were sentenced to death, 31 to life imprisonment, 418 to varying terms of imprisonment, and 123 people were acquitted. The sentences of the convicts, except Prime Minister Adnan Menderes, Minister of Foreign Affairs Fatin Rüştü Zorlu and Minister of Finance Hasan Polatkan, were commuted to life imprisonment by the National Unity Committee, due to the age limit of the President of the Period and the last Prime Minister of the Atatürk Era, Celal BAYAR.

Menderes' Last Word: "Innocent"

Was Menderes against the death penalty?

Unfortunately, the death penalty was not abolished during the Menderes period.

Between 1951 and 1960, Menderes signed the death sentence of 43 people and all of them came true.

The most dramatic of the executions was the ex-military sailor Hayati Karaşahin, who was executed on 14 April 1955 for espionage. His crime is to spy for Russia.

His execution was carried out in public in Ankara Samanpazarı, in front of the children holding their father's hand.

When asked about his last wish, he shouted "I'm innocent".

If you ask if Menderes had other crimes, some issues that were not brought up in the Yassıada trials should also be looked into.

Featured Topics in the Menderes Period:

Other issues that were not brought up by the government of Cemal Gürsel, who were allegedly afraid of the reaction of the USA, but that stood out at that time, are as follows:

1- In 1951, the Menderes government sent soldiers to the Korean War to support the USA. The important point here is that the TGNA has not been authorized to send soldiers abroad and/or to wage war on any country. Within the framework of the policy of fighting communism, the interests of the USA were served and nearly a thousand children of the country were martyred in Korea, and many more were injured.

2- NATO was joined in 1952, and upon the request of this organization, the Mobilization Investigation Board, later known as the Special Warfare Department, was established to wage an irregular war against communism.

3- In 1954, foreigners were allowed to explore and extract oil.

4- Some tractor and printing factories established in the single party period were privatized during the Menderes period or closed down because they were not economical. After being founded by Nuri Demirağ, the aircraft and aircraft engine factories, which were included in the scope of nationalization by İsmet İnönü, and the Eskişehir tank factory were closed during the Menderes period on the grounds that they did not comply with NATO standards.

5- Menderes supported the imperialist France in Algeria's struggle for the liberation war against imperialism.

6- Between 1954-1958, 238 journalists were convicted of writing articles against the government.

7- The "Investigation Commission" was established, and the commission, consisting of 15 DP deputies, had the right to both accuse and prosecute. The commission even prohibited walking of more than 5 people side by side.

8- İsmet İnönü was banned from parliament for 12 sessions.

9- Turan Emeksiz died as a result of the fire opened by the police at a protest meeting held at Istanbul University against the government. Hüseyin Onur was saved by amputating his left leg.

10- Many judges, together with Bedri Köker, the President of the Supreme Court of Appeals, who defended the rule of law, were retired due to necessity. As a matter of fact, the Menderes government sent 15 generals and 150 colonels, including Chief of General Staff Nafiz Gürman, to retirement ex officio on the grounds that the army would stage a coup.

11- What happened in the elections on October 27, 1957 is also very interesting. While it was announced that the election would end at 17.00, at 14.30 the only radio of the state began to announce the provinces won by the DP, while the voting processes, not the counting of votes, were continuing. The CHP leader of the time, İsmet İnönü, called the Minister of State Fatin Rüştü Zorlu on the phone: “I demand that you prevent this crime from being committed.” said, Minister Zorlu went to Adnan Menderes, conveyed what İnönü had said and asked for the radio broadcast to be stopped. Menderes was harsh on this rightful demand: “Let the radio continue to announce the results!” he said. This time the CHP applied to the Supreme Election Board and the radio broadcast was stopped. However, the one who took the horse went to Üsküdar once.

Some CHP supporters did not go to the polls because "DP won".

12- In the same election, a paper called "Ismet İnönü's written statement" was given to foreign journalists from the radio house. So-called İnönü said, "We lost the election, we can get a maximum of 120 deputies". When foreign journalists from the BBC to France Press went to İnönü to confirm the news, it was not only the foreign journalists who were surprised, but İnönü himself. Of course, it is not known whether he regretted the idea of ​​transitioning to multi-party democracy, but historians wrote that İnönü was embarrassed for his country because of this event. A strange situation has emerged where the state not only lied but also produced false documents.

13- Again, in the same election, a matter called “log ingenuity”, as İsmet İnönü named it. While the electoral rolls were being prepared, some CHP voters were removed from the register and replaced by the names of DP voters, as well as in several registers. In other words, a DP member voted in several ballot boxes, and these voters were moved to the ballot box with the mobile teams established. Some CHP voters, unable to see their names on the register, returned to their homes without being able to vote.

14- Another interesting event that took place in the 1957 election is what happened after the CHP was declared to have won the election on the night of 27 October in Gaziantep with a margin of 700 votes. Even though the newspaper of the DP "Zafer" wrote about this result, "uncounted and forgotten votes" were brought from the villages the next day and it was announced that the DP won the election with about a thousand votes. CHP members rightly objected to the Provincial Election Board and the objection was accepted, the votes, minutes and necessary documents were taken to the courthouse. Just as the investigation was about to begin the next day, that night, the courthouse burned down, all the votes disappeared and the victory of the DP became official.

Conclusion:

The 1950-1960 period was such an interesting period of our democracy, which passed to the multi-party system.

The government's belief that it has an unlawful power that can do whatever it wants has caused the country to stretch like rubber.

Discussions about this period, which includes all the spoiled things of a newborn baby, continue at full speed even today.

Let's end the topic with a poem by Nazım Hikmet, with the hope of becoming a country that can tolerate each other, do not try to punish each other with unjust accusations, believe in the rule of law, have a free media, have risen to the level of contemporary civilization in all matters, and are punctilious in democracy, freedom and human rights.

Diet

Both of your eyes are fine, Adnan Bey,

You look with both eyes,

two cunning,

two nos,

and with your two eyes with olive oil

You look from the rostrum to the Parliament arrogant arrogant and land of your farms and your checkbook.

Both of your hands are in place, Mr. Adnan,

you caress with both hands,

two chubby

You caress your pomade hair with both white, soggy sweaty hands,

your currencies, and your titties of your mistresses.

Both of your legs are in place, Mr. Adnan,

your two legs carry your wide hips,

you come before Eisenhower with both legs,

and all your concern is to protect the place where your two legs meet from behind from the public kick.

I do not have any eyes.

I do not have both of my hands.

I lost both of my legs.

I'm not.

You spent me, University reserve officer, in Korea, Mr. Adnan.

Your hands pushed me to death

your soggy, sweaty, chubby hands.

Your eyes looked behind me and while I was dying in red blood, your legs threw you into your car so you wouldn't hear my scream.

But I'm after you, Mr. Adnan,

the dead go faster than the car,

my blind eyes

my severed hands

I'm after you with my cut legs.

I want my diet, Adnan Bey,

Eye for eye, hand for hand, leg for leg, I want my diet,

I'll take it too...

June 25, 1959

Final note: For those who are curious about the period in more detail, my Dean professor Prof. Dr. I recommend you to read Ulvi Keser's book called "Adnan Menderes and Menderes' Gestapo in Cyprus".