May 27

Demirkırat Documentary:

When I'm really bored, it's good to find a movie online and watch it. Sometimes I find a documentary, if it interests me, I watch it until the end.

Recently, I watched the Demirkırat documentary series by the late Mehmet Ali Birand, which was produced on the 32nd day.

First of all, let me tell you an event that caught my attention from the time of Atatürk.

In the 1930s, the second attempt at democracy, Free Party, was also unsuccessful and the party was closed by the order of Atatürk. Those who had participated in the assassination attempt on Atatürk before were hanged, and the remnants of the dissidents had to join the Republican People's Party again. Adnan Menderes, one of the opposition, is waiting for Atatürk, who came to Aydın on a tour to Aydın, at the party building in Aydın Republican People's Party city center. Atatürk does not want to visit the party, he is still offended by the opposition, but upon insistence, he agrees to stop by the party building for five minutes. Although he did not want to even drink coffee at first, when Menderes brought up the subject, Atatürk and Menderes dived into a long conversation about farming. Atatürk, who says let's stop by for those five minutes, chats every 4 hours. Young Adnan Menderes was able to express his ideas and fell in the eyes of Atatürk. Atatürk calls Menderes a very smart young intellectual.

Well, what happened next, the events extended until the coup, the execution of Adnan Menderes.

Who did what wrong, where was the mistake made?

I think mistakes are in succession in all the staff who took over the administration after Atatürk, in all of them. Because none of them have Atatürk's vision.

Of course, they all thought that they were serving for the welfare of the country as much as they could think of, that's for sure, but still their vision was not enough.

Let's take a brief look at the events.

The years of the second world war, the country that has just started to recover, suddenly enters a painful period again with poverty, high cost of living and queues.

Even though İsmet İnönü, who assumed the second presidency after Atatürk, is called the national chief, he established a one-man regime, maybe he was forced to take all kinds of decisions himself. He saved the country from entering the world war, but he could not prevent the war from entering the country.

Rising opposition voices made it necessary for the multi-party democratic regime to try again in 1946, with the years now with the Democratic Party. Although he did not like it very much at first, he would later accept it, and he would not hesitate to make his own propaganda by declaring in the election squares that he had transformed the country into a democratic regime.

Adnan Menderes and Fuat Köprülü are at the forefront of the opposition within the party. First they are expelled from the lot. The opposition group gathered around former Prime Minister Celal Bayar, who was fiercely opposed to İsmet İnönü, namely Adnan Menderes, Fuat Köprülü, and Refik Koraltan, who was later expelled from the party, together found the Democrat Party.

One of the two main goals of the party is liberalism in economy and democracy in politics. Promises prosperity!

İnönü's Desire to Prepare the Democrat Party with the Dominant Election:

The political strife showed its dirty face even in those days, İnönü's cunning and one-year early election move became the first tension between the parties. The four-month-old Democratic party, which was founded in January, has to participate in the general election to be held in July 1946, otherwise the opposition movement will end before it starts, but it is still very unprepared. As a counter move, the Democratic Party calls for a boycott of the local elections to be held in May. There are two elections ahead of them, one is the local elections and the other is the general elections in July. The famous scarf writing of Nihat Erim from Kandıra, which is also my birthplace, also contributes to the increase in tension, as it means that a shawl is draped over democracy and we continue the one-man regime as before.

Two politicians came out of our tiny town of Kandıra, Nihat Erim, who was the prime minister, and Turan Güneş, who was the foreign minister. Let's not forget Mustafa Kandıralı, of course.

Instead of striving for the country to reach the level of contemporary civilization, vicious political conflicts, I guess this is the main mistake, the perspectives of both parties are the same, in fact, there is no difference. While İnönü pursued cunning in his own way, the Democrat Party also did not hesitate to use Marshal Fevzi Çakmak as a tool for the competition.

Inonu, who was blinded by the result of the 1946 elections, and the current administration's fraudulent election results, open votes, closed count scandal.

The Year 1950: The Democratic Party Takes Power

The DP, which will participate in the new election in 1950 as a party that has completed its preparations, will not be held in a fraudulent election, and this time the result is different, the Democratic Party, which has been elected.

At that moment, there is the Republican People's Party, which is full of a lost election and sadness, on the one hand, and the Democrat Party, the representative of the desire for change, on the other. He enjoys taking power.

İnönü returns to the pink mansion, Celal Bayar is now the third President of the young Republic of Turkey, Adnan Menderes becomes the new prime minister. Even though Köprülü and Koral tan took office in the government, Menderes' first action this time created tension within the Democratic Party, and those who had troubled the party all this time could not enter the cabinet. Here is the point of view crippled from those days, ministerial fights. Those who say that I have served so much, that I should have a right to a ministry now, have a crippled point of view, conflicts of interest. Later, the party members win the fight, they are appointed to the ministries.

The ruling power, which was in the Çankaya mansion during the time of İnönü, was transferred to the prime ministerial institution, namely Adnan Menderes, during the Democratic Party era, and now the center of power was Ulus instead of Çankaya. Everyone loved Menderes, who embraced the people.

The Turkish Ezan Subject Disturbs the Army:

This situation also causes the first debate within the party, this time a conflict begins between Celal Bayar and Menderes. One is a statesman, the other a politician. The first crack came to light with the change in the law to allow the adhan recited in Turkish to be read in Arabic again.

Celal Bayar does not approve of the law at first, due to the effect of having made Atatürk's revolutions together at the time, but he cannot see the resignation of Adnan Menderes, who sent his letter of resignation, and Menderes wins the first round. This situation leads to the beginning of the first disturbances in the army. Because the call to prayer in Turkish is an Atatürk reform that was accepted by a law brought by Atatürk in 1932.

Although there is a group of conservatives who do not want to accept this, the general public has become accustomed to the Turkish adhan after all these years, and the army will not like to scratch this issue out of the blue. In those days, the army saw itself as the protector of Atatürk's reforms.

In the meantime, İnönü was not sitting comfortably, while he was expected to live a quiet life in retirement, sitting in his mansion, as the head of the new opposition, he was constantly criticizing the actions and causing trouble for Adnan Menderes. As a counter move, Menderes first removes the pictures of İnönü from the coins, opens the white train of the national conductor to the public, decides that the Savarona will not be used anymore, and also removes the headset used by İnönü in the state concert hall. Let İnönü be forgotten. I mean, political strife. Neither side is inferior to the other.

Where are the industrial moves and reforms in Atatürk's time?

Having fallen to the opposition, İnönü Begins to Lose Power in His Party:

Voices of opposition to İsmet Pasha are also rising within the Republican People's Party. Kasım Gülek is elected instead of İsmet Pasha's candidate, Nihat Erim. Kasim Gülek, who said that the reformist party will turn into a party with sandals, and that we could not become the party of the people, will fall in love with transforming the CHP. For this reason, İnönü has to take the ropes again.

Every event that has turned into a mutual rivalry continues regarding our soldiers sent to the Korean War. Despite the insistence of the Democratic Party Republican People's Party, the parliament does not approve the issue and sends our soldiers to Korea by its own decision.

Returning from Korea with victory is also a win for Menderes. On the other hand, this success was instrumental in Turkey's approach to the west and choosing its side in the cold war against the Soviets who wanted the straits and Kars and Ardahan. Turkey now joined NATO together with Greece.

As Adnan Menderes takes the wind of the western states with American aid and capital, he is now experiencing a power poisoning. First, he had the Nation Party, founded by the opposition within his own party, closed down, and then he enacted a law to confiscate the properties of the People's Party, which he saw as his eternal rival. It's all political strife and competitive ambition ahead of the upcoming elections.

Even though President Celal Bayar said that this is too much now, he did not want to confront Menderes once again, as he did about the call to prayer. He was compelled to pass the law.

Things go on like this.

Reasons for the May 27 Coup:

Yes, what is the fault of the Democratic Party? How did the coup happen, let's summarize:

• First of all, greed for power. Vicious political strife, underbelly hits,
• Punishing the provinces that did not vote for him in the elections, for example, making Kırşehir a district while it was a province, polarizing the people,
• While dealing with the promise of democracy, the establishment of a repression regime with some laws enacted and the efforts to transform the country into a party state, even the closure of the radio to the People's Party.
• Even the arrest of opposition leader Kasım Gülek,
• Tough and ambitious politics, using the power of power to their advantage, press bans,
• Disappearance of the administration and the events of September 6-7, protests, turning everything into a place of war in Istanbul,
• While the country was governed with its own resources during Atatürk's time, debts from the Ottoman Empire were paid, borrowing again, moreover, misusing the borrowed money from America.
• Populist rhetoric and promises, increased inflation with the money distributed to the public with populist concerns,
• Unplanned spent resources and the collapse of the country's economy, the emergence of poverty and corruption again,
• Maybe it is conducive to the recitation of the azan in Arabic,
• Atatürk's revolutions are not taken care of enough and their continuation is not made
  Making the country a toy of western states and America with economic dependency instead of full independence,
• Although he loves his country very much, he does not have enough vision.
• The biggest mistake is to try to get a hand even in the army. Menderes had his adjutants drafted a law to reform the army with other restrictions, but when this attempt failed, he had to both withdraw the law and, by necessity, dismiss his minister. He would change so many ministers later, but he would still not be able to get a hand in the army. On the contrary, the army would take over the administration.

As the events came to this point, the barracks began to boil, grunts and stirrings began. This degree of conflict with İnönü was causing discomfort in the army, after all İnönü was a former soldier, he was a commander in the eyes of the army. The army had begun to organize itself in lower cadres. Afterwards, this lower staff organization would also affect the upper echelons and eventually there would be a coup d'etat.

Here is a summary of events dating back to May 27, 1960. There may be some that I missed.

Yassıada Trials and Unfortunate Executions:

Those who were sentenced to death by the Yassıada trials and the national unity committee: Celal Bayar and Adnan Menderes, Refik Koraltan, Fatin Rüştü Zorlu, Hasan Polatkan, Emin Kalafat, Agah Erozan, Ahmet Hamdi Sancar, Bahadır Dülger, Baha Akşit, İbrahim Kirazoğlu, Nusret Kirişçioğlu, Zeki Erataman, Osman Kavrakoğlu and Rüştü Erdelhun.

The death sentences of Celal Bayar, Adnan Menderes, Fatin Rüştü Zorlu and Hasan Polatkan are approved. Celal Bayar is not executed because he is over 65 years old. Others, unfortunately, got the mercy of the right. Execution days are a sad day in our history.

When we were little, it was a national holiday, May 27. When I entered the tower, I was not aware of what the blows were actually. Political conflicts before the 1980s, right-left organizations and so on, so many lost lives, were all cut off by September 12. This was gratifying.

Our commanders were saying that you are the guards of the republic. They were saying that there will be chiefs of staff, perhaps presidents among you.

The Falsity of the Impact Culture and Our Problem of Underdevelopment:

So is this the right approach? Does the army have the right to give democracy a minute just because it has a gun? Not of course. Still, there have been multiple military coups in this country. Even in Ottoman times, there were janissary uprisings and even the sultan was strangled.

Years later, when I become more conscious and examine our history, I perceive the mistakes made better. I am totally against the coups. The only way is democracy and freedom.

For me, it is neither western fanaticism nor bigotry.

I like being modern, but I understand being modern differently than most. For example, there is a music group called "Golden Day", I like being modern like their music. I love our language very much, I am proud to be Turkish. I believe that we will be stronger together with brotherly Turkish countries, I believe in common sense in the management of the country.

I once wrote that it is a matter of faith, I only respect the conservative Muslim segment or other beliefs as in that article. Everyone has their own belief.

I believe that full independence is possible only with economic independence.

I respect the effort we need to achieve this, I think that production, marketing our own brands like other rich countries is the only way to prosperity.

I oppose injustice, injustice, inaction, ignorance, being irresponsible, condoning corruption, living in a fantasy world, acting pragmatically, and being fanatical.

I oppose conflict, mutual duel, dividing and polarizing society by scratching fault lines and exploiting religious feelings.

I feel sorry for unqualified and incompetent staff, uneducated people, polluting our environment, and not showing enough respect for our retirees.

I think we should leave the vicious conflicts and look ahead, we should work hard, make proper long-term plans and raise this country to the level of modern countries.

The ancients made many mistakes, so let's not make the same mistakes. Let's build our beautiful future together with respect, love and common sense. Let's at least try to understand each other.

Love and regards from Moscow