54th government of Turkey

The 54th government of Turkey governed Turkey from 28 June 1996 to 30 June 1997. It was a coalition government formed by Welfare Party (RP) and True Path Party (DYP), and was known as Refahyol (a portmanteau of the Turkish names of the two parties in the coalition).

Necmettin Erbakan of Welfare Party (left) and Tansu Çiller of True Path Party (right)

Background

After the fall of the 53rd government of Turkey, in which True Path Party (DYP) was one of the participants, Welfare Party (RP) and True Path Party (DYP) formed a coalition government.

Initially, Necmettin Erbakan of Welfare Party was the prime minister and Tansu Çiller of True Path Party was the deputy prime minister. After two years, they were to rotate in the position. However, the DYP was the third-largest in the parliament, and when Erbakan stepped down to begin the rotation, President Süleyman Demirel asked Mesut Yılmaz, leader of the Motherland Party which was the second-largest, to form the new government instead.^[1]^[2]

Government

In the list below, the serving period of cabinet members who served only a part of the cabinet's lifespan are shown in the column "Notes".

Title^[3]^[4]	Name	Party	Notes
Prime Minister	Necmettin Erbakan	RP
Deputy Prime Minister and Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Tansu Çiller	DYP
Minister of State
	Fehim Adak	RP
	Nevzat Ercan	DYP
	Abdullah Gül	RP
	Işılay Saygın	DYP
	Sabri Tekir	RP
	Nafiz Kurt	DYP
	Mehmet Altınsoy	RP
	Namık Kemal Zeybek	DYP
	Lütfi Esengün	RP
	Selim Ensarioğlu	DYP
	Cemil Tunç	RP
	Bekir Aksoy	DYP
	Gürcan Dağdaş	RP
	Ufuk Söylemez	DYP
	Teoman Rıza Güneri	RP
	Ayfer Yılmaz	DYP
	Sacit Günbey	RP
	Bahattin Şaker	DYP
	Ahmet Demircan	RP
Ministry of Justice	Şevket Kazan	RP
Ministry of National Defense	Turhan Tayan	DYP
Ministry of the Interior	Mehmet Ağar Meral Akşener	DYP	28 June 1996 – 8 November 1996 8 November 1996 – 30 June 1997
Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Emre Gönensay	DYP
Ministry of Finance	Abdüllatif Şener	RP
Ministry of National Education	Mehmet Sağlam	DYP
Ministry of Public Works and Settlement	Cevat Ayhan	RP
Ministry of Health and Social Security	Yıldırım Aktuna İsmail Karakuyu	DYP	28 June 1996 – 26 April 1997 13 May 1997 – 30 June 1997
Ministry of Transport	Ömer Barutçu	DYP
Ministry of Labour and Social Security	Necati Çelik	RP
Ministry of Industry and Commerce	Yalım Erez Ali Rıza Gönül	DYP	28 June 1996 – 26 April 1997 13 May 1997 – 30 June 1997
Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources	Recai Kutan	RP
Ministry of Culture	İsmail Kahraman	RP
Ministry of Tourism	Bahattin Yücel	DYP	28 June 1996 – 13 June 1997
Ministry of Agriculture and Village Affairs	Musa Demirci	RP
Ministry of Forestry	Halit Dağlı	DYP
Ministry of Environment	Ziyaettin Tokar	RP

Aftermath

Necmettin Erbakan resigned as prime minister, hoping his coalition partner Tansu Çiller would be the next prime minister and a similar government would be formed. However, president Süleyman Demirel appointed Mesut Yılmaz of Motherland Party as the new prime minister^[5] (see Prime ministership of Necmettin Erbakan).

References

^ Faulkner, Thomas (28 February 2011). "Necmettin Erbakan obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 February 2021. From early 1996 until the middle of 1997, Erbakan was prime minister and the Welfare party ruled Turkey, its rural and religious style provoking a strong reaction from much of the metropolitan middle class and the military. In February 1997, the military sent tanks into an Islamist town near Ankara and issued a set of demands. Erbakan decided to step down and allow the junior partner in the coalition to lead the government. But he was wrongfooted when Demirel, now president of the republic, appointed the leader of a third party as prime minister.
^ "Hürriyet – Cumhuriyetin seyir defterinden". Archived from the original on 25 June 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
^ Official page of prime minister Archived 15 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine
^ Official page of the parliament
^ Sina Akşin:Kısa Türkiye Tarihi,Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür yayınları, İstanbul, ISBN 978-9944-88-172-2, p.303

Preceded by 53rd government of Turkey (Mesut Yılmaz)	54th Government of Turkey (28 June 1996- 30 June 1997)	Succeeded by 55th government of Turkey (Mesut Yılmaz)

[1] Faulkner, Thomas (28 February 2011). "Necmettin Erbakan obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 February 2021. From early 1996 until the middle of 1997, Erbakan was prime minister and the Welfare party ruled Turkey, its rural and religious style provoking a strong reaction from much of the metropolitan middle class and the military. In February 1997, the military sent tanks into an Islamist town near Ankara and issued a set of demands. Erbakan decided to step down and allow the junior partner in the coalition to lead the government. But he was wrongfooted when Demirel, now president of the republic, appointed the leader of a third party as prime minister.

[2] "Hürriyet – Cumhuriyetin seyir defterinden". Archived from the original on 25 June 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2022.

[3] Official page of prime minister Archived 15 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine

[4] Official page of the parliament

[5] Sina Akşin:Kısa Türkiye Tarihi,Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür yayınları, İstanbul, ISBN 978-9944-88-172-2, p.303

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