Alparslan Türkeş

Alparslan Türkeş (25 November 1917 – 4 April 1997) was a Turkish  politician who was the founder and president of the  Nationalist Movement Party.  He represented the  far right of the Turkish political spectrum. He was and still is called  Başbuğ ("Leader") by his devotees. And his real name is  Hüseyin   Feyzullah.

Early life
Türkeş was born in  Nicosia,  British Cyprus, to a  Turkish Cypriot family in 1917.  His paternal great-grandfather had emigrated to Cyprus from  Kayseri,  Ottoman Empire, in the 1860s. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> His father, Ahmet Hamdi Bey, was from  Tuzla<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, near  Famagusta<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, and his mother, Fatma Zehra Hanım, was from  Larnaca<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> However, in an interview with the scholar Fatma Müge Göçek the journalist  Hrant Dink<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> claimed that Türkeş was of  Armenian<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> descent, an orphan originally from  Sivas<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> who was later adopted by a Muslim couple from Cyprus.

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">In 1932 Türkeş emigrated to Turkey with his family. He was enrolled into the military lycée in  Istanbul<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> in 1933 and completed his secondary education in 1936. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> In 1938, he joined the army and his military career began.

Racism Turanism Trials
<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">Türkeş was  court-martialed<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> on charges of "fascist and racist activities" in 1945, <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> with the charges being dismissed in 1947. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> along with other nationalists like Nihal Atsız <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> and  Nejdet Sançar<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">. These trials would be known as the Racisim Turanism Trails <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">.

Political career
<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">He attained notoriety as the spokesman of the  27 May 1960 coup d'état<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> against the government of Prime Minister  Adnan Menderes<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, who was later executed after a trial. However  Colonel<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> Türkeş was expelled by an internal coup within the junta ( National Unity Committee<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">). He later joined the Republican Villager Nation Party ( Turkish<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">:  <span lang="tr" style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;" lang="tr">Cumhuriyetçi Köylü Millet Partisi <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, CKMP) and was elected as its chairman. In 1969 the CKMP was renamed the  Nationalist Movement Party<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> ( Turkish<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">:  <span lang="tr" style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;" lang="tr">Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, MHP).

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">Türkeş served as  Deputy Prime Minister<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> in right-wing National Front ( Turkish<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">:  <span lang="tr" style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;" lang="tr">Milliyetçi Cephe <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">) cabinets in the 1970s.

Ideology
<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">Through the far-right MHP, Türkeş took the rightist views of his predecessors like Nihal Atsız <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, and transformed them into a powerful political force. In 1965, Türkeş released a political pamphlet titled "Dokuz Işık Doktrini" ( Nine Lights Doctrine<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">). This text listed nine basic principles which formed the basis of the nationalist ideology. These were nationalism,  idealism<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">,  moralism<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">,  societalism<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">,  scientism<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, "independentism",  ruralism<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">,  progressivism<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">,  populism<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">,  industrialism<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, and  technologism<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">.

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">Türkeş led the vanguard of  anti-communism<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> in Turkey; he was a founding member of the  Counter-Guerrilla<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, the  Turkish Gladio<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">.

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">He has been the spiritual leader of the Idealism Schools Foundation of Culture and Art (Turkish <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">:  <span lang="tr" style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;" lang="tr">Ülkü Ocakları Kültür ve Sanat Vakfı <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">). His followers consider him to be one of the leading icons of the Turkish nationalist movement.

International contacts
<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">In 1992, Alparslan Türkeş visited  Baku<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> to support  Abulfaz Elchibey<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> during the  Azerbaijan<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> presidential election. He also had a meeting with  Levon Ter-Petrosian<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, the President of  Armenia<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> in the 1990s.

Personal life
<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">Türkeş was married twice and had seven children. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> He married Muzaffer Hanım in 1940 and had four daughters (Ayzit, Umay, Selcen and Çağrı) and one son ( Tuğrul<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">) with her. Their marriage lasted until his wife's death in 1974. By 1976 Türkeş married Seval Hanım and had one daughter (Ayyüce) and one son ( Ahmet Kutalmış<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">).

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">Türkeş died of a heart attack at the age of 80 on 4 April 1997. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> The announcement of his death was delayed for five hours while nationwide security measures were implemented; thereafter, thousands of his supporters went to the Bayindir Hospital chanting "Leaders never die". <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> His funeral was held in  Kocatepe Mosque<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> in  Ankara<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">.

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">Türkeş's youngest son,  Ahmet Kutalmış Türkeş<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, is a member of the  Justice and Development Party<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> and was elected as an  Istanbul<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> deputy in 2011. However, he resigned several days before the  June 2015<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> elections, protesting the party's plans to transform the parliamentary system into a presidential one.

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">In 2015, Türkeş's eldest son,  Tuğrul Türkeş<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">, became the first person of  Turkish Cypriot<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> origin to be  Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> In September 2015, Türkeş made his first official visit to  Northern Cyprus<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> As an independent parliamentarian, Türkeş has criticized the  Nationalist Movement Party<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> (founded by his father) and the  Republican People's Party<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> for their unwillingness to compromise, which led to the  November 2015 elections<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">.

Legacy
<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">Türkeş was a key figure in shaping  Turkish nationalism<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> and reviving  Pan-Turkism<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> from the 1940s onwards. Soon after his death in 1997, Turkish President  Suleyman Demirel<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> stated that his passing had been a "great loss to the political life of Turkey". Similarly, Turkey's first female Prime Minister  Tansu Çiller<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> described him as a "historic individual".

Controversies
<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">When he died, it was revealed that he had embezzled 2 trillion lira from the European Turkish Federation. The pan-Turkist group had created a secret  slush fund<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> to support the  Second Chechen War<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> and help  Abulfaz Elchibey<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> succeed in Azerbaijan. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> The money was formerly administered by Enver Altaylı, who had been part of the Azerbaijan coup plot. His daughters, Ayzıt and Umay Günay, quarreled over who was the rightful owner despite the fact that it was neither of them. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> The two appeared before the Ankara 7th High Penal Court for fraud. The indictment said that Türkeş' account in a U.K. branch of the  Deutsche Bank<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> held 575,000 DM, 845,000 USD, and 367,000 GBP. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> The court concluded that Ayzıt had withdrawn 200,000 GBP while Umay Günay had withdrawn 42,000 GBP. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> Ayzıt said that she had been living in the U.K. since 1975, and that her father opened the account in 1988, giving her complete access to it. She said that her father had instructed her to fulfill his financial obligations in support of "the cause of Turkishness" upon his death by making certain payments. <span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"> Türkeş' second wife, Seval, refuted Ayzıt's claim that she had not kept the money to herself. Seval claims that she and her sons' Ayyüce and Ahmet Kutalmış share of the withdrawn 242,000 GBP is 112,355 GBP.

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">The MHP's chairman, Devlet Bahçeli, instructed his deputies to keep mum, fearing that the scandal could lead to the dissolution of the party.

<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">The case was closed due to the  statute of limitations<span style="color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;">.