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Nedjmeddine Erbakan, the leader of Islamic Movement in Turkey
Compiled by: Syed Muhammad Bokreta
Algiers, Algeria
Turkey's former Prime Minister and Great Mudjahid died in Ankara on Sunday, Feb. 27,2011.
Nejmeddin Erbakan was the founding father of the "Milli GörĂĽş", National View, a deep-rooted Islamic political movement in Turkey.
In 1997 the army forced the Islamic-led coalition of Erbakan to resign. But the army refrained from seizing power and allowed secular politicians to form a new government."
In his will "Rahimahou Allah" he made it clear that his funeral prayer will take place in the"Fatih Mosque "in Istanbul, the Symbol of his Ancestors the Great Ottoman Empire and no"Official ceremony" in his will.
Erbakan is a Turkish engineer, academic, politician (eventually political party leader), who was the Prime Minister of Turkey from 1996 until 1997.
He was Turkey's first Islamic Prime Minister. In 1997 he was pressured by the military to step down as prime minister after a visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran, and later banned from politics by the so-called constitutional court.
Erbakan was born in Sinop, at the coast of Black Sea in northern Turkey. After the high school education in İstanbul Lisesi, he graduated from the Mechanical Engineering Faculty at the Istanbul Technical University (ITÜ) in 1948, and received a PhD degree from the RWTH Aachen University, Germany.
After returning to Turkey, Erbakan became lecturer at the İTÜ and was appointed professor in 1965 at the same university. After working some time in leading position in the industry, he switched over to politics, and was elected deputy of Konya in 1969.
Nejmeddin Erbakan's ideology is set forth in a manifesto, entitled MillĂ® GörĂĽş (National View), which he published in 1969.
A mainstay of the religious wing of Turkish politics since the 1970s, Erbakan has been the leader of a series of Islamic political parties that he founded or inspired that have risen to prominence only to be banned by Turkey's secular authorities.
In the 1970s, Erbakan was chairman of the National Salvation Party which, at its peak, served in coalition with the Republican People's Party of Prime Minister BĂĽlend Ejevid during the Cyprus crisis of 1974.
In the wake of the 1980 military coup, Erbakan and his party were banned from politics. He reemerged following a referendum to lift the ban in 1987 and became the leader of Refah Partisi (Welfare Party). He led his party to a surprise success in the general elections of 1995.
He became Prime Minister in 1996 in coalition with Doğru Yol Partisi (True Path Party), becoming the first devout Muslim to hold the office in modern Turkey, as prime minister, he attempted to further Turkey's relations with Muslim states. In addition to trying to follow an economic welfare program, which was supposedly intended to increase welfare among Turkish citizens, the government tried to implement multi-dimensional political approach to relations with the neighbouring countries.
The Turkish military gradually increased the harshness and frequency of its public warnings to Erbakan's government, eventually prompting Erbakan to step down 1997 in a move that has been dubbed a "postmodern coup".
His ruling Welfare Party (RP) was subsequently banned by the courts, who judged that the party had an agenda to promote Islamic laws in the state, and Erbakan was barred once again from active politics.
Despite often being under political ban, Erbakan nonetheless acted as a mentor and informal advisor to former RP members who founded the Virtue Party in 1997.
The Virtue Party was found unconstitutional in 2001 and banned; by that time Erbakan's ban on political activities had ended and he founded the Felicity Party, of which he was the leader in 2003–2004 and again from 2010 onwards.
The Islamic movement that defends national and spiritual values and political, economic and cultural cooperation and solidarity with Islamic world with Turkey returning to its historic role has been one of milestones in Turkish political life.
Nedmeddin's Father Mehmet Sabri, a judge from the prestigious Kozanoğlu clan (Oghuz Turks, Afshar tribe) of Cilicia and his mother Kamer was a native of Sinop and second wife of Mehmet Sabri.
Erbakan's ruling Welfare Party was subsequently banned by the courts, who judged that the party had an agenda to promote Islamic fundamentalism in the state, and Erbakan was barred once again from active politics.
His foreign policy had two main pillars: Close cooperation and unity among Muslim countries and struggle against Zionism. He created "D-8" or The Developing Eight, to achieve a strong economic and political unity among Muslim countries. It has eight members including Turkey, Iran, Malaysia, Indonesia, Egypt, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nigeria. These countries constitute around 14% of the world's population, with a total of more than 800 million people.
Erbakan died on 27 February 2011 at 11:40 local time of heart failure at GĂĽven Hospital in Çankaya, Ankara.His body was transferred to Istanbul, and following the religious funeral service at the Fatih Mosque, the attending crowd accompanied his coffin the about 4 km (2.5 mi) way to the Merkezefendi Cemetery, where he was laid to rest beside his wife Nermin. He did not wish a state funeral, however his funeral was attended by highest state and government officials.
Sooth to say that the God-Fearing Man Erbakan left a worldwide legacy and his influence on the political and social thought of Muslims around the world has been just enormous and the widespread literature about his "Harrasment" by the secular forces and his ever day struggle has Proliferated, still the Great Sufi and Mudjahid Nedjmeddin is for sure a “common heritage” for all Muslims living in this planet such credentials are but another testimony to the greatness of this Man , true he has died but his spirit is still alive !!
For that, the Geat Mudjahid Nedjmeddin Erbakan ,certainly belongs to the higher class of Allah’s Servants who have attained the Best of both Worlds: “We gave him his reward in this world, and in the world to come he shall be among the Righteous”. Holy-Quran 29-27.
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