Ekrem Alican (1916 – June 18, 2000) was a Turkish politician, government minister and party leader.
Early years
Alican was born in 1916 in
Adapazarı
Adapazarı () is a municipality and the capital Districts of Turkey, district of Sakarya Province, Turkey. Its area is 324 km2, and its population 281,489 (2022). It covers the central and northern part of the agglomeration of Adapazarı and t ...
in the
Hüdavendigâr vilayet
The Hüdavendigâr Vilayet () or Bursa Vilayet after its administrative centre, was a first-level administrative division (vilayet) of the Ottoman Empire. At the beginning of the 20th century it reportedly had an area of .Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
(now
Sakarya Province
Sakarya () is a province and metropolitan municipality in Turkey, located on the coast of the Black Sea. Its area is , and its population is 1,080,080 (2022). The Sakarya River creates a webbing of estuaries in the province, which is in the Ma ...
of Turkey) to Yusuf Efendi, a third generation Circassian immigrant from
Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...
, and Emine Hanım. He had two elder brothers, Fuat and İsmail Hakkı. After finishing the junior high school in Adapazarı in 1930, he enrolled at Şişli Terakki High School in
Nişantaşı
Nişantaşı is a residential quarter in the Şişli district on the European side of Istanbul, Turkey. Nişantaşı quarter has four neighbourhoods: Teşvikiye, Maçka, Osmanbey and Pangaltı. The centre of the Nişantaşı quarter is at the ...
,
Istanbul
Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
as a boarding student. In 1934, Ekrem Alican graduated from the high school, and entered the higher education institute named (), where he studied Finance. (Although this institute was in Istanbul, 1936 it moved to
Ankara
Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...
to be named
Faculty of Political Science, Ankara University
The Faculty of Political Science of the University of Ankara (, more simply known as "''SBF''") is the oldest institution of administrative sciences in Turkey. It is the successor of the "Mekteb-i Mülkiye" ('), also known simply as "Mülkiye," wh ...
.) He completed his higher education in 1937, and was sent to
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...
for further studies on scholarship by the
Ministry of Finance
A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position .
A ministry of finance's portfoli ...
. Due to the outbreak of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, he had to return home one and half years later.
Ekrem Alican entered the service of Ministry of Finance as an assistant inspector. Between 1940 and 1941, he fulfilled the compulsory military service as a lieutenant of artillery at
Çanakkale
Çanakkale is a city and seaport in Turkey on the southern shore of the Dardanelles at their narrowest point. It is the seat of Çanakkale Province and Çanakkale District.
On May 29, 1946, he and Naciye Güler, an 18-year-old native of his hometown, got engaged. The couple married on May 19, 1947. The family had three children, daughters Emine Nilüfer (born in 1948), Canan (born in 1951) and son Yusuf (born in 1958).
Right after completion of his second military time, Ekrem Alican resigned from his post at the Ministry after seven years of service, and returned to his hometown. He and his three other relatives established a firm in the trade of agricultural products. The firm however was short-living.
Political life
At the age of 34, Ekrem Alican entered Democrat Party (DP), and was elected deputy of Kocaeli in the 1950 general elections. The family moved then to Ankara. In 1951, Alican stood up for the building of a sugar refinery in Adapazarı, which was highly needed in the region. It was completed and went in production in 1953.
Even though he developed inner-party controversies that began already in 1952, he ran for the 1954 elections and kept his seat in the parliament. In 1955, following the Istanbul riots that took place on September 6–7, some leading party members expressed harsh criticism on the government, and demanded the implementation of the "right to prove" () into the criminal law regarding suppression of press freedom that led to growing inner-party opposition. The disciplinary board of the party expelled then nine members. Ten members followed their colleagues discharged and resigned. The 19 politicians decided to establish a political party, which was realized on December 20, 1955, under the name Liberty Party) (). Ekrem Alican, among the co-founders, became the third party leader after Ekrem Hayri Üstündağ and Fevzi Lütfi Karaosmanoğlu.
The outcome of the advanced 1957 elections held on October 27 was a disappointment for the HP, which could secure four seats in the parliament only while Alican was not elected. At the party congress on November 24, 1958, the party dissolved itself. While most of the members joined the main opposition
Republican People's Party
The Republican People's Party (RPP; , CHP ) is a Kemalism, Kemalist and Social democracy, social democratic political party in Turkey. It is the oldest List of political parties in Turkey, political party in Turkey, founded by Mustafa Kemal ...
, Ekrem Alican did not go with.
Right after the military coup of 1960 on May 27 that overturned the government of Democrat Party, he was appointed
Minister of Finance
A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position .
A ministry of finance's portfolio ...
, the junta on May 30. Alican resigned from the cabinet on December 26, 1960, due to disputes over financial politics with the militaries.
He founded the New Turkey Party () on February 13, 1961, as one of the two newly established major parties, which aimed to attract the votes of the banned Democratic Party. Alican became leader of the party. In the 1961 general elections held on October 15, the YTP could achieve only a modest 13.73% of the votes resulting in 65 seats of the total 450 in the parliament, and in the 1961 senate elections on the same day, Alican's party sent 27 senators of the 150 to the
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
by 13,0% of the total votes. He was elected deputy of
Sakarya Province
Sakarya () is a province and metropolitan municipality in Turkey, located on the coast of the Black Sea. Its area is , and its population is 1,080,080 (2022). The Sakarya River creates a webbing of estuaries in the province, which is in the Ma ...
, incorporating his hometown Adapazarı.
Ekrem Alican was appointed deputy prime minister in the
coalition cabinet
A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an e ...
of Republican Perty's leader
İsmet İnönü
Mustafa İsmet İnönü (24 September 1884 – 25 December 1973) was a Turkish politician and military officer who served as the second List of Presidents of Turkey, president of Turkey from 1938 to 1950, and as its Prime Minister of Turkey, pr ...
serving from June 25, 1962, to December 25, 1963.
He was re-elected deputy of Sakarya in the 1965 elections held on October 10. The YTP sent 19 deputies into the 450-seat parliament. On October 17, 1966, he resigned from his position as party leader, and stepped back from active politics in 1969.
Later years and death
Between 1970 and 1980, Ekrem Alican served as the chairman of the board at the Yapı ve Kredi Bankası, one of the major private banks in Turkey.
He died on June 18, 2000, at the age of 84 in his home at Yeniköy, Istanbul. Following a religious ceremony at the
TeÅŸvikiye Mosque
The TeÅŸvikiye Mosque () is a neo-baroque structure located in the TeÅŸvikiye neighbourhood of ÅžiÅŸli district in Istanbul, Turkey.
History
The mosque was originally commissioned in 1794 by Sultan Selim III, but most of the current mosque t ...
, he was laid to rest in the family cemetery at İkice Müslim village in Adapazarı. He was survived by his wife and three children.