Necmettin Cevheri (1930 – 5 September 2023) was a Turkish farmer, lawyer, and politician who held various cabinet posts. He was a member of the Democrat Party, Justice Party, and

True Path Party The True Path Party (, DYP) was a centre-right political party in Turkey, active from 1983 to 2007. For most of its history, the party's central figure was Süleyman Demirel, a former Prime Minister of Turkey who previously led the Justice Part ...

Early life and education

Cevheri was born in

Şanlıurfa Urfa, officially called Şanlıurfa (), is a city in southeastern Turkey and the capital of Şanlıurfa Province. The city was known as Edessa from Hellenistic times and into Christian times. Urfa is situated on a plain about east of the Eup ...

in 1930. He was a member of the

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish language ** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) **Central Kurdish (Sorani) **Southern Kurdish ** Laki Kurdish *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern ...

origin Şeyhanlı tribe. His father, Hacı Ömer, was among those who defended

Urfa Urfa, officially called Şanlıurfa (), is a city in southeastern Turkey and the capital of Şanlıurfa Province. The city was known as Edessa from Hellenistic period, Hellenistic times and into Christian times. Urfa is situated on a plain abo ...

during the

War of Independence Wars of national liberation, also called wars of independence or wars of liberation, are conflicts fought by nations to gain independence. The term is used in conjunction with wars against foreign powers (or at least those perceived as foreign) ...

and was awarded with the Medal of Independence for his contributions to the battles against the occupying British and French forces in 1920. He was elected as a member of the Parliament for the Democrat Party from

in 1950 and died in 1952 while serving in the post. Cevheri's mother was Fatma Hanım who died during his childhood. The family had to leave Şanlıurfa in the mid-1930s when the resettlement law was put into force, and they settled in

Amasya Amasya () is a city in northern Turkey, in the Black Sea Region. It was called Amaseia or Amasia in antiquity."Amasya" in ''Encyclopædia Britannica, The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol ...

and then in

Adana Adana is a large city in southern Turkey. The city is situated on the Seyhan River, inland from the northeastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. It is the administrative seat of the Adana Province, Adana province, and has a population of 1 81 ...

. Cevheri received his primary education in three different cities. He graduated from

Galatasaray High School Galatasaray High School (, ), established in Istanbul in 1481, is the oldest and Selective school, highly selective high school in Turkey. It is also the second-oldest Turkish educational institution after Istanbul University, which was establi ...

and obtained a law degree from

Ankara University Ankara University () is a public university, public research university in Ankara, the capital of Turkey. It was the first higher education institution founded in Turkey after the History of the Republic of Turkey, formation of the Turkish republ ...

Career

Cevheri joined the Democrat Party in January 1951 and was part of the party's Şanlıurfa branch. After his graduation, he was involved in agricultural activities in Şanlıurfa where he also worked as a lawyer from 1957. The same year he became the provincial head of the party. Following the closure of the Democrat Party in 1960, Cevheri became a member of the Justice Party and was elected as its provincial head in Şanlıurfa in 1963. He was elected to the Turkish Parliament representing Şanlıurfa in 1965. He was also elected as a deputy in the 1969 general elections. He was appointed minister of tourism on 3 November 1969. He served in the post in the second and third cabinets of

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Süleyman Demirel Sami Süleyman Gündoğdu Demirel (; 1 November 1924 – 17 June 2015) was a Turkish people, Turkish politician, engineer, and statesman who served as the List of Presidents of Turkey, 9th President of Turkey from 1993 to 2000. He previously serv ...

until 1971. Cevheri was named as the minister of justice on 21 July 1977 succeeding Selçuk Erverdi in the post. The cabinet was led by again Süleyman Demirel. Cevheri's tenure ended on 5 January 1978, and he was replaced by Mehmet Can as the minister of justice. Cevheri cofounded the True Path Party after the closure of the Justice Party on 12 September 1980 when the Turkish army seized power. He was one of the politicians who were banned by the military government from political activity, and his political ban was lifted in 1987. He was elected to the Parliament in the general elections held in 1990 and 1995 representing Şanlıurfa. He was the minister of agriculture and rural affairs in the cabinet led by Süleyman Demirel between 20 November 1991 and 25 June 1993. When Demirel, leader of the True Path Party, was elected as the

President of Turkey The president of Turkey, officially the president of the Republic of Türkiye (), is the head of state and head of government of Turkey. The president directs the executive branch of the national government and is the commander-in-chief of the ...

, Cevheri was one of the candidates for the party chairmanship in 1993. However, he left the race, and Tansu Çiller became the leader of the party defeating

Köksal Toptan Köksal Toptan (born 3 January 1943) is a Turkish lawyer, politician and a member of the Justice and Development Party. He earlier served as government minister in three cabinets. He was the speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey bet ...

and Mehmet Dülger. Cevheri was deputy prime minister in the cabinet of

Tansu Çiller Tansu Çiller (; born 24 May 1946) is a Turkish academic, economist, and politician who served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Turkey from 1993 to 1996. She was Turkey's first and only female prime minister. As the leader of the True Path Party ...

in October 1995. He was appointed minister of state in the following cabinet of Çiller and was in charge of the various state institutions, including the

Presidency of Religious Affairs A presidency is an Administration (government), administration or the Executive (government), executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of President (government title), president of a state or na ...

. As of 1997 he was deputy chairman of the True Path Party. In the late May 1997 he and other deputies of the party resigned which would lead to the collapse of 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 ...

formed by the True Path Party and the Islamist

Welfare Party The Welfare Party (, RP) was an Islamist political party in Turkey. It was founded by Ali Türkmen, Ahmet Tekdal, and Necmettin Erbakan in Ankara in 1983 as heir to two earlier parties, National Order Party (MNP) and National Salvation Party ...

. The cabinet was headed by the Welfare Party leader

Necmettin Erbakan Necmettin Erbakan (29 October 1926 – 27 February 2011) was a Turkish politician and political theorist who served as the 23rd prime minister of Turkey from 1996 to 1997. He was pressured by the military to step down as prime minister and was la ...

. Before the 1999 general election Cevheri won the preliminary election in Şanlıurfa becoming the first candidate in the list, but Çiller decided to identify the candidate list herself. However, Cevheri managed to be elected as a deputy. After this incident Cevheri together with Esat Kıratlıoğlu and Nahit Menteşe began to act as opposition leaders against Çiller. Following the elections Cevheri was a member of the General Administrative Council of the party. He retired from politics in 2002.

Personal life and death

Cevheri's wife, Yüksel, died on 2 August 2021 and was buried in Ankara. He had two children, a son and a daughter His son, İbrahim Cevher, is also a politician and served as a member of the Parliament for the True Path Party representing Adana at the 20th term. Cevheri himself was also serving at the Parliament during the same term. Cevheri's nephew, Mehmet Ali Cevheri, is a member of the Parliament for the Justice and Development Party from Şanlıurfa. Cevheri died at Güven Hospital, Ankara, on 5 September 2023, at the age of 93. A funeral ceremony was organized for him the next day at the Parliament, and he was buried in Cebeci Asri cemetery, Ankara. Various leading politicians attended the ceremony, including Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu,

Devlet Bahçeli Devlet Bahçeli (born 1 January 1948) is a Turkish people, Turkish politician, economist, former Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey, deputy prime minister, and current chairman of the Far-right politics, far-right, Ultranationalism, ultranationa ...

, Meral Akşener, Bülent Arınç, Köksal Toptan and

Mehmet Ali Şahin Mehmet Ali Şahin (born 16 September 1950) is a Turkish politician. He was the Speaker of the Parliament of Turkey from 2009 to 2011. He was a member of the parliament for three terms from Istanbul Province and from Antalya Province of the r ...

. Galatasaray S.K. published a condolence message for Cevheri on the same day.

References