Those blocked on the path of politics: Which leaders in Turkey have been banned?

A lawsuit was filed against Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu on the grounds that he insulted YSK members in a press statement he made on November 4, 2019. On December 14, 2022, the court announced that it had sentenced İmamoğlu to 2 years, 7 months, and 15 days in prison and imposed a political ban. The decision taken by the court is currently in the appeal process.

In his press conference on January 27, 2025, İmamoğlu stated that he would make important announcements by saying, "You will hear this for the first time," and drew attention to the name of the expert witness in his speech by using the phrase, "The name of the radish in the bag has been revealed." An investigation was launched against İmamoğlu by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office on charges of "targeting an expert witness" and "attempting to influence those performing judicial duties" regarding allegations of irregularities in the reports bearing this person's signature. In the prepared indictment, a prison sentence of 2 to 4 years and a political ban are requested for İmamoğlu.

So, which political figures in Turkey have received political bans before?

NECMETTİN ERBAKAN RECEIVED A 5-YEAR POLITICAL BAN

Erbakan, who first entered politics by being elected as an independent deputy in 1969, was first banned from engaging in politics after the September 12, 1980 military coup. Upon the lifting of his ban, he became the chairman of the Welfare Party (Refah Partisi) in 1987 and served as prime minister in the RP-DYP coalition government in 1995.

After the government was toppled following the February 28, 1997 process, the Constitutional Court closed the Welfare Party on January 16, 1998, on the grounds that it was 'the center of anti-secular activities,' and a 5-year political ban was imposed on Erbakan. Along with Erbakan, the parliamentary memberships of deputy chairmen Ahmet Tekdal, Şevket Kazan, and Şevki Yılmaz, Hasan Hüseyin Ceylan, and İbrahim Halil Çelik, who had left the RP, were revoked, and a 5-year political ban was imposed on them.

POLITICAL BAN FOR SÜLEYMAN DEMİREL

A significant fracture occurred in Turkish politics after the 1980 coup, and like many political leaders, Süleyman Demirel faced political bans. The September 12 coup removed the prime minister of the time, Süleyman Demirel, from office and banned his political activities along with those of other political leaders. With the entry into force of the 1982 Constitution, a 10-year ban from politics was imposed on all former politicians, including Demirel.

Throughout the 1980s, the military administration's control continued in Turkey, and the banned leaders only had the chance to return to politics with the referendum held in 1987. When the lifting of political bans was accepted in this referendum by a small margin of 50.16%, Süleyman Demirel was able to return to active politics. Seen as the natural leader of the True Path Party (DYP), which was founded in 1983, Demirel took over the party after the bans were lifted and brought the DYP to power in the 1991 elections, becoming prime minister again.

BÜLENT ECEVİT JOINED THE DSP AFTER THE BAN

One of the names affected by the September 12, 1980 coup process was the Republican People's Party (CHP) Chairman of the time, Bülent Ecevit. After the coup, the CHP was closed, and like other political leaders, Ecevit was given a 10-year political ban.

When the lifting of political bans was accepted in the referendum held in 1987, Ecevit also had the chance to return to politics. He joined the Democratic Left Party (DSP), which was founded by his wife Rahşan Ecevit in 1985, and became the party's chairman in 1989. He grew the DSP in the 1990s, became a powerful political figure again, and became prime minister by making his party the first in the 1999 elections.

ALPARSLAN TÜRKEŞ REMAINED IMPRISONED FOR 4 YEARS AND 7 MONTHS

After the September 12, 1980 coup, Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Chairman Alparslan Türkeş received a political ban and a prison sentence. While other political leaders (Demirel, Ecevit, Erbakan, etc.) were detained immediately after the army took control at 4 a.m. on September 12, Türkeş could not be caught initially because he had left his home seven hours before the coup. The day after the coup, Kenan Evren announced in a statement that Türkeş should also surrender. Türkeş returned home around 4:00 a.m. on September 15 and was detained by military police within a few hours. He was first taken to the Uzunada Naval Base in Izmir with Erbakan and held in a villa there for about 20 days. Later, he was taken to the Martial Law Prosecutor's Office in Mamak, Ankara, and interrogated.

On April 29, 1981, a lawsuit was filed against Türkeş with a request for the death penalty within the scope of the "MHP and Idealist Organizations Case" opened by the Ankara Martial Law Command No. 1 Military Court. As a result of the trial, he was sentenced to 11 years and 10 months in prison, and after being imprisoned for a total of 4 years, 7 months, and 25 days, he was released on April 9, 1985. In accordance with the 1982 Constitution, a 10-year political ban was imposed on him. Returning to politics after the bans were lifted with the referendum held in 1987, Türkeş took over the party again when the MHP was reopened on January 24, 1993. He returned to Parliament in the 1995 elections.

RECEP TAYYİP ERDOĞAN ALSO RECEIVED A POLITICAL BAN

In 1997, Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke at an open-air meeting of the closed Welfare Party's Siirt Provincial Presidency on December 6, 1997. A lawsuit was filed against Erdoğan due to the words, "the minarets are our bayonets, the mosques are our barracks, the domes are our helmets," in a poem he read during his speech, and he was sentenced to 10 months in prison by the Diyarbakır No. 3 State Security Court for "inciting the public to hatred and hostility by discriminating based on religion and race." The sentence given by the court was not suspended and was not converted into a fine.

Erdoğan applied to the Court of Cassation to appeal the decision, but on September 23, 1998, the 8th Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation upheld the sentence by a majority vote. In line with this decision, Erdoğan's mayorship was revoked, and his right to vote and be elected was taken away. According to the Law on Political Parties and the Law on Parliamentary Elections, he lost his right to be a member of any political party, as well as his right to be elected as a deputy or mayor. Erdoğan served 4 months in Kırklareli Pınarhisar Prison after a sentence reduction was applied.