Trakya Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi (Dec 2019)
MAREŞAL FEVZİ ÇAKMAK'S POLITICAL ACTIVITIES BETWEEN 1946-1950
Abstract
Fevzi Çakmak (1876-1950) is mainly known with his Military personality and activities in Turkey. The fact that he is one of the few soldiers with the title of Marshal is enough to show his success in the Military profession. He was also noted as; the Minister of Defence in the First cabinet of the executive ministers of Turkey in 1921,the Chairman of the second cabinet of the executive ministers of Turkey, and the Chief of General Staff from 1924 and 1944 without interruption. However it is little known, Fevzi Pasha has an important role in the political life in the multi-party period as well. In 1944, Fevzi Çakmak, who did not intend to retire from the Chief of General Staff except for his request, found himself in the middle of Politics after loneliness he had lived for a short time.The study discusses Fevzi Çakmak's activities and role in the political life between1946-1950. The process of rapprochement with the Democratic Party (DP) and becoming an independent member of parliament and even the desire for him to lead the DP will be examined in the paper. Then, the activities of the Marshal that heinitiated with some circles of left-wing and abandoned in a short time in the context of human rights will be evaluated. In the meantime, the debates on how the leftist circles wanted him to launch a public movement in the country getting rid of the oppressiveness will be included. Later, the process of becoming the honorary chairman of the Nation Party (MP) formed by the people most of whom left the DP following the Marshal’s separation from the DP afte the July 12 Declaration as a result of his worsening Relations with the party will be mentioned. Fevzi Çakmak ,like the other ones who setup the MP, thought that the DP did not have enough strong opposition against the Republican People’s Party(CHP). In the last part of the paper, the political activities of Marshal Çakmak who spent the last two years of his life in the MP will be examined within the framework of character analysis and leadership features. The paper not only discusses the four-year wavy political life of Fevzi Çakmak who was seized by great ambitions and entered politics in 1946 as a result of self- confidence based on Military Reputation and the love given by the people, but it also examines the case of his being manipulated by some political currents and parties because of his personality which is unfamiliar witht he functioning of political life. How and with which motives Fevzi Çakmak, an obedient person to the legitimate and existing authority pushed himself into a strong opponent against the political staff that he had been to gether with for nearly 25 years will be examined. In that, during the election in 1946 and his presence in the Assembly, the Marshal had strong opposition against the CHP and İnönü, which did not arise from policy differences.
Keywords
