Baha Akşit

A documentary of Turkish political history about multi-party period, Democrat Party government and the coup d'etat of 27th May. Including eye-witness interviews with journalists, officers, politicians and family members.

The multi-party democratic regime that we take for granted in Turkey today is actually the product of 23 years of struggle and search. From the establishment of the Republic until 1946, three attempts were made to transition from a single party to a multi-party. The first of these was in 1924. Progressive Republican Party came up against the Republican People's Party that ruled the country. However, this period, when a new republic was built in pain, did not allow an oppositional voice to survive. The Progressive Party was closed after six months. Some of the rulers were imprisoned. Some of them were sentenced on death rows in the case of the assassination of Atatürk.The second attempt was made six months later, in 1930, with the Free Party. But the Free Party survived only 97 days.Finally, after another 16 years, the Democrat Party came in 1946 and the one-party regime became history for Turkey, never to return.

Looking back at the turmoil of the 1950s today, it's hard not to be sad. Even though one knows the end of the story, he is always waiting for something to happen to prevent this bitter ending. He wants the mistakes made to be noticed, a common point to be agreed and the accident that says I am coming to be prevented. But in vain... After the accident today, all we can do is look at the causes of the accident and learn from it... Beginning from the mid-1950s, the democracy, which was knitted stitch by knot before, began to unravel again, stitch by stitch. A tense, harsh, vicious period has opened in the political arena... It seemed impossible to see the future and take precautions in that dusty smoke...

It is a famous saying: "One can come to power with a bayonet, but not sit on it." The organization, which carried out 27 May, came to power with a bayonet. Moreover, these young officers seized power that night by breaking the traditional chain of command. In the morning, a 10-year DP period was over, the support of the public was gained at first hand, and a brand new phase was reached. Now, the days that would mark the future of Turkey were beginning. Now, as those days put it, the "second republic period" was beginning.

We came to the end of the road. We told you the story of the establishment of a democracy throughout 9 episodes... We witnessed the collapse of a one-party regime. We witnessed the disappearance of the national chiefdom. Together we experienced the holding of the first free general elections and the raising of democracy in pain. And finally, we told you about the birth, rise and fall of a new power. Where we ended up was a military intervention. Whatever the reasons, the storm of revolution had blown once. Now the task of the officers who seized power on the morning of May 27 was to contain that storm. But it didn't. After a while, the storm started to drag the revolutionaries in front of it. The historical scenario was repeated. The Revolution ate some of their children. The revolution was now speaking its own language...

Societies, like people, have turning points in their histories. These milestones sometimes silently and spontaneously knock on the door, and sometimes they explode like a terrifying thunderclap. The year 1950 was such a turning point for Turkey. A simmering social reaction against 27 years of power erupted in the spring of 1950. Society has cracked its quarter-century shell. Not by shedding blood in the streets, but by voting at the ballot boxes. "Demirkırat" was reared by the general vote. That's why the 14 May 1950 elections were always called the "White Revolution"...

In the words of those days, "The first parliament of the Second Republic opened in its new building at 15:00 on a Wednesday. At that moment, the National Unity Committee, which had been ruling the country since 27 May, vanished into history. Now there was an Assembly and a Senate. The old Members of the Committee of National Unity had been "senators of course" for life. The country was finally getting its parliament again after a year and a half hiatus. After many painful days and nights, the biggest share in this success belonged to İsmet İnönü...