AKP seeks to ‘reinstate honor’ of executed PM

ANKARA

Late Premier Adnan Menderes was executed by a military junta in 1961. Hürriyet photo

The head of Parliament’s Constitution Conciliation Commission Burhan Kuzu said on Dec. 17 that Parliament should fulfill its duty of reinstating the honor of former Prime Minister Adnan Menderes, who was executed by a military junta in 1961.

Kuzu, of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), described the military coup of the May 27, 1960 as a precise murder. “With regard to reinstating honor, Parliament should fulfill this duty. I’m not saying this only for Menderes and his friends, I would also say the same thing for whoever was tried at the time. Yassıada was a precise murder,” Kuzu said.

“If needed, a commission could be established solely for these issues. The commission would draft a report and then, within the framework of that report, steps could be taken at the General Assembly to reinstate honor,” he added, after being asked what kind of procedures could be followed.

Menderes’ lawyer, Burhan Apaydın, had appealed to Parliament for the annulment of Menderes’ conviction. His application was reviewed by the Petition and Justice Commissions.

Menderes, leader of the now defunct Democrat Party (DP) and Turkey’s first democratically-elected prime minister, was hung by the military junta after the 1960 coup, along with two other Cabinet members, Fatin Rüştü Zorlu and Hasan Polatkan.