‘Democracy Museum’ dedicated to former premier to be opened on Jan 15

AYDIN

A new museum in memory of Adnan Menderes, a former Turkish premier who was toppled and then executed by a military junta in the beginning of the 1960s, will be inaugurated on Jan. 15 in the Aegean province of Aydın’s Koçarlı district.

The three-story structure named “Democracy Museum” will be opened to public with an official ceremony held with the participation of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

The museum, located in Menderes’ hometown’s Çakırbeyli neighborhood, was erected in two years after massive construction works.

“I am very proud of being the muhtar of Menderes’ homeland,” Özer Orcan, the local head of the neigborhood, told Demirören News Agency on Jan. 13.

He urged all youth to visit the museum. “People over the age of 65 know who he was. But I want young people to know him well,” he noted.

A tractor Menderes used in 1954 in his farm and his official car between 1950 and 1960 will welcome the visitors at the entrance of the museum’s compound.

His personal belongings, including his War of Independence medal, will be displayed in the exhibition hall of the museum.

A digital library will be showing the newspaper front pages of his time and visitors will see the military trial Menderes faced in a cinevision show. A two-story restaurant and a mosque were also built near the museum building.

“A history lies inside this museum,” Orcan added.

Nedim Kaplan, the mayor of Koçarlı, highlighted the importance of the neighborhood, calling Menderes a “democracy martyr.”

“People visiting the region will live the soul of the 1960s. I recommend this museum to all,” he said.