Felicity Party founder Recai Kutan dies at 94

ANKARA

Recai Kutan, the founder of the Felicity Party (SP) and a significant figure in Turkish politics, died at the age of 94 on Oct. 7 in a hospital in the capital Ankara.

A statement shared on the party’s social media accounts confirmed his death.

Kutan's passing prompted a wave of condolences from political leaders, including Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş and other prominent figures.

Born in 1930, Kutan was first elected to parliament in 1977 as a member of the National Salvation Party (MSP), serving as the construction and resettlement minister in the coalition government formed that year.

After the 1980 military coup, he, along with other MSP leaders, spent more than nine months in prison.

Following the coup, Kutan continued his political career by becoming the deputy leader of the Welfare Party (RP) founded in 1983. He was elected to parliament from Malatya and later served as energy and natural resources minister in 1996 and 1997.

After the RP was shut down, Kutan led its successor, the Virtue Party (FP). When it was also dissolved, Kutan became one of the founding members of the SP in 2001.

He initially passed the leadership to Necmettin Erbakan in 2003 but resumed leadership after Erbakan’s resignation in 2004. Kutan was reelected party leader in 2006 and held the role until 2008, when he handed over leadership to Kurtulmuş.

Kutan was also the head of the Economic and Social Research Center (ESAM), which he helped establish. He continued to be active in SP’s high advisory board in his later years.