26th government of Turkey


The 26th government of Turkey, also known as the first coalition government of Turkey and the eight government of İsmet İnönü, was the first civilian government following the 1960 Turkish coup d'état. The prime minister, İsmet İnönü, was the leader of the Republican People's Party and a former president of Turkey. The CHP was joined in coalition by the Justice Party (AP).

Election

In the elections held on 15 October 1961, CHP received 36.7%, and AP received 34.8%. Thus, CHP gained 173 seats and AP gained 158 seats in the 450-seat parliament. İnönü formed the first coalition government in the history of Turkey with AP. AP claimed to be the successor of Democrat Party (DP), which had been banned by the leaders of the 1960 coup. İnönü's main objective was to end the tension between the former coup leaders and the Justice Party. In the relatively short span of time in which the 26th government existed, the Justice Party tried to lift the ban on DP politicians, but the former coup partisans opposed this policy. On 22 February 1962, Turkey was faced again with an attempted coup, but İnönü managed to suppress it.

The government

Some of the cabinet members were changed during the lifespan of the cabinet. In the list below, the serving period of cabinet members who served only a part of the cabinets lifespan are shown in the column "Notes".
TitleNamePartyNotes
Prime Ministerİsmet İnönüCHP
Deputy Prime MinisterAli Akif EyidoğanAP
Minister of State---
Minister of StateTurhan FeyzioğluCHP
Minister of StateAvni Doğan
Hıfzı Oğuz Bekata		CHP20 November 1961 – 23 May 1962
23 May 1962 – 5 June 1962
Minister of StateNecmi ÖktenAP
Minister of StateNihat SuAP
Ministry of JusticeKemal Sahir KurutluoğluIndep
Ministry of National Defenseİlhami SancarCHP
Ministry of the InteriorAhmet TopaloğluAP
Ministry of Foreign AffairsSelim Sarper
Feridun Cemal Erkin		CHP
Indep		20 November 1961 – 26.03-1962
26 March 1962 – 5 June 1962
Ministry of FinanceŞefik İnanCHP
Ministry of National EducationHilmi İncesuluCHP
Ministry of Public WorksEmin PaksütCHP
Ministry of Commerceİhsan GürsanAP
Ministry of Health and Social SecuritySüleyman Suat SerenAP
Ministry of Customs and MonopoliesŞevket PulatoğluAP
Ministry of AgricultureCavit OralAP
Ministry of TransportMustafa Cahit AkyarAP
Ministry of Labour and Social SecurityBülent EcevitCHP
Ministry of IndustryFethi ÇelikbaşCHP
Ministry of Culture and TourismKamran EvliyaoğluAP
Ministry of Construction and SettlementMehmet Muhittin GüvenAP

Aftermath

In the last month of the coalition government, the main issue was the idea of an amnesty act for the former DP members. According to an interview, İnönü thought that the split of opinion on this issue made the government nonfunctional, and he resigned.