Cemal Gürsel

Cemal Gürsel (9 June 1894 – 14 September 1966) was a Turkish military officer and politician who was the fourth president of Turkey, serving from 1960 to 1966 after taking power in a coup d'état.

We built an automobile with the mentality of the West and we forgot to put gasoline in it with the mentality of the East.

Quotes from him

• I took over the administration of the state to stop the tragic course of events.
  • Radio address on the evening of 27 May 1960
• The network was ready. I personally did not want the army to intervene and had been stopping the attempts (of takeover) of my younger friends. Things reached to such a state that despite my belief that the army should not interfere I let them free in their duties. Now my only goal is to reinstate an administration built on the principles of justice and ethics.
  • In an interview. Cumhuriyet, 16 July 1960
• We built an automobile with the mentality of the West and we forgot to put gasoline in it with the mentality of the East.
  • Cemal Gürsel, President, on the Anniversary of the Turkish Republic, 29 October 1963
• Those who follow Atatürk will not be left behind.
  • From the address on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Atatürk's death, 10 November 1963

Quotes about him

• General Gursel may be described as the father of the second Turkish Republic similar to Atatürk being the father of modern Turkey. At a time of deep division, Gursel earned and maintained the respect of the Turkish Nation that regarded him as the symbol of national unity. When he passed away, he had the identity of the trusted father of the nation.
  • Prof. Bernard Lewis, 15 September 1966
• A few days before the coup, it was known that the coup was imminent but General Cemal Gursel was dismissed as a non-political general. No leading role by General Cemal Gursel was determined despite the foreknowledge of the plot.
  • The CIA; The Inside Story by Andrew Tully, pages 51, 53. Crest books, 1962
• On 27 May, he (Cemal Gursel) was hurriedly requested to come (from his residence in İzmir) to the capital (Ankara) to assume the leadership of National Unity Committee.
  • The Turkish Revolution, Aspects of Military politics. By Walter Weiker. pages 121, 122. The Brookings Institution, 1963
• When 27 May revolt occurred, Cemal Gürsel was not a participant. He was invited to become the head due to the circumstances and he willingly accepted.
  • Burhan Felek, Milliyet, Page 2, 18 September 1971
• General Gürsel was brought into the NUC chairmanship by the revolution team when he was in retirement preparation. In actuality he was in the position of a chairman found in last minute with a hurried search. He never was the responsible leader for a true leader is not to be appointed but is self-appointed.
  • By a leading member of the NUC
• One of the core players of the coup, Orhan Erkanli told that they revolted on 27 May without knowing what to do on 28 May. No one, including Cemal Gürsel knew who and how many would be forming the NUC. In actuality, even Cemal Gürsel was brought in later.
  • Years of Ismet Pasha of our Democracy, 1960–61 by Metin Toker, page 25. Bilgi. 1998
• It is now known that the coup was the result of years of planning on the part of conspirators, a number of radical colonels and ranks below in their early forties. He (Cemal Gürsel) was not involved in the details of the organization of the coup d'état. When the coup had succeeded, he was brought to Ankara.
  • Turkey, A modern History by Erik Zurcher. pages 253,254. I.B. Tauris, 2003
• We just see that a few very important lines in his letter (to the Minister of Defence) had been censored. That means we are going without learning the true history, without knowing who knows what facts and what true pictures of turning points.
  • Çetin Altan, Author, Journalist, September 2006
• An extremely important document that sheds light on the past has been revealed. Testimony from eyewitnesses at the time helped make known that the letter had been modified after 27 May, but the location of the original letter was unknown. This important document adds a new dimension to the 27 May revolution. We have come face to face with a new document that changes our written history. It was my greatest wish to obtain just such a document; not for my own satisfaction, but for my father, to prove this reality and obtain genuine evidence. I was thrilled when I heard about this.
  • Mr Aydın Menderes, Author, the Son of Prime Minister Adnan Menderes, September 2006
• They cut off our phone lines. Adnan Menderes was hung against the regulations. I was supposed to oversee the execution. The revolution tribunal's chief prosecutor Altay Egesel conducted the execution despite not being authorized. İsmet İnönü and Cemal Gürsel were already phoning for him (Adnan Menderes) not to be executed but the telecommunications' office cut off the lines and Egesel made use of the (communication) gap to conduct the execution.
  • Mehmet Feyyat, District Attorney General, Istanbul Province Prosecutor General 1961, The Administrator of the Imrali Prison, The Lawyer of the Year, Senator. Reported by Özkan GÜVEN, STAR Newspaper, 13 November 2006 with a summary in Turkish at Law in the Capitol
• Where are we now and where are the nations such as Portugal, Greece and Spain with whom we departed for the competition of development in 1960s? While we still crawl around $5000 per capita income, they have caught $20K pci a long while ago. In one word, an embarrassment.
  • Hasan Cemal, Milliyet, October 2006