Bülent Ecevit

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Mustafa Bülent Ecevit (28 May 1925 – 5 November 2006) was a Turkish statesman, poet, writer, scholar, and journalist. He served as the Prime Minister of Turkey four times between 1974 and 2002, specifically in 1974, 1977, 1978–79, and 1999–2002. Ecevit was Chairman of the Republican People's Party (CHP) from 1972 to 1980, and became Chairman of the Democratic Left Party (DSP) in 1987. Ecevit was elected a CHP MP from Ankara in the 1957 general election and came to prominence as Minister of Labour in İsmet İnönü's cabinets, representing the rising left-wing faction of the party. In 1972, Ecevit became leader of the CHP. His leadership reached out to working-class voters and cemented the party as "Left of Centre". Ecevit first became Prime Minister in 1974, during which he retracted the ban on cultivation of opium and invaded Cyprus. He formed two more governments in 1977 and 1978–1979 which were marked by increasing polarisation, deadlock, and political violence that ended with the 1980...

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