Millî Görüş
Necmettin Erbakan was born on October 29, 1926 in Sinop, at the Coast of Black Seas in northern Turkey. His father was Mehmet Sabri, a judge from prestigious Kozanoglu family (Oghuz Turk, Afshar tribe) of Cilicia and his mother, Kamer was a native of Sinop.
Erbakan graduate from Mechanical Engineering Faculty at the Istanbul Technical University in 1948, and received a PhD degree in Mechanical/Engine Engineering from the RWTH Aachen University. He later received an MA and second PhD in Islamic Studies from King Saud University. H became a lecturer and appointed professor at Istanbul Technical University in 1965. After working in leading positions in the industry, he switched over to politics, and was elected deputy of Konya in 1969. He was a member of the Community of Iskenderpasa, a Turkish sufistic Community of the Naqshbandi tariqah. (Faulkener 24)
Erbakan was a leading Turkish Islamist intellectual who was also one of the most influential Turkish politicians in the second half of the 20th century. His political vision was radically anti-secular Kemalist regime. Even though he abhorred Kemalism, Erbakan rejected violent jihadist revolution. He favored a gradualist, bottom-up approach to Islamist revival and political reform that relied heavily on Islamist dawa, or ideological preaching and education. In 1969 Erbakan created the Milli Gorus or National Vision Movement for strengthening of Islamic values in Turkey and turning away what he perceived to be negative influence of the Western world in favor of closer relations with Muslim countries. Along with the Milli Gorus ideology, Erbakan was the founder and leader of several prominent Islamic political parties in Turkey from 1960 to the 2010s, namely the National Order Party ( MNP), the Welfare Party (RP), the Virtue Party(FP) and the Felicity Party (SP).
Necmettin Erbakan second party was the Milli Selamet Party from 1974 to 1978 was in different coalition government, and Erbakan was the assistant of the Prime Minister and president of Economy Council. During these four (4) years he focused on the material and moral development of Turkey. He pioneered the movement of heavy industry, achieved complete membership of Organization of Islamic Conference, guaranteed equal rights to the graduates of Iman-Hatip High School in University entrance exam. The party was closed and he was banned from politics.
In the 1980 military coup, Erbakan and his party were banned from politics. He reemerged following a referendum to lift the ban in 1987 and became the leader of Refah Partisi (Welfare Party). Erbakan party benefited in the 1990s from the acrimony between the leaders of Turkey’s two most prominent conservative parties, Mesut Yilmaz and Tansu Ciller. Erbakan led his party to a success in the general elections of 1995. The Refah Party became the greatest party of Turkey as a result of the election. Erbakan formed the 54th government of Turkey on June28, 1996, becoming the Prime Minister. The coalition government lasted eleven (11) months. Erbakan struggled to achieve his widely known three (3) ideals: Livable Turkey, Great Turkey Again, and A New World. As Prime Minister, he attempted to further Turkey’s relations with Arab nations. He also tried to follow an economic welfare program, which intended to increase welfare among Turkish citizens (Luebering 1)
Erbakan’s image was damaged by his famous speech making fun of the mighty demonstrations against the Susurluk scandal. He was blamed for his indifferences. The Turkish military increased it public warnings to Erbakan’s government, prompting Erbakan to step down as Prime Minister in June of 1997 because of his conflict with the core principles of secularism in Turkey.
The Milli Gorus Movement (literally English: National Vision) has been called one of the leading Turkish diaspora organizations in Europe and also described as the largest Islamic organization operating in the West. The movement claimed to have 87,000 members across Europe, including 50,000 in Germany, as of 2005. The term also refers to the religious vision of the organization that emphasizes the moral and spiritual strength of Islamic faith (Iman) and explains the Muslim world’s decline as a result of its imitation of Western values of secularism and inappropriate use of Western technology. The movement is active in nearly all European countries. (Sache 30-32)
Among the Turkish immigrants in Western Europe, Milli Gorus Movement became one of the major, if not the major, religious movements, controlling numerous mosques. Like the movement in Turkey, it went through some remarkable changes, not least because the fires generation, which was strongly oriented towards what happened in Turkey, is gradually surrendering leadership to a younger generation that grew up in Europe and is concerned with entirely different matters. Milli Gorus Movement public profile shows considerable differences from one country to the next, suggesting that nature of the interaction with the host societies may have as much of an impact on its character as a religious movement as the relationship with the mother movement in Turkey.
The Islamic Community Milli Gorus (ICMG) is today the most influential Islamist organization in Germany, and one of the most important Islamist movements operations within the Turkish Diaspora in Europe.
The ideology and political agenda of the ICMG are rooted in the ideas of Necmettin Erbakan.
Erbakan died on 27 February 2011 of heart failure at Guven Hospital in Cankaya, Ankara. His body was transferred to Istanbul, and following the religious funeral service at the Faith Mosque.
Biography
1926 October 29: Born in Sinop.
1948: Graduates as engineer from Istanbul Technical University (ITU). 1965: Becomes professor at ITU.
1969: Elected deputy of Konya. 1
974: Becomes deputy prime minister in coalition government under Bülent Ecevit, heading the National Salvation Party.
1980: A military coup has Erbakan's party banned, and he excluded from politics.
1987: A referendum removes the ban on certain political parties, and Erbakan is one of the founders of the Welfare Party.
1990's: The Welfare Party grows into a strong political party.
1996 June 28: Becomes prime minister.
1997 June 30: Resigns as prime minister.
1998 January: The Welfare Party is outlawed by the high court.
2000 March 10: Sentenced to one year in jail for provoking hatred.
2008 May: Erbakan begins serving house arrest for embezzlement from his former political party.
2008 August 20: Erbakan is pardoned for the remainder of his house arrest sentence, by President Abdullah Gül, otherwise due to be finished in 2010.
Video: www. YouTube: Necmetti Erbakan-Bana Ne Amerikadan
Faulkener, Thomas. "Necmettin Erbakan." The Guardian (2009): 24.
Luebering, J E. "Biography of Necmettin Erbakan." Encyclopaed Britannica (2011): 1.
Sache, Ivan. "Milli Gorus(Religious Organization Europe Islamische Gemeins." 18 February 2007: 30-32.
