Today in History – 19 June

Rupture within Democrat Party

Democrat Party co-founder Prof. Dr. Fuad Köprülü resigned from his post as Minister of Foreign Affairs on June 19, 1956 with a letter of resignation that read, “I respectfully ask of you to accept my resignation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for reasons I do not care to explain.”

Having served as Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of State, and Minister of Foreign Affairs between 1950 and 1956, Fuad Köprülü’s resignation is considered the beginning of Democrat Party’s disintegration. Although he never served as deputy again after his resignation, Köprülü remained active in politics. He first supported Liberty Party (HP) and later CHP. Following the military intervention of May 27, 1960, he was tried in Yassıada and acquitted. In 1961, he founded the New Democrat Party, but its lack of success led Köprülü to withdraw from politics in 1965.