Abstract
THE MEMORANDUM OF THE FOUR AND FUAD KÖPRÜLÜ
Fuad Köprülü entered political life as a deputy for Kars in 1935. Having continued his academic activities at faculties in Ankara and Istanbul until 1943, Köprülü found himself within a development that would make his name even more widely known in politics in the late years of World War II. During those days, while the “Law of Providing Farmers with Land” was being negotiated in the Turkish Grand National Assembly, four deputies made a motion to the party caucus. Known as “the Memorandum of the Four”, this motion was signed by the deputies Celal Bayar, Refik Koraltan, Adnan Menderes and Fuad Köprülü. These deputies who made the motion desired a transition to a multi-party system. However, in the Republican People’s Party (RPP or CHP) caucus, the motion was rejected despite the desires of the said four deputies. Meanwhile, as a result of harsh criticisms by the party administration, expulsions began to be carried out from September 21st onward, starting with the expulsions of Menderes and Köprülü.
Keywords
Fuad Köprülü, Celal Bayar, CHP (RPP), the Memorandum of the Four