Ecevit, Bülent (bülĕnt` ĕjĕvĭt`), 1925–, Turkish political leader and journalist. An editor for Ulus, the organ of the Republican People's party, he was elected to parliament (1957–60 and again from 1961) and served (1961–65) as minister of labor. He was the Republican People's party's secretary-general from 1966 to 1971. In 1972, Ecevit succeeded Ismet Inönü Inönü, Ismet (ĭsmĕt` ēnönü`)
..... Click the link for more information. as party chairman, promising a democratic-socialist program. In 1974 he became prime minister of a coalition government and established an independent, basically anti-European policy for Turkey. Following the overthrow in July, 1974, of the Cypriot leader Archbishop Makarios III Makarios III (mäkä`rēôs)
..... Click the link for more information. by the Greek officers of the Cypriot National Guard, Ecevit mobilized Turkish troops and invaded Cyprus to protect its Turkish minority. His action brought about the fall of the Greek Cypriot rebel government, and, indirectly, the fall of the junta in Greece. Strains in his coalition led to Ecevit's resignation in Sept., 1974. In 1978 he became prime minister again, but in 1980 Turkey experienced a military coup, and Ecevit was imprisoned. He later established the Democratic Left party, and in Dec., 1998, he was asked to form a caretaker government. Following elections held in Apr., 1999, he continued as prime minister, heading a coalition government. In office he reversed his earlier anti-Western stance and worked to draw Turkey nearer to the countries of the European Union European Community (EC), an economic and political confederation of European nations, and other organizations (with the same member nations) that are responsible for a common foreign and security policy and for cooperation on justice and home affairs.
..... Click the link for more information. . The elections of 2002 resulting in stunning loss for Ecevit and his party, and he retired from politics two years later.

Ecevit, Bülent

(born May 28, 1925, Constantinople, Tur.—died Nov. 5, 2006, Ankara) Turkish poet, journalist, and politician. A writer for the newspaper of the Republican People's Party (RPP), he was elected as a RPP member to the Turkish parliament in 1957. As minister of labour (1961–65), he made the strike a legal weapon for labour for the first time in Turkish history. He became head of the RPP in 1972 and served as prime minister of Turkey, first in the 1970s and later from 1999 to 2002. As head of government, he declared an amnesty for all political prisoners and in 1974 authorized Turkey's military intervention in Cyprus after the Greek-led coup on that island.