Falih Rıfkı Atay
Falih Rıfkı Atay is a Turkish journalist and politician who has served as Speaker of the Grand Council of Kemalism since 1954. He previously served as Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey from 1950 to 1954 and party secretary of the Republican People's Party from 1938 to 1950. He is a follower of former prime minister Recep Peker and the unofficial leader of the radical faction of the CHP, and supports democracy and Western values but agrees that Turkey is not ready for a full-fledged democracy, which would mean it potentially falling into the hands of opportunist politicians like Adnan Menderes.
Background
In January 1950, when Recep Peker resigned as named prime minister of Turkey due to health reasons, he named Atay his successor; with the Grand Council of Kemalism controlled by Peker's supporters, President İsmet İnönü followed through with it. Atay continued to build up on Peker’s reforms but with a slightly softer hand on statism.
The first legislative action Atay did was the Law on Worker and Employer Unions, which legalised unions and resulted in a spring of unionisation across Turkey. One of his top priorities was educating the Turkish people in line with the principles of Kemalism, and he decided to follow the example of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, which made people follow the principles of the revolution 'using fine arts, orators, books, newspapers, street writings, cinema, radio, photography, lectures and everything else'. The CHP's propaganda efforts involved Kemalist Youth Movement members giving out pamphlets on the streets, radios speaking about the Kemalist revolution, newspapers filled with pro-İnönü and pro-Atay articles, the construction of Atatürk monuments and busts, and public education events organised by the Halkevleri.
Regardless of Atay's success, since he lacked Peker's strength, the rival moderate faction, with the tacit support of İnönü, grew in power, leading to setbacks in his agenda. In 1954, when the German economy crashed, Turkey was less heavily affected than most of Europe due to Peker's and Atay's protectionist policies, but the economy was still hit hard. Using this opportunity, Nihat Erim called a vote of no confidence. Although Atay barely managed to win, he saw that his faction was greatly weakened and resigned as prime minister. İnönü then appointed Atay to the Grand Council of Kemalism as its Speaker.
In 1961, after the Democratization Bill of 1962, passed by the opposition Democratic Renewal Party and National Democratic Party and the reformist wing of the CHP, passed through the National Assembly, it was vetoed in the Grand Council of Kemalism, with Speaker of the Council Falih Rıfkı Atay whipping the votes.