Ekrem Alican

Ekrem Alican (1916 – June 18, 2000) was a Turkish politician, government minister and party leader.

Early years Alican was born in 1916 in Adapazarı in the Hüdavendigâr vilayet of the Ottoman Empire (now Sakarya Province of Turkey) to Yusuf Efendi, a third generation Circassian immigrant from Caucasus, and Emine Hanım. He had two elder brothers, Fuat and İsmail Hakkı. After finishing the junior high school in Adapazarı in 1930, he enrolled at Şişli Terakki High School in Nişantaşı, Istanbul as a boarding student. In 1934, Ekrem Alican graduated from the high school, and entered the higher education institute named , where he studied Finance. (Although this institute was in Istanbul, 1936 it moved to Ankara to be named Faculty of Political Science, Ankara University.) He completed his higher education in 1937, and was sent to London School of Economics for further studies on scholarship by the Ministry of Finance. Due to the outbreak of World War II, he had to return home one and half years later.

Ekrem Alican entered the service of Ministry of Finance as an assistant inspector. Between 1940 and 1941, he fulfilled the compulsory military service as a lieutenant of artillery at Çanakkale. After the end of the World War II, the Ministry wanted to send him again to London, however he could not convince his father, who was happy with his son's employment at the Ministry. Some time later, he was promoted to the post of an inspector. In 1946, he was called to the military service again for a short time. Alican with U.S. President John F. Kennedy, Turkish ambassador Turgut Menemencioğlu and Turkish Minister of Finance Ferit Melen in White House, Washington, D.C. The outcome of the advanced 1957 elections held on October 27 was a disappointment for the HP, which could secure four seats in the parliament only while Alican was not elected. At the party congress on November 24, 1958, the party dissolved itself. While most of the members joined the main opposition Republican People's Party, Ekrem Alican did not go with. Alican resigned from the cabinet on December 26, 1960, due to disputes over financial politics with the militaries. on February 13, 1961, as one of the two newly established major parties, which aimed to attract the votes of the banned Democratic Party. Alican became leader of the party. In the 1961 general elections held on October 15, the YTP could achieve only a modest 13.73% of the votes resulting in 65 seats of the total 450 in the parliament, and in the 1961 senate elections on the same day, Alican's party sent 27 senators of the 150 to the Senate by 13,0% of the total votes. He was elected deputy of Sakarya Province, incorporating his hometown Adapazarı.

Ekrem Alican was appointed deputy prime minister in the coalition cabinet of Republican Perty's leader İsmet İnönü serving from June 25, 1962, to December 25, 1963. He was re-elected deputy of Sakarya in the 1965 elections held on October 10. The YTP sent 19 deputies into the 450-seat parliament. On October 17, 1966, he resigned from his position as party leader, and stepped back from active politics in 1969.

Later years and death Between 1970 and 1980, Ekrem Alican served as the chairman of the board at the Yapı ve Kredi Bankası, one of the major private banks in Turkey.

He died on June 18, 2000, at the age of 84 in his home at Yeniköy, Istanbul. Following a religious ceremony at the Teşvikiye Mosque, he was laid to rest in the family cemetery at İkice Müslim village in Adapazarı. He was survived by his wife and three children.