Today in History – 6/7 June

Memorandum of the Four

The speech National Chief İnönü delivered on May 19, 1945 had heralded the beginning of multi-party politics. Shortly after that, four opposition leaders within CHP, namely, Celal Bayar, Adnan Menderes, Refik Koraltan, and Fuad Köprülü, gave a proposal named “Memorandum of the Four” to the CHP Group Leadership on June 7, 1945. The memorandum included such items as a true supervision of the Grand National Assembly in compliance with the democratic spirit of the Constitution, the recognition of the nation’s constitutional freedoms and rights, and the restructuring of CHP’s political activities in line with these first two principles.

Reviewed at the CHP Assembly Group on June 12th, the memorandum was rejected on the grounds that the changes to the part by-laws would have to discussed at the Party Convention and amendments to the law would have to be deliberated at the Grand National Assembly.

As criticism from the opposition group escalated after these developments, Menderes, Koraltan, and Köprülü were expelled from the party, whereas Celal Bayar resigned first from his post as deputy, and later from CHP. Upon his announcement of forming a new party on December 1, 1945, Celal Bayar was invited to Çankaya Palace by İnönü. The Democrat Party was thus founded on January 7, 1946, once the necessary support from the President was secured.