Ex-Turkish Premier on Trial Again for Political Activity
Former Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit went on trial again Friday on charges of violating a ban on participating in politics. Less than a month ago, he was acquitted of the same charge.
Defending himself at the hearing, Ecevit said that in ancient Greece, those who did not engage in politics were considered useless citizens.
“In the 20th Century, I could not be forced to accept an understanding more backward than the ancient Athens democracy,” he said.
Ecevit addressed a meeting of his wife’s Democratic Left Party on Sept. 23, just after being acquitted on the earlier charge of taking an active part in politics. The speech prompted the second charge.
Ecevit and 100 other former political figures are not permitted to join, lead or be affiliated with political parties or run for elective office until 1992, under a temporary clause of the 1982 constitution promulgated by the then-ruling military government.
The same stipulation has been written into a new law.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
