19th government of Turkey

The 19th government of Turkey (22 May 1950 – 9 March 1951) was a government in the history of Turkey. It is also called the first Menderes government.

Adnan Menderes

Background

Democrat Party (DP) won the general elections held on 14 May 1950. This was the first election that was won by a party other than the Republican People's Party (CHP). Adnan Menderes of the Democrat Party became the prime minister.

The government

In the list below, the cabinet members who served only a part of the cabinet's lifespan are shown in the column "Notes".

Title[1][2]	Name	Notes
Prime Minister	Adnan Menderes
Deputy Prime Minister	Samet Ağaoğlu
Minister of State	Fevzi Lütfi Karaosmanoğlu
Ministry of Justice	Hilmi Özyörük
Ministry of National Defense	Refik Şevket İnce
Ministry of the Interior	Rüknettin Nasuhioğlu
Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Fuat Köprülü
Ministry of Finance	Halil Ayan Hasan Polatkan	22 May 1950 – 14 December 1950 14 December 1950 – 9 March 1951
Ministry of National Education	Avni Başman Tevfik İleri	22 May 1950 – 3 August 1950 11 August 1950 – 9 March 1951
Ministry of Public Works	Fahri Belen Kemal Zeytinoğlu	22 May 1950 – 28 October 1950 22 December 1950 – 9 March 1951
Ministry of Health and Social Security	Nihat Raşit Belger Ekrem Hayri Üstündağ	22 May 1950 – 19 September 1950 19 September 1950 – 9 March 1951
Ministry of Customs and Monopolies	Nuri Özsan
Ministry of Transport	Tevfik İleri Seyfi Kurtbek	22 May 1950 – 11 August 1950 11 August 1950 – 9 March 1951
Ministry of Establishments	Muhlis Ete
Ministry of Economy and Commerce	Hilmi Velibeşe
Ministry of Agriculture	Nihat İyriboz
Ministry of Labour	Hasan Polatkan Hulusi Köymen	22 May 1950 – 22 December 1950 22 December 1950 – 9 March 1951

Aftermath

The government had the majority in the parliament, but Menderes resigned on 8 March 1951. According to journalist Metin Toker, Adnan Menderes asked one of his colleagues in the cabinet to resign, but the minister refused to resign. Legally, Menderes had no authority to force any minister to resign, and thus, Menderes preferred to end the entire government instead.^[3] But the president Celal Bayar appointed him to form the next government also.