Çiller, Tansu (1946–)

A political leader born in Istanbul, Turkey, in 1946, Tansu Çiller left her position as the chairperson of the True Path Party (Do?ru Yol Partisi–TPP) after a destructive defeat in the November 2002 elections, and thus brought to an end her active political life which began on November 24, 1990, in the TPP.

A representative of a political tradition pursuing conservative, nationalist, populist policies and relying heavily on rural and provincial constituencies, the TPP, with the aim of reaching women's votes and strengthening the image of a democratic Turkey, elected Çiller who, as a professor of economics, of bourgeois background, having a higher education and a career, happened to be the distinctive choice of Süleyman Demirel, a permanent leader in Turkish politics since the 1960s who used to be called “the father.” Although Çiller did not come into politics via the father-spousebrother route, a route familiar to women, she managed [Page 105]to create for herself the position of Demirel's “daughter.” Working together with many national and international media and PR advisors who fabricated a public scenario based on an uneasy father and daughter relationship and preparing for party congresses and elections, she became Turkey's first female prime minister in 1993 and stayed there for 3 years.

Çiller has become famous for her political speeches filled with blunders. Her mistakes in language usage, including calling one of her fellow party members by the name of a funny character in a famous TV series, means she could not render “Turkish” her speeches prepared by consultants, which were full of plagiarized and recruited statements like “I have a dream” or “that soldier will go, that flag will come down.” Çiller, with her linear reasoning process, her expressions full of judgments of certainty, and her emphasis on science, adopted masculine rhetorical strategies.

In four general election campaigns (1991, 1995, 1999, and 2002) Çiller adopted aggressive and negative strategies while bringing forth her outlook, personal characteristics and family status. Her aggression toward political rivals was reduced by close-up camera shots showing her smiling face in political ads. The inevitability of privatization, the idea that the Kurdish problem could only be solved by militaristic measures, and programs against inflation have been unchanging themes she brought to the fore in election campaigns. She gave up using the image of integrity and honesty when her possessions gained publicity as a result of a parliamentary investigation. As the woman with “steel eyes,” she joined military maneuvers wearing heavy shoes. In the coalition governments after the 1995 elections, especially the one she took part in with the Islamic Welfare party, she held the offices of foreign minister and deputy prime minister and was attacked with moral and political accusations directed against her partner. Thus, her speeches began more frequently with “the name of God.”

During the first 2 years of her term as prime minister (and as a result of her connections to owners and higher-ups in the media and her ability to allot these institutions promotion credits), she was publicized as “the beautiful blonde woman” and “the most beautiful prime minister in the world” to reflect Turkey's modern face. Çiller's campaign featured the slogan “I want my radio” and was supported by private TV and radio broadcasting; she was in turn backed by prominent columnists who argued that a female politician would bring elegance, refinement, and renewal to Turkey. The media attributed a value to each and every single personal detail of her life. She was promoted as the most promising candidate on the rise, the most likely to win, the candidate who reached the highest percentage in the most recent public opinion polls. In the 2002 elections, voters did not forgive the pragmatism of Turkey's modern face. She and her party could not make their way into the parliament.

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