Museum in honor of former President Süleyman Demirel opens

The Süleyman Demirel Democracy and Development Museum, founded in honor of former Turkish President Süleymen Demirel in the province of Isparta, was opened on Oct. 26, in a ceremony attended by a large number of domestic and international politicians:

Turkey’s ninth president, Demirel, 90, also attended the opening ceremony of the museum in his home İslamköy village in Isparta province. Along with his period in office as president, Demirel was a seven-time prime minister over the course his 40-year political career.

The new museum, built by the ninth president’s brother, businessman Şevket Demirel, covers an area of 16,000 square meters. The building’s construction started in 1994 and approximately 40 million Turkish Liras have been spent on the project.

Parliament Speaker Cemil Çiçek, main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli all attended the opening ceremony.

Former Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu, former Romanian President Emil Constantinescu, and Jordanian Prince El Hassan bin Talal were also present.

Demirel served as Turkey’s prime minister seven times between the years of 1965-1993. He was the ninth president of Turkey from 1993-2000.

The museum will include displays of 46,000 books, 7,000 gifts given to Demirel, 32,000 newspapers and magazines, 500 pieces of clothing and a total of 6 million documents.

The building’s eight domes are also symbolic, with seven of them representing his periods as prime minister and with the largest dome representing the veteran politician’s time as president.