Turkey’s first democratically-elected Prime Minister Adnan Menderes, who was killed by hanging by putschists on Sept. 17, 1961, was commemorated at his grave in Istanbul on Thursday.

Prime Minister Adnan Menderes, Minister of Foreign Affairs Fatin Rüştü Zorlu and Minister of Finance Hasan Polatkan were executed with the decision of junta members after the military coup of May 27, 1960.

Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu, Istanbul Governor Ali Yerlikaya, Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Deputy Mayor Hüseyin Aksu, Istanbul Police Chief Zafer Aktaş, Istanbul Mufti Prof. Dr. Mehmet Emin Mashali and many citizens attended the commemoration ceremony that was held at their graves.

Adnan Menderes was the Turkish Prime Minister between 1950–1960. He was one of the founders of the Democrat Party (DP) in 1946, the fourth legal opposition party of Turkey. He was tried and hanged under the military junta after the 1960 coup d'état, along with two other cabinet members, Fatin Rüştü Zorlu and Hasan Polatkan.

He was the last Turkish political leader to be executed after a military coup.

On 17 September 1990, the 29th anniversary of Menderes' execution, he was posthumously pardoned by the Turkish Parliament and his grave was moved to a mausoleum named after him in Istanbul.

Fatin Rüştü Zorlu and Hasan Polatkan, who were the Foreign Affairs Minister and Finance Minister, respectively in the last Menderes administration, and who were hanged with Menderes by the junta in 1961, were also posthumously cleared of any misconduct. (ILKHA)