54th government of Turkey
government of the Republic of Turkey (1996-1997)

The 54th government of Turkey governed Turkey from 28 June 1996 to 30 June 1997. It was a coalition government formed by Welfare Party (RP) and True Path Party (DYP), and was known as Refahyol (a portmanteau of the Turkish names of the two parties in the coalition).
Background
After the fall of the 53rd government of Turkey, in which True Path Party (DYP) was one of the participants, Welfare Party (RP) and True Path Party (DYP) formed a coalition government.
Initially, Necmettin Erbakan of Welfare Party was the prime minister and Tansu Çiller of True Path Party was the deputy prime minister. After two years, they were to rotate in the position. However, the DYP was the third-largest in the parliament, and when Erbakan stepped down to begin the rotation, President Süleyman Demirel asked Mesut Yılmaz, leader of the Motherland Party which was the second-largest, to form the new government instead.
Government
In the list below, the serving period of cabinet members who served only a part of the cabinet's lifespan are shown in the column "Notes".
Aftermath
Necmettin Erbakan resigned as prime minister, hoping his coalition partner Tansu Çiller would be the next prime minister and a similar government would be formed. However, president Süleyman Demirel appointed Mesut Yılmaz of Motherland Party as the new prime minister
(see Prime ministership of Necmettin Erbakan).
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “54th government of Turkey” as government of the Republic of Turkey (1996-1997). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the history & society register because the source frames it as government of the Republic of Turkey (1996-1997). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Contemporary correspondence, administrative files and participant testimony can test how later narratives organized the event or institution. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 25, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q6101839. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1996 and 1997.
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This entry incorporates text from “54th government of Turkey” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.