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Bülent Ecevit

Mustafa Bülent Ecevit (28 May 1925 – 5 November 2006) was a Turkish politician, statesman, poet, writer, scholar, and journalist, who served as the Prime Minister of Turkey four times between 1974 and 2002. He served as prime minister in 1974, 1977, 1978–1979, and 1999–2002. Ecevit was chairman of the Republican People's Party (CHP) between 1972 and 1980, and in 1987 he became chairman of the Democratic Left Party (DSP).

Ecevit began his political career when he was elected a CHP MP from Ankara in the 1957 election and came to prominence as Minister of Labour in İsmet İnönü's cabinets, representing the rising left-wing faction of the party. Ecevit eventually became leader of the CHP in 1972; his leadership rejuvenated the party by reaching out to working class voters and cementing the party as "Left of Center". Ecevit became Prime Minister in 1974, during which he retracted the ban on cultivation of opium and invaded Cyprus. He formed two more governments in 1977 and 1978–1979 which were marked by increasing polarization, deadlock, and political violence that ended with the 1980 coup.

Following the coup, Ecevit, along with most politicians, was banned from politics for ten years. During the ban, the Democratic Left Party (DSP) was established under the chairmanship of his wife, Rahşan. When the political ban was lifted in 1987, he became the head of the DSP. While heading a caretaker government for the 1999 election, PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan was captured in Kenya, catapulting DSP into first place in the election. The DSP-MHP-ANAP coalition (1999–2002) introduced important political and economic reforms, as well as beginning Turkey's accession into the European Union. The MHP's withdrawal from the coalition led to the government's collapse, and in the subsequent 2002 snap election, the DSP was ejected from parliament after being unable to clear the electoral threshold. Ecevit resigned the chairmanship of the party in 2004. He died on Sunday, November 5, 2006, as a result of circulatory and respiratory failure.

Ecevit is known for being Turkey's only leftist prime minister. His chairmanship resulted in the highest shares of votes CHP or any other left-wing party have ever gained in Turkish history. He is credited for introducing social democratic politics to Turkey by synthesizing Kemalism with social democracy, thus making social democracy a core tenet in modern Kemalist ideology. Ecevit is the last non-AKP Prime Minister of Turkey.

Family
Mustafa Bülent was born 28 May 1925 in Istanbul to a middle-class family. He was named after his paternal grandfather Mustafa Şükrü Efendi,  who was an Islamic scholar of Kurdish origin with roots in the region of Tunceli but born in a village in Kastamonu. Mustafa Şükrü's son and Bülent's father Fahri Ecevit was a professor of forensic medicine in Ankara University's Law School. Fahri later entered politics and served as a Republican People's Party member of parliament for Kastamonu between 1943-1950. His mother of Bosniak ancestry, Fatma Nazlı, was among the first women in Turkey to paint professionally.

Bülent Ecevit's maternal great-grandfather was the Meccan Sheikh-ul-Islam Hacı Emin Pasha, who served to protect the holy sights of Hejaz in the Ottoman Empire. The inheritance of his estate, which consisted of approximately 110 decares of land and 99 acres of the Masjid an-Nabawi was left to him once Ecevit's mother died. One lawyer valued the estate at almost $2 billion, while unofficial valuation made by a Medina Court put it at $11 billion. In the end Ecevit donated the proceeds of the estate to the Directorate of Religious Affairs for the benefit of Turkish Hajjis, after his retirement from politics.

Ecevit had no siblings and would have no children.

Education, journalism, and writing
In 1944, Ecevit graduated from Robert College in Istanbul. He started work as a translator at the General Directorate for Press and Publication (Turkish: Basın Yayın Genel Müdürlüğü). In 1946, shortly after marrying his classmate Zekiye Rahşan Aral, he moved to London to work in the Turkish embassy as a press attaché. During his stay he studied Bengali, Sanskrit and Art History at the School of Oriental and African Studies but did not graduate. He also indulged in composing Sufi poetry. Bülent Ecevit was not only a politician but also a poet, journalist and a writer. In the 1950s, he worked as an editor for Ulus, and then Yeni Ulus, Halkçı, and Forum. He later reported that both Ulus and Forum were two significant parts of his intellection life of that period.

In 1955 Ecevit went to the United States for three months as a guest journalist for the Winston-Salem Journal in North Carolina, and was disturbed by the racism he witnessed in the American South. On his last day at the newspaper he wrote a front-page article about how strange it was that Americans took it upon themselves to fight oppression in the world while white Americans were

"“guilty of refusing to drink from the same fountain as the man who has fought on the same front for the same cause; guilty of refusing to travel on the same coach or seat as the man who has been working with equal ardor for a common community; guilty of refusing to pray to God side by side with the man who believes in the same prophet's teaching.”"

On a State Department fellowship, he returned to the US with a Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship Scholarship in 1957, studying social psychology and Middle East history at Harvard University for eight months. He attended lectures on anti-communism with Olof Palme and Bertrand Russell and attended Henry Kissinger's Harvard International Seminar.

Even as a politician he continued writing for various newspapers, including the daily Milliyet in 1965, the monthly Özgür İnsan magazine in 1972, the weekly Arayış in 1981, and the monthly Güvercin magazine in 1988. Ecevit also translated works by Rabindranath Tagore, T. S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, and Bernard Lewis into Turkish. Ecevit was successful in these literary endeavors despite never having graduated from a university, a fact that prevented him from ever running for the Presidency of the Turkish Republic.

Early political career
Bülent Ecevit returned to Turkey in 1950 as a journalist, eventually writing for Ulus. Writing about politics made him interested in pursuing a career of it, so he registered with the Republican People's Party (CHP) Çankaya branch in 1954, eventually taking part in its Youth Branch Executive Board. At the age of thirty two, he was elected into parliament for the first time in 1957, representing Ankara as a member of the CHP. He was part of the party's delegation to the Constituent Assembly to draft a new constitution after the 1960 military coup d'état. At the age of thirty six, he served as the Minister of Labour in three coalition governments headed by İsmet İnönü between 1961 and 1965. Under his purview, the Law on Collective Bargaining, Strikes and Lockouts was signed, which as well as expanding social security privileges, finally allowed Turkish workers the right to strike and collective bargaining. By 1965, Ecevit was the leader of the "Democratic Left Movement", a young and energetic left-wing faction in the CHP. His closeness with left-wing politics came from his admiration of the Labour Party and the burgeoning welfare state he was exposed to while studying in Britain. He pressured his mentor İnönü to adopt a new party program known as Left of Center for the general elections that year, arguing that democratic socialism was the best way to combat communism. The party lost the election to Süleyman Demirel's center-right Justice Party. In opposition, the party was racked with internal power struggles, as Ecevit and Turhan Feyzioğlu fought over the party's political orientation. İnönü reluctantly favored Ecevit (who he thought was too young), and in the 18th ordinary CHP congress held in 1966 he was elected secretary general of the CHP. An extraordinary congress held the next year saw 47 deputies and senators led by Feyzioğlu leave the CHP to found the Reliance Party. In 1969, secretary general Ecevit announced a village development program and using the slogan "Land for those who cultivate it, water for those who utilize it."

Another inter-party crisis occurred in the military memorandum of 1971, as Ecevit resigned from his position in protest against İnönü's decision to support the military government. He objected the memorandum, saying that it was directed against the Left of Center movement within the CHP. Heated exchanges occurred between the once old allies, with at one point İnönü saying "[It's] Either me or Bülent!" promising that he would resign if his party did not have confidence in him. On 8 May 1972 İsmet İnönü lost a vote of confidence to Ecevit in an extraordinary congress. İnönü thus was the first general chairman in Turkish political history to lose his position as a result of a party leadership vote.

CHP chairman
Despite the conflict between İnönü and Ecevit originally being about the former's support for the technocratic military government, Ecevit initially provided ministers to the Melen government, but withdrew support soon after a reaction from his party base. Rumours circulated that CHP would be banned by the military.

In the 1973 presidential election, both Ecevit and Demirel agreed to end the soldier-president tradition and voted against Faruk Gürler. The two compromised to support Fahri Korutürk's candidacy as the president, who was an admiral. However, secretary general Kamil Kırıkoğlu still voted for Gürler and he and 32 CHP deputies resigned from the party.

First premiership (1974)
The CHP's electability was put to the test in the general elections of 1973. With the campaign slogan Akgünlere (To brighter days), the help of labour unions, and other leftist groups, the CHP won 185 deputies with 33.3% of the votes, winning a plurality of the votes and seats in parliament. Ecevit was invited to form a government and formed a coalition with the Islamist National Salvation Party (MSP) headed by Necmettin Erbakan.

A general amnesty that saw 40,000 rightists and leftists leave jail was implemented, as well as lifting the ban on opium cultivation that was previously implemented by the military governments under heavy American pressure. The age to vote was lowered to 18.

In July 1974, inter-communal violence in Cyprus once again flared up when pro-EOKA forces staged a coup against president Makarios. Ecevit went to London to meet with British officials, as the UK is also a guarantor state of Cyprus, but a common policy for the situation in Cyprus was not found. Ecevit decided to militarily intervene and invaded Cyprus, for which he is nicknamed the 'Conqueror of Cyprus' (Kıbrıs Fatihi). This resulted in an arms embargo by the United States on Turkey which lasted for three years.

As a left-wing nationalist, Ecevit initially believed Turkey's destiny was not with Europe. He extended this Eurosceptic sentiment to his economic policy, not only establishing generous social programs and enabling a larger government role in the economy, but also raising protective tariffs to keep cheap foreign goods out of Turkey. His combative stance against Athens prevented Turkey from joining the European Economic Community jointly with Greece in 1979.

Polarization
After much conflict with his coalition partner and hoping to gain more support for his government through a snap election, Ecevit resigned as prime minister after just 10 months of governing. He was outflanked when the right-wing parties united to form the First Nationalist Front under Demirel's premiership, during which Turkish politics became heavily polarized and violent. The CHP defeated the Justice Party in the 1977 general elections by gathering 41.38% of the votes, the highest share of votes CHP and any other left-wing party has ever gained in Turkish history. Despite winning the election, Ecevit did not have a majority and was unable to form a coalition, so he formed a minority government which lasted just one month. Demirel subsequently took over as Prime Minister and formed another right-wing government known as the Second Nationalist Front.In what was known as the Güneş Motel Incident, Ecevit was able to bring down Demirel's government on 5 January 1978, after announcing to the press "I am looking for 11 deputies who have no gambling debts." He became Prime Minister for a third time with a narrow majority by forming a government supported by the Democratic Party, Republican Reliance Party, and 11 independent MPs who defected from the Justice Party to take cabinet positions in the new government. His third premiership was marked by a peak in political violence which manifested in Kahramanmaraş and Malatya against Alevis and CHP supporters and their subsequent reprisals against right wing activists. Ecevit suspected the "Counter-Guerrilla", the Turkish branch of Gladio, was responsible for the massacres and for the Taksim Square massacre in Istanbul, during which snipers fired on a protest rally of 500,000 citizens, killing 38 and injuring hundreds. In later interviews, Ecevit recalled that he first learned about the existence of Operation Gladio, a secret "stay-behind" NATO army, in 1974. His government issued martial law on the final days of December 1978 in thirteen provinces mainly in southeastern Turkey, but also in Istanbul and Ankara. With allegations of corruption between Ecevit and the independent MPs, TÜSİAD requesting his resignation by printing advertisements on newspapers, and defeat in the 1979 by-elections, Ecevit resigned as prime minister on 14 October 1979. Without a majority, Demirel returned as premier. In the lead up to another military intervention in 1980, parliament attempted 115 times to vote for a new president.

Assassination attempts
Bülent Ecevit was subject to six assassination attempts. All but one occurred in the 1970s. Five happened in Turkey and one in the United States, the most famous of which took place on 23 July, 1976 in New York City by a Greek Cypriot and on 29 May, 1977 at Çiğli Airport. Mehmet İsvan, brother of the Mayor of Istanbul Ahmet İsvan, was injured in the attempt in Çiğli Airport. Various testimonies allege that the weapon used in Çiğli Airport originated from the Special Warfare Department.

Ban from politics
On September 12, 1980 the Turkish Armed Forces seized control of the country. Bülent and Rahşan and most politicians were incarcerated for a month in Hamzaköy, Gelibolu. Along with politicians of all other parties Ecevit was banned from politics for ten years, with the provisional Article 4 of the new constitution. He resigned from the chairmanship of the CHP on October 30, 1980. The Republican People's Party and all other existing political parties were banned by the military. He was banned from traveling abroad in April 1981 for his opposition to the military rule. He was twice more imprisoned from December 1981 to February 1982 and August to October 1982 for his opposition to the junta.

This ban on politics did not stop Ecevit from continuing to participate in politics. He refused to associate himself with the successor parties created by old CHP supporters, like the Populist Party and Social Democracy Party. Instead his wife Rahşan Ecevit worked to establish a new political party: the Democratic Left Party (DSP). Bülent was often invited to speak in DSP rallies as a guest speaker. Many lawsuits filed against him on the grounds that he violated his ban on politics with his speeches. When the Populist Party and Social Democracy Party united under the name of the Social Democrat Populist Party (SHP) in November 1985 the Ecevits were criticized for refusing to also merge DSP with SHP, which served to divide the center-left, social-democratic/Kemalist votes.

DSP chairman
With his ban from politics being finally lifted in a referendum in 1987, he took over the chairmanship of DSP, inheriting the position from Rahşan. His party failed to enter the Grand National Assembly for polling below 10% in the general elections held two months later, so Ecevit briefly resigned before returning as DSP leader in 1989. Emphasizing the need to preserve national unity and secularism in the general elections held in 1991, he attacked SHP, saying "Do not divide the social democratic votes." He also criticized SHP for forming an electoral alliance with the new pro-Kurdish People's Labor Party, and claimed that the SHP "cooperated with the separatists". Despite his partial Kurdish heritage, Ecevit refused to recognize Kurds as an ethnic group in his speeches, and would repeatedly oppose legislation to legalize education in Kurdish and Kurdish television. This stance mellowed upon European pressure when he returned to power in 1999. Despite winning 11% of the vote in the election, Ecevit and only six other DSP deputies entered the Grand National Assembly.

With the ban on the name "Republican People's Party" and the acronym "CHP" now lifted, an initiative to reestablish the CHP came to the agenda. Ecevit was invited to the 1992 congress that refounded the CHP, but he did not attend. While SHP merged under the reconstituted CHP in 1995, he again objected to uniting the Kemalist parties. To this day, DSP remains a separate political party from CHP.

DSP's fortunes changed after the 1995 elections, when the party won 76 seats out of 550. Ecevit served as deputy prime minister for two years in Mesut Yılmaz's government, who was assigned to form a government after Necmettin Erbakan was overthrown by the military in the "postmodern coup". In 1999, after nearly twenty years, he returned to the premiership for the last time to form a minority government in the run-up to the 1999 general elections. In those elections – helped by the fact that Abdullah Öcalan, head of the PKK, was apprehended in Kenya and flown to Turkey during this period – Ecevit's party gained the largest number of seats, allowing him to stay as Prime Minister in a coalition with Yılmaz's centrist Motherland Party and Devlet Bahçeli's ultranationalist MHP. Ecevit's coalition partners offered to amend the constitution to allow for his presidential candidacy in the 2000 election, which he wasn't allowed to partake since he never attained a degree from a higher educational institution. Despite his popularity and parliament willing to amend the Constitution for his candidacy, he refused, instead opting to support the candidacy of independent politician Ahmet Necdet Sezer.

Domestic policy
Ecevit's last premiership was his longest at almost four years. In coalition with parties to his right, some which were old foes such as MHP –Ecevit was also appointed PM by his old rival who was now president, Süleyman Demirel– he was criticized for adopting pro-business policies and abandoning his leftist values. The government passed many important laws, including banking reform, unemployment insurance, a law to ensure the autonomy of the Central Bank, qualified industrial zones, tender law, and employment incentive law, to name a few. The government also amended 34 articles of the Constitution to widen fundamental rights and freedoms and undertook a number of reforms aimed at stabilizing the Turkish economy. These were in preparation for accession negotiations with the European Union. Ecevit acknowledged that his past anti-EU views were a mistake, and that Turkey's destiny with Europe. His foreign minister İsmail Cem was instrumental in what is currently the latest step of Turkish–EU accession, when in the Helsinki Summit in December 1999, Turkey was recognized as a full candidate country for the European Union. Three major EU harmonisation packages were passed during this government, including the most comprehensive package of August 2002, which included the abolishment of capital punishment. However progress to EU ascension inevitably hit a roadblock, that being of his making; the Cyprus Dispute.

A massive economic crisis which originated from long overdue problems from previous governments, but ultimately triggered by an incident where President Sezer threw a booklet of the Turkish constitution at Ecevit in a National Security Council meeting, specifically when he claimed economic reform was impossible, caused the value of the Lira to crash in February 2001. Two months later, Ahmet Çakmak, a florist who was struggling from the economic crisis and inspired by Sezer's outburst, ran in front of news cameras and shouted "Mr. Prime Minister, I am a tradesman!" throwing a cash register at Ecevit's direction as he was walking out of a cabinet meeting. Eventually Ecevit hired the World Bank economist Kemal Derviş his economic minister. With his guidance, the government passed an extensive series of comprehensive economic reforms and regulations. These included changes to the tender law, economic social council law, unemployment insurance, the restructuring of state banks, accreditation law, law on capital markets, and establishment of competition authorities. These successful reforms allowed for Derviş to sign off on a $20 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund, which enabled the high growth of 2002–2007 after DSP's fall from government.

The Kocaeli earthquake occurred 17 August 1999, killing tens of thousands in Istanbul and İzmit and causing billions in damages. A tax to prevent earthquake damage (also known as the Earthquake tax) was established after the disaster.

During this period, the "Law of Conditional Release and Postponement," also known as the Rahşan Amnesty, was passed in reaction to the large amount of hunger strikes occurring in prison, which gave conditional amnesty to crimes other than those committed against the state. Advocated for by Rahşan Ecevit, she commented on the outcome of her law in retrospect, saying "I asked for forgiveness for the poor, [instead] the murderers benefited." With this amnesty, the number of prisoners decreased from 70,000 to 40,000, but in three years it increased again to 64,000.

Foreign policy
Bülent Ecevit was a strong opponent of the invasion of Iraq by the US, though he allowed American planes to use bases in Turkey for their air patrols over Northern Iraq. Even still, he criticized American sanctions on Iraq, which he said caused needless suffering.

Ecevit maintained Turkey's relationship with Israel, but denounced the IDF's raid on the Jenin refugee camp as "genocide" which he later said was meant against both Israel and Fatah.

İsmail Cem achieved a period of rapprochement with Greece after relations were at an all-time low following the Öcalan affair.

Health concerns and government collapse
Rumors about Bülent Ecevit's ill health were confirmed when he was taken to Başkent University Ankara Hospital on 4 May, 2002, which became a source of national anxiety. He was taken out of the hospital by Rahşan and brought to their home when his condition worsened. Bülent rested at home, but was taken back to the hospital. Rahşan shared her doubts about her husband's treatment with public during this period. Her allegations were denied, but the issue was brought up again in the Ergenekon trials in the following years.

Discussions came to the fore whether Ecevit could continue governing while incapacitated. Nine deputies from the DSP issued a statement on 25 June, demanding "to lead a life without Ecevit under the leadership of Ecevit". Another group of DSP deputies, who made a press statement on behalf of him on 5 July, openly criticized Deputy Prime Minister Hüsamettin Özkan, one of the closest names to Ecevit. On 7 July, Bahçeli withdrew support from the coalition, and called for early elections. The next day, Özkan resigned, which was followed by the resignation of several ministers and half of DSP's parliamentary group, with most of them joining the New Turkey Party, founded by foreign minister Cem. With the resignations, the coalition government lost its numerical support in the parliament. A summit held on 16 July between the leaders of the coalition government resulted in the decision to hold early elections on 3 November 2002. In the vote held in parliament on at the end of July, 449 out of 514 deputies voted to hold an early election.

Allegations of corruption, the economic crisis, as well as Ecevit's poor health resulted in DSP facing electoral wipeout in the 2002 general election, attaining only 1.2% of the vote and losing all of its MPs. The Justice and Development Party (AKP) entered parliament with a comfortable majority and governs Turkey to this day. In a press conference held on 22 May 2004 Ecevit announced Zeki Sezer as his successor to DSP, and resigned as chairman. He officially left active politics in that summer, and devoted his remaining years to writing.

Illness and death
After attending the funeral of his friend Yücel Özbilgin, who was killed in the Turkish Council of State shooting on 19 May 2006, he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and stayed in the intensive care unit of the Gülhane Military Medical Academy for a long time. Ecevit died of circulatory and respiratory failure at 22:40 on Sunday, 5 November, 2006, 172 days after he entered a vegetative state.

Immediately after his death the Grand National Assembly passed a law to allow for prime ministers and speakers of parliament to also be buried in the Turkish State Cemetery (Devlet Mezarlığı) in Ankara, which allowed Bülent to be buried there. Upon Rahşan's death in January 2020, the parliament voted to also have civilians be buried in the State Cemetery, allowing her to be interred there too.

A state funeral was held on 11 November 2006 at the State Cemetery after a funeral prayer in Kocatepe Mosque, attended by approximately a million people from all 81 provinces and from many countries, especially from Northern Cyprus. Five former presidents also attended the funeral.

Relationship with the Gülen movement
Against the advice of the Turkish military, Ecevit visited Fethullah Gülen's schools and spoke highly of them. In 1997, the Journalists and Writers Foundation, of which Gülen was an honorary chairman of, presented Ecevit (and Demirel) with the "Award for National Reconciliation in the Field of Politics".

During the escalation of the 1997 military memorandum crisis, Chief Public Prosecutor Nuh Mete Yüksel prepared an indictment against Gülen. Footage of Gülen's speeches years ago were broadcast on a multitude of television channels in which Gülen presented about "how they [the Gülen movement] should be structured in the bureaucracy". Questioned about Gülen's statement later on, Prime Minister Ecevit defended Gülen in an interview, saying that he hasn't seen any suspicious behavior in his schools, which provide secular education inline to the principles of Atatürk.

While deputy prime minister, Ecevit requested the Italian Ambassador to greet Gülen when he went to Rome in 1998, which drew a reaction from general Çevik Bir.

Merve Kavakçı
In the inaugural session of the 21st parliament elected in 1999, Merve Kavakçı entered the Grand National Assembly's chamber with a headscarf, which violated Turkey's then strictly enforced laicité laws. DSP deputies protested her entrance, graveling their benches and shouting "out!" Ecevit eventually came up to the podium:

"No one interferes with women's clothing, headscarves and private lives in Turkey. However, this is not a private living space. This is the highest institution of the state. Those who work here have to abide by the rules and traditions of the state. This is a challenge to the state! This is not the place to challenge! Please put this lady in her place!"

Kavakçı did not show up to the second session of parliament, and her MP status was later terminated.

Trademarks
Bülent Ecevit's trademark was his blue shirt and mariner's cap. Another trademark of his was the dove, in his many campaign rallies Ecevit released doves into the air. The dove is also displayed on the logo of DSP. He smoked Bitlis and Parliament cigarettes and wrote with an Erika typewriter, a gift from his in-law, İsmail Hakkı Okday. He donated his 70-year-old typewriter to the METU Science and Technology Museum.

Bülent and Rahşan lived exceptionally modestly and frugally. They had no children.

Nicknames
The origin of Ecevit's popular nickname "Karaoğlan" (a Turkish folk hero) came in a visit to Kars. Shortly after his election as CHP chairman, when found himself guest in the house of his friend Rasim Yarkadaş in Susuz district. Rasim's mother welcomed her guest at the door of their house, hugging Ecevit and exclaiming in a distinct Kars dialect, "Save us from these troubles, Garaoğlan!" He also had the nickname "Halkçı Ecevit" (Populist Ecevit).

Süleyman Demirel used the nickname "Allende-Büllende" to compare his rival, Ecevit, to the Chilean socialist statesman Salvador Allende, who was overthrown and committed suicide in a military coup.

Ecevit was also known as Kıbrıs Fatihi "Conqueror of Cyprus" after the Cyprus Operation during his premiership, and also as Kenya Fatihi "Conqueror of Kenya" after the operation to capture Abdullah Öcalan.

Legacy
Ecevit holds a unique legacy in Turkey's political history for being its only left-wing prime minister. There has also been no Kemalist prime ministers since his last government. He was also the last prime minister from the CHP. His chairmanship resulted in the highest shares of votes CHP and any other left-wing party have ever gained in Turkish history. He was the last leader of Turkey before the AKP came into power at his expense in 2002, which has governed Turkey since. Ecevit's DSP-MHP-ANAP government was the longest lasting coalition government in Turkish history.

Kartal Bülent Ecevit Cultural Center was put into service in 2005. In 2012 the name of Zonguldak Karaelmas University was changed to “Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University." A wax sculpture of him is on display at the Tayfun Talipoğlu Typewriter Museum, which was opened in Odunpazarı, Eskişehir in May 2016. In 2021, a park in İzmir's Güzelbahçe district was named after him and his statue was erected.

Vurgun Adalayı portrayed Bülent Ecevit in the TV series Once Upon a Time in Cyprus.

Ahmet Çakmak, who threw a cash register at Ecevit in 2001 out of frustration from the economic crisis said the following twenty years later: “Ecevit understood the state of the citizen. After the incident, he talked to me many times and sought a solution. If we did something like this now, we would be [called] terrorists. I miss Ecevit, I visited his grave at least 20 times."

In the lead up to the 2023 general elections, DSP chairman Önder Aksakal came out in support Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's presidential candidacy and was elected from the AKP's lists in the 2023 general elections. The Rahşan-Bülent Ecevit Science Culture and Art Foundation stated that [today's] DSP has no connection with Ecevit's principles that "they should not pollute the names of Ecevit for their own interests."

Poetry

 * Şiirler. [Poems]. 1976
 * Işığı Taştan Oydum. [I Carved the Light from the Stone]. Tekin Yayınevi. 1978
 * El Ele Büyüttük Sevgiyi. [We Grew Love Hand in Hand]. 1997
 * Bir Şeyler Olacak Yarın. [Something Will Happen Tomorrow]. Doğan Kitapçılık. 2005

Books

 * Ortanın Solu. [Left of Center]. 1966
 * Bu Düzen Değişmelidir. [This Order Must Change]. 1968
 * Atatürk ve Devrimcilik. [Atatürk and Revolutionism]. 1970
 * Kurultaylar ve Sonrası. [Congresses and the After]. 1972
 * Demokratik Sol ve Hükümet Bunalımı. [Democratic Left and the Crisis of Government]. 1974
 * Demokratik Solda Temel Kavramlar ve Sorunlar. [Basic Issues and Solutions in the Democratic Left]. 1975
 * Dış Politika. [Foreign Policy]. 1975
 * Dünya-Türkiye-Milliyetçilik. [World-Turkey-Nationalism]. 1975
 * Toplum-Siyaset-Yönetim. [Society-Politics-Governance]. 1975
 * İşçi-Köylü El Ele. [Worker-Peasant Hand in Hand]. 1976
 * Türkiye / 1965–1975. 1976
 * Umut Yılı: 1977. [Year of Hope]. 1977

Translations

 * Rabindranath Tagore, Gitanjali (1941)
 * Rabindranath Tagore, Stray Birds (1943)
 * T. S. Eliot, The Cocktail Party (1963)

title: Bülent Ecevit


text:
Talk:Meissen/Archive 1

Meißen/Meissen
ß is not an Umlaut, strictly speaking --Yak 07:14, May 12, 2004 (UTC)

I suggest to replace it with ss if some people cannot read the Umlaut. NetguruDD

"Meißen, (or 'Meissen' according to the now-standard conversion of the German letter 'ß')" There is no such standard conversion. Writing 'ss' for 'ß' is an alternative, where 'ß' is not avaiable, so writing both versions in this article is actually a good idea, but the reason is bogus. It's true, that some things in German ortography regarding to the 'ß' have changed. 1.) In Switzerland you can use 'ss' instead of 'ß' since many years, but Meißen is not in Switzerland. 2.) According to the actual spelling rules 'ß' has been replaced by 'ss' after _short_ vowels. 2.a) This is not the case here, because 'ei' isn't spelled short. 2.b) The rules actually don't take effect on names at all. In addition to the use of "Meissen" as an reading/writing-help to those who don't know the 'ß' it is used in capital letters (MEISSEN) and smallcaps, because there is no uppercase 'ß'. Some local companies also use the spelling "Meissen" (especially and most known: the porcelain manufactory), but it's a part of their company name and not the city's official spelling.

As this is the English, not the German, Wikipedia, the spelling should be "Meissen". Mark O'Sullivan 11:17, 7 August 2005 (UTC)

 * Not sure about that. We spell most foreign words with foreign letters, if that's the original spelling, e.g.: Düsseldorf, Bogotá, Rømø. It makes it easier if one doesn't have to remember two spellings, and with Unicode and that little "insert" box under the edit box in Wikipedia it's really no trouble. --Chl 13:40, 7 August 2005 (UTC)

 * Well, myself I don't spell Rome "Roma", or Munich "München", or Dublin "Baile Átha Clíath", or Cairo "al-Qahira" in Arabic script, or Beijing in Chinese characters. If people don't know how to pronounce "ß", it helps them (even if they're not reading out loud) to use the conventional English form.  Mark O'Sullivan 17:48, 11 August 2005 (UTC)

 * Here Here. This lunacy must stop. My 1st language is English. I'm trying to learn German so I'm sympathetic to German spelling. But this is an ENGLISH encyclopedia. There is no "ß" in English. I am not offended by the fact that German-speakers call my country "Australien". I'm guessing that Irishmen are not upset that the same people call their country (in German) "Irland". Why do they insist I call Cologne, Koln? (And the capital of China is Peking, whatever the Chinese want to call it in Chinese). This issue will be the death of Wikipedia. Avalon 00:34, 9 October 2005 (UTC)
 * I concur with the above, which is policy. Septentrionalis 01:43, 20 April 2006 (UTC)
 * As do I. And this is coming from someone who has extensive German ancestry and a great love for Germany. Charles 04:09, 25 June 2006 (UTC)

The relevant portions of "Use English" are as follows: For these reasons, Meißen rather than Meissen should be the name of this article. I would point out, however, that the naming conventions are guidelines, not policy, so neither the "pro-Meißen camp" nor the "pro-Meissen camp" can claim to have policy on their side. User:Angr 10:55, 14 August 2006 (UTC)
 * 1) "Article titles should use the Latin alphabet, not any other alphabets or other writing systems such as syllabaries or Chinese characters."
 * "ß" is part of the Latin alphabet, it is not from another alphabet or writing system.
 * 1) "If a native spelling uses different letters than the most common English spelling (eg, Wien vs. Vienna), only use the native spelling as an article title if it is more commonly used in English than the anglicized form."
 * This does not apply as Meißen has no "anglicized form" corresponding to Vienna.
 * 1) "If there is no commonly used English name, use an accepted transliteration of the name in the original language. Latin-alphabet languages, like Spanish or French, should need no transliteration"
 * This applies because Meißen has no commonly used English name. German is a Latin-alphabet language like Spanish or French, so no transliteration is needed.
 * This article has for almost all its history been at Meißen. This is in line with the general practice on Wikipedia. If anybody believes that there is a reason to deviate from that practice here then please take that up on WP:RM. Stefán Ingi 06:54, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Meissen/Meißen
I am going to comment on the statement that this article has been at Meißen for a while... Regardless of that, Meißen is not the "English form" of the name. Meissen is used in English to descrive the porcelain, the city, the margraves, etc. I noticed that an editor went as far as to change the ss in links to ß... When those articles exist at locations using ss. The city may be German, but the language of this Wikipedia is English. Before anyone gets me wrong, I am an ethnic German, but I believe that English forms ought to be used on English Wikipedia and there are conventions to back that up. Charles 17:04, 15 August 2006 (UTC)
 * This isn't like Wien/Vienna. Meißen doesn't have an English name. Where there is no English name, the original name is used, and the original name is Meißen. The name of the porcelain company is Meissen Porcelain, and that article is correctly at Meissen porcelain. But the article on the city has to be at Meißen, because "Meissen" isn't the English name of the city, it's just a misspelling. User:Angr 18:57, 15 August 2006 (UTC)
 * It's not a misspelling, it's a substitution made when ß is not available. However, it also happens to be the form that is used in English, therefore it is the English name and not merely a misspelling. I haven't a clue why Meissen Porcelain would be used in English if Meissen were a misspelling. It is obvious that the English form of the name Meißen was used for the name of the company because, well, it's the form of the name used in English! The Encyclopædia Brittanica also uses Meissen. Charles 19:20, 15 August 2006 (UTC)
 * I hardly think an encyclopedia that can't even spell encyclopedia correctly should be taken as a standard. Anyway, ß is available, and there is no reason not to spell the name of the city correctly. The Meissen Porcelain company has chosen to spell their name with ss, even in German, but that's irrelevant to the city. The name of the city is Meißen, and it has no English name. User:Angr 19:36, 15 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Can't even spell encyclopedia right? Well, get cracking on removing the traditional spelling from Wikipedia's article on encyclopedias/encyclopaedias/encyclopædias. For a proponent of including ß, you're awfully harsh on æ. The name of Meissen is spelled correctly in English as such. Charles 21:38, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

My own preference is to follow the lead of outside major English-language sources. The couple of places that I spot-checked and Britannica Online  clearly use the form "Meissen", as does MSN's Encarta  and Columbia Encyclopedia. Which English-language sources are you seeing that use the diacritic? --Elonka 00:12, 16 August 2006 (UTC)
 * My own preference is to have articles on cities that actually exist. There is a city named Meißen. There should be an article on it. There is no city named Meissen. What other encyclopedias choose to do is irrelevant. User:Angr 07:29, 16 August 2006 (UTC)
 * The Michelin (green) guide to Germany which sits at home in my bookshelf uses ß as apropriate. It is the main reference I have for locations in Germany. I am fairly sure that it mentions the city of Meißen, but I am away so I cannot check.
 * Also, I have said several times now that those who want to move the page to Meissen should suggest it at WP:RM which is the forum for moves which there is disagreement about. Somebody suggested I was not following my own advise on this but I believe I am: If I want to move a page from a name which has been used for almost all of its history and somebody objects and moves it back I will take my suggestion up at WP:RM and try and gather a consensus for it. I will certainly not try and force my move through by warring over it or by making useless edits to the redirects to shut non-admins out of the picture. On the other hand, I am not interested in being walked over by the rudeness of others, if that became accepted behaviour, the quality of Wikipedia would deteriorate very rapidly, and here I am certainly not just referring to what is the preferred location of pages. Stefán Ingi 10:40, 16 August 2006 (UTC)
 * I agree that a formal WP:RM is probably useful, to ensure that there is consensus for the article's title. The constant move wars were inappropriate. Let's leave the article in one location, and debate it in a civil fashion, rather than yanking it this way and that. --Elonka 03:26, 17 August 2006 (UTC)
 * I will maintain that the current location (Meissen) complies to common English usage and that a requested move does not decide common English usage, regardless of the outcome of the vote. Charles 04:04, 17 August 2006 (UTC)
 * The question whether to use Meißen or Meissen as a title on the article on this city is not settled by the five pillars of Wikipedia, it is something that editors can and do disagreee on. WP:RM is the process that we do have to settle such cases and since there is disagreement over the move from Meißen to Meissen it should have been taken up there. Making pointless edits to the redirect to hinder that process is simply rude. Stefán Ingi 20:11, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

I agree that the article should be at Meißen, not at Meissen, as there's no need to substitute an incorrect rendition of the name for the correct one, which utilises "ß". — Nightst a  llion  (?) 18:45, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

 * That would certainly be true for German, however English uses -ss- for the name of this city. Charles 19:03, 20 August 2006 (UTC)
 * In my opinion, putting "Meissen" instead of "Meißen" here is tantamount to using "haengen" instead of "hängen" in an English-German dictionary. It's sheer nonsense not to use the correct glyphs, especially as they're part of the standard Latin character set. — Nightst a  llion  (?) 08:58, 24 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Yes. It's also parallel to spelling Kiel "Quil" or something in the Spanish Wikipedia (which they don't do!) just because "k" isn't used in Spanish. User:Angr 09:51, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

 * English isn't Spanish, nor is English German. When there is a variant to the German spelling that is also more common in English, it is used. Charles 13:32, 24 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Standard Wikipedia practice is not for the form of a name to be debated by Wikipedia editors, which is effectively Original Research, and forbidden by policy. See WP:NOR.  Instead, Wikipedia should follow the lead of "most common usage" in major English-language works.  Every English-language encyclopedia that I have checked, uses the form of "Meissen".  If anyone cares to argue that a different form is "most commonly-used" in English, I encourage them to supply references so that others can examine them and verify the usage. --Elonka 16:45, 24 August 2006 (UTC)
 * There isn't a variant to Meißen. It has one spelling: Meißen. Meissen is a misspelling. The fact that other English-language encyclopedias choose to insult their readers' intelligence by using this misspelling doesn't mean Wikipedia is bound to do the same. User:Angr 17:49, 24 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Actually yes, it does. See WP:NAME: "article naming should give priority to what the majority of English speakers would most easily recognize" and WP:UE: "Article titles should use the Latin alphabet, not any other alphabets or other writing systems", and "If a native spelling uses different letters than the most common English spelling (eg, Wien vs. Vienna), only use the native spelling as an article title if it is more commonly used in English than the anglicized form." The most commonly-used version in English is Meissen, therefore that is what the Wikipedia article should be called, though the alternate spelling should still definitely be included within the first paragraph of the article. --Elonka 17:57, 24 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Actually, no, it doesn't. The quote from WP:NAME you gave is irrelevant since the majority of English speakers won't easily recognize this name under either spelling. The first quote from WP:UE you gave is irrelevant since ß is a letter of the Latin alphabet, not any other alphabet or writing system, and the second quote you gave is also irrelevant because "Meissen" isn't "the most common English spelling", because Meißen doesn't have an English name. The only relevant portion of WP:UE is "If there is no commonly used English name, use an accepted transliteration of the name in the original language. Latin-alphabet languages, like Spanish or French, should need no transliteration, but Chinese names can use Pinyin, for example." There is no commonly used English name for Meißen, and German is a Latin-alphabet language. Therefore, we don't "transliterate" it to Meissen. As I said above, there is no city called "Meissen" anywhere in the world; there is only a city called Meißen. We shouldn't have article on fictitious cities masquerading as articles on real cities. User:Angr 18:11, 24 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Meissen is not incorrect, it is merely an alternate spelling for Meißen in German but it is also the preferred and most used form for English. I wonder, do ß-ophiles exist? Since Meissen is used most often for the German name Meißen, Meissen is de facto the English name. That cannot be denied. Charles 21:44, 24 August 2006 (UTC)
 * No, it isn't an "alternate spelling". It's a misspelling. "Meissen" is no more the name of Meißen than "Brelin" is the name of Berlin. User:Angr 05:29, 25 August 2006 (UTC)
 * You have provided nothing to indicated it is a misspelling. All yuo aer diong si bolwing hto ari. :-) Charles 15:27, 25 August 2006 (UTC)
 * What sort of evidence do you need? Look at de:Meißen. Notice how there is no mention of a "variant spelling" "Meissen". Look in any German-language encyclopedia or atlas of your choosing. "Meissen" isn't a "variant spelling" because it is unused. And to show it's used outside of German as well, look at the corresponding articles in other languages that don't use the letter ß: eo:Meißen, es:Meißen, fr:Meißen, nl:Meißen (stad), pt:Meißen, sv:Meißen. Why should English Wikipedia be the only Wikimedia project that insults its users' intelligence by assuming they're too dim-witted to understand the article ß? User:Angr 15:38, 25 August 2006 (UTC)
 * In German, ß is used when it is available. There is no need in German to omit it when it is available. The other languages also do not speak for English. Furthermore, those other languages are continental European languages that have alphabets containing diacritics. I would assume that the use of diacritics in neighbouring countries is familiar to them. Show me what is used in ENGLISH . I think it's safe to say that people coming to English Wikipedia to look at English information don't care about Estonian, Spanish, French, Dutch, Portuguese or Swedish information. You are the only person insulting anyone's intelligence by extending dim-wittedness to users. The native spelling is clearly indicated in the article. Charles 16:30, 25 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Several things: Dutch does not use diacritics for writing Dutch words. Diacritics are generally not unfamiliar to English users, café anyone? People who come to this article are likely to be interested in Germany and would appreciate the best information, if they are unfamiliar with ß then the template at the top will provide them with valuable information. The name of the city, Meißen, is used in English texts, e.g. my guidebook (see above, I have now checked). The use of ß is sometimes avoided in texts, but there is no reason to do that here because of the nice template at the top. Finally, this long argument shows that people on both sides believe they are doing the best thing for Wikipedia, in such a case WP:RM should have been used before the move was made and the pointless edits to the redirect are an insult to non-admin users. Stefán Ingi 16:46, 25 August 2006 (UTC)
 * English borrows certain letters with diacritics, chiefly diacritics present in Romance languages. Meißen is given in the article at the top as the German spelling. Guidebooks are not the be all and end all of spelling. I will take note from existing encyclopedias over a guidebook for English usage of a city name any day. One editor's opinion that it is a misspelling and that the EB is wrong and another's opinion that a guidebook is absolutely correct don't dictate English usage. To allow such would be insulting to the intelligence of our users. Pretty weak arguments in my opinion. Charles 19:15, 25 August 2006 (UTC)
 * My point was that there is nothing peculiar about seeing diacritics in an English text, we don't have to reject Meißen on that ground. No text is the "be all and end all" of anything, editors have different opinions and priorities. I have very little hope that I can convince you that this article will be better off with the title Meißen, we will simply have to disagree on that. I would however like you to acknowledge that there are many editors here who feel that Meißen is a more suitable title and that these editors have arguments to support their opinion, you are of course free to classify these arguments as "pretty weak" but that is your personal opinion, you shouldn't expect everyone to agree. Elonka, who made the pointless edit to the redirect which locked non-admins out, stated above that there should be a discussion at WP:RM. In order to set that discussion up, the pointless edits should be deleted, then I can move the page back and you can set up the vote if you want. Stefán Ingi 20:47, 25 August 2006 (UTC)

 * Don't get me wrong, I am not discounting the use of diacritics on the grounds that they may be peculiar or not... I am discounting the use of Meißen in English when Meissen is far more used. The location of Meissen at various other Wikipedias doesn't dictate where it is in English. What I was trying to get at is that maybe ß is more widely recognized in those languages. I do not want to hide the fact that it is Meißen in German and rarely in English, but I am also totally against moving it back to Meißen because English usage does not reflect that spelling. If it did, then it would be fine at that location. Yes, I do insert my personal opinions, but I am also trying to draw attention to what is overlooked everytime I come to this page: Encyclopedias and most other English works make use of the established spelling for the city in English, which is Meissen. Angr's suggestion that it is "wrong" is completely and utterly absurd. It's as wrong as spelling sulphur as sulfur. Meissen is simply more used in English. I would be in your camp if it were the other way around. If you want it moved back to Meißen, then set up a request move for that: I have been in votes where the consensus is ignored for the sake of what is actually common usage. In this case, Meissen. Charles 22:00, 25 August 2006 (UTC)

wikipedia should only use exonyms as a last resort
As a non-germanic American born citizen I think it's disgusting that the real name of this town is not being used, and in it's place an exonym is used. I think it clearly illustrates American ethnocentricity as well as underscoring my personal belief that wikipedia is devolving into pure ochlocracy. When allowed Latin/German characters can be found in wikipedia. For example Führer or Federweißer, take special care to note the "ß" in that last one, it isn't an "ss." I respectfully ask that the artcle be renamed. Naufana:Talk 02:52, 21 September 2006 (UTC)

Requested move

 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the . Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

no consensus for move. Joelito (talk) 18:43, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

Meissen → Meißen … Rationale: This is the original name of the article, and the real name of the city. There is no "English" name for this place (cf Wien and Vienna); there is no rule obliging articles on the English Wikipedia to avoid "foreign" Latin letters (cf Federweißer, Tromsø etc etc.) -- Evertype· ✆ 07:51, 21 September 2006 (UTC)

Survey
Add "* Support" or "* Oppose" followed by a brief explanation, then sign your opinion with ~
 * 1) Support as nominator. -- Evertype· ✆ 07:54, 21 September 2006 (UTC)
 * 2) Support; as it currently stands the article is basically a hoax. There is no city called "Meissen" in Germany, but there is a city called "Meißen", and there should be an article about it at Wikipedia. Angr 08:37, 21 September 2006 (UTC)
 * 3) Support. I had tried to undo this change myself, and I'm glad someone is going through the procedures. --Stemonitis 09:05, 21 September 2006 (UTC)
 * 4) Strong support. In German ortography, the Eszett is replaced by "ss" only when it's unavailable. Not the case. -- Hús  ö  nd  14:53, 21 September 2006 (UTC)
 * Comment In German, yes, but this is English. Charles 00:41, 22 September 2006 (UTC)
 * 1) Strong Support Meißen is correct. Please see this for a similar discussion i started at Wikipedia:Villiage pump (policy). Naufana:Talk 16:44, 21 September 2006 (UTC)
 * 2) Support Using English does not mean, spell foreign names wrong. Gryffindor  17:51, 21 September 2006 (UTC)
 * 3) Support Aquilina 22:25, 21 September 2006 (UTC)
 * 4) Support, use local spelling of local name if no English name exists. Kusma (討論) 06:15, 22 September 2006 (UTC)
 * An English name clearly does exist. Every major English-language encyclopedia lists it as "Meissen". See below for a list. --Elonka 17:40, 22 September 2006 (UTC)
 * In this case, it's not that easy to say whether or not a English name really exists. An anglicised spelling (or "orthography", for those who insist this is not an issue of spelling per se) clearly exists, but this is not be the same situation as with München/Munich or Wien/Vienna, where the English name is demonstrably different, and not just a result of (perceived) difficulties of comprehension or typesetting problems. Míšeň and Misnia are different names; I'm not conviced that "Meissen" is. --Stemonitis 18:02, 22 September 2006 (UTC)
 * An English name clearly exists; in this case it differs from the German name. In the case of Berlin, they happen to be identical. In both cases, we should use it. Septentrionalis 20:53, 22 September 2006 (UTC)
 * 1) Support. Blank Verse 07:09, 22 September 2006 (UTC)
 * 2) Support. No consensus about ß versus ss, so the original page author gets to decide. Since Meißen is not like Gauss, the local spelling is fine. Arbor 07:23, 22 September 2006 (UTC)
 * 3) Support as Angr. I do not think this will come to anything; in the end we will need a specific policy, as for the Japanese names et al. Lectonar 14:22, 22 September 2006 (UTC)
 * 4) Support per Angr. What you see on paper only tells you that most dead-tree publishers can't afford, or don't care about, decent type. Angus McLellan (Talk) 14:16, 23 September 2006 (UTC)
 * 5) Support per Angr. — Nightst a  llion  (?) 14:21, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

 * 1) Oppose. While I support the use of the umlaut throughout the article, for the page title itself, I'd follow the lead of none other than the town itself, whose website is of course www.stadt-meiSSen.de. Accents, umlauts and other characters in a URL are never a good idea, and we should be trying to make it easy on those linking here from external sources. --DeLarge 11:41, 21 September 2006 (UTC)
 * 2) Strong Oppose. Per WP:NAME, which is Wikipedia policy, article naming should give priority to what the majority of English speakers would most easily recognize. The vast preponderance of English-language sources (every single encyclopedia that I have checked), spells this name as "Meissen," and Wikipedia should reflect that common usage spelling.  The native spelling of the area can be included within the body of the article, but is not what should be used as the title.  If it is desired to move this article to a different spelling, those wishing to have it moved must provide verifiable external references which show that the foreign spelling is used in a majority of English sources.  In other words, look at how most English-language newspapers spell this name.  However they spell it, is how Wikipedia should spell it.  Wikipedia policy is to use information after it has appeared in external sources -- not to go against common usage, which is effectively a violation of WP:NOR. --Elonka 21:08, 21 September 2006 (UTC)
 * This kind of pseudo-Anglicism really pisses me off. Wikipedia is perfectly happy with Antonín Dvořák and Þorsteinn Pálsson and Davíð Oddsson. Given them, I can thinkl of no credible argument possible that will favour a repudiation of the natural spelling "Meißen". Sorry, Elonka, but your argument is just alphabeto-phobic. -- Evertype·✆ 23:06, 21 September 2006 (UTC)
 * Antonín Dvořák is normal English usage; it is not very long ago that it wasn't, but this has changed. The other two should probably be moved; and one bad choice does not excuse another. Septentrionalis 03:02, 22 September 2006 (UTC)
 * The notion that we should change Þorsteinn Pálsson and Davíð Oddsson to misspellings is appalling. The English Wikipedia is not a vehicle for alphabet xenophobia. English speakers are just as smart as anyone else. There are tens of thousands of articles on the English Wikipedia which have Latin letters outside of the range A-Z in them. No one suggests changing these. I object to the dumbing-down of the English Wikipedia, and that is what you propose. -- Evertype·✆ 12:07, 22 September 2006 (UTC)
 * 1) Oppose The name is spelled as Meissen in English. This is all I have encountered and all I have seen in reputable encyclopaedias. Charles 00:40, 22 September 2006 (UTC)
 * 2) Oppose German orthography is irrelevant to English spelling. older ≠ wiser 01:04, 22 September 2006 (UTC)
 * 3) Oppose CNN would not spell it that way. Further ß isn't even English, and no amount of diacritic removals will make it look like an English letter. The standard German to English conversion is "ß" → "ss", "Ö" → "oe". If it were an actual English letter, like Æ or Œ that would be a different matter. 132.205.44.134 02:09, 22 September 2006 (UTC)
 * There are no "English letters". These are Latin letters. -- Evertype·✆ 12:07, 27 September 2006 (UTC)
 * 1) Strong oppose. See evidence from other encyclopedias below, and (on the general question) German-speaking Wikipedians' notice board/Umlaut and ß. Virtually the only support for ß is from guidebooks, and they are inconsistent. They also (sensibly for their purposes) follow local usage rather than English: I've seen guidebooks that call Munich München. Septentrionalis 03:02, 22 September 2006 (UTC)
 * 2) Oppose As above. Meissen is sufficiently well known in English to make that spelling acceptable -- Beardo 03:30, 22 September 2006 (UTC)
 * 3) Oppose. Meissen is the common name used by English speakers. -- Necrothesp 01:33, 23 September 2006 (UTC)
 * 4) Oppose, there's precedent for an English-variant spelling. -- nae'blis 00:09, 24 September 2006 (UTC)
 * 5) oppose This is the english language section of wikipedia. leave the german spellings for the german section of wikipedia. Masterhatch 00:43, 27 September 2006 (UTC)
 * Wikipedia is perfectly happy with Antonín Dvořák and Þorsteinn Pálsson and Davíð Oddsson. Your argument and most of the above simply ignore this, and there is no substance in the suggestion that ß should be avoided in the article name here. Angr is right: There is no such place as *Meissen. -- Evertype·✆ 12:07, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

Discussion
A comment aimed at DeLarge: ß cannot be included in a URL, by definition (similarly for umlauts and other accents). This is one of the few cases where circumscription of "ß" as "ss" is necessary. It is, however, no reason to use that misspelling for the title. Note that the website http://www.meissen.de/ uses "Meißen" throughout. --Stemonitis 11:49, 21 September 2006 (UTC)
 * True. The URL of Federweißer, for example, is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federwei%C3%9Fer. Not a problem. Angr 15:06, 21 September 2006 (UTC)
 * In the German section the website uses the eszett, but not consistently in the English section. Charles 00:43, 22 September 2006 (UTC)
 * In fact, hardly at all; see the main English page. Please remember that this is the WP for English-speakers; no-one suggests moving Meißen and I would oppose it. I just hope that they are not deluged with proposals to move Elsass on the same grounds that are being invoked here. Septentrionalis 03:08, 22 September 2006 (UTC)
 * That link is for the Meissen porcelain company, not the city, and the company spells it 'ss', as does our article about it. The company and the city are not the same. --Stemonitis 06:48, 22 September 2006 (UTC)

This use of German letters is prejudicial against all non-English non-German lettering. If we spell things with non-English lettering here as article titles, I can't see how it's not biased and discriminatory to not do the same for Russian, Chinese, or ancient Egyptian (things with heiroglyphics) articles. 132.205.44.134 02:11, 22 September 2006 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

Name as it appears in English-language encyclopedias
This section is to collect information on how this name is spelled in major English-language sources. If anyone has access to additional encyclopedias, please feel free to add to this list. --Elonka 21:15, 21 September 2006 (UTC)

 * Meissen - Britannica Online
 * Meissen - MSN's Encarta
 * Meissen - Columbia Encyclopedia
 * Meissen - 1979 (hardcopy) Encyclopedia Britannica

A procedural question
If the outcome of this vote should be inconclusive, then that would mean there is no consensus in either direction. Would that not mean that the article should be moved back to Meißen (where it had been for ever) from "Meissen" [sic], since no consensus was mustered for that move? --Stemonitis 06:54, 22 September 2006 (UTC)
 * This move proposal is contrary to policy. Unless there is consensus to override WP:UE: If a native spelling uses different letters than the most common English spelling (eg, Wien vs. Vienna), only use the native spelling as an article title if it is more commonly used in English than the anglicized form, it should not be done. Septentrionalis 20:59, 22 September 2006 (UTC)

 * The move proposal here is an attempt to build a consensus, and so is by no means against policy; the previous move, one without consensus, might have been (I neither know nor particularly care). The distinction between "English spelling", "anglicised name" and so on are difficult in this case, and must not be over-simplified. Other -ss- proponents have argued elsewhere that this is not a spelling issue, merely a typographical one, and since Wikipedia is not paper, our typographic conventions need not match those used in other encyclopædias. It is all less simple than it might seem at first glance. --Stemonitis 07:48, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

English names
The condition that there is no English name is meant for places so obscure that there is no clear record of English usage on the subject, like Villanders (or Villandro) in the South Tyrol. To say otherwise is to suggest the absurdity that the French have a name for London (see Londres) and the Germans do not (see London). Septentrionalis 20:59, 22 September 2006 (UTC)

American locations in German articles
Let's see how the German language wikipedia titles some of their american articles: (just to let you know I picked these 4 places at random and they are the only locations I looked up)

 * 1) Florida
 * 2) Atlantic City (New Jersey)
 * 3) JFK Airport
 * 4) North Dakota

The German articles spell these pages in the exact same way as the english ones, and we should do the same with our German locations.

Note: It's true though that the USA article is spelt "Die Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika" but our germany article is titled "Germany" not "Deutschland."

Na uf an a : talk  03:22, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

 * The way that the articles should be titled in any version of the Wikipedia, is by the most common way that that culture refers to that particular subject. Would you also have the article in the English Wikipedia on the city of Tokyo, titled as 東京? It would be completely against Wikipedia policy to use a different spelling on a Wikipedia article, than is the common usage in nearly every other English-language reference work about the same subject. Wikipedia follows the lead of outside sources.  It doesn't go counter to them. Every longterm Wikipedia editor knows that one of the core tenets of Wikipedia is WP:V, and that information should not be placed in a Wikipedia article unless it has already appeared in an outside source.  Following that same policy, a Wikipedia article title should reflect the most common usage in those outside sources. It doesn't matter what the native spelling of a city's name is, it matters what most common usage in English sources is.  Take a look at the article on Pope John Paul II, and you'll see that it's not titled after his birth name, nor what he was called in Poland, nor in Italy -- his article uses the title by which he is most commonly referred to in English-language sources.  Ditto with "Bill Clinton" instead of his full name of "William Jefferson Clinton." If the New York Times and Time magazine and the Encyclopedia Britannica start using the form "Meißen", then the Wikipedia article title can be changed to match.  But as long as they use "Meissen," we have to use Meissen.  It's standard Wikipedia policy. --Elonka 03:59, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

 * No, Wikipedia should not use the most common but the most correct information. Verifiability is not about

Why is it that the strawman chinese character argument is always repeated? Have I ever suggested that Tokyo be renamed 東京? Or have I ever advocated the use of non-Latin characters? My point is that the German articles spell their english articles in correct english. Meissen is not an anglicized term, it is nothing more than a misspelling, an error. Vienna is an anglicized term and that article deserves to remain as is, as do many others. On the other hand, if the "Bill Clinton" article on the German language wiki was spelt "Bil Clintn" would you not expect the German language users to demand it be spelt correctly? This is all I'm asking for, proper spelling. Na uf an a : talk  06:41, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

 * Your examples of how American place names are represented in German Wikipedia might carry more weight if you could also demonstrate that the names used characters not present in German orthography or if there were other German language sources that used other spellings. As it is, the examples have no relevance whatsoever to the present discussion. You claim that Meiseen is nothing more than a misspelling is incorrect. It may be a misspelling in German. However, ß is not an English character. There are authoritative English language sources that use the ss spelling. To claim that Meiseen is a misspelling is attempting to apply German spelling standards to English. older ≠ wiser 12:38, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

 * There was a similar discuisson about the use of the letter ð (which is not used in German) in Seyðisfjörður. The original spelling was kept. -- 3247 21:31, 1 October 2006 (UTC)

Your claim that the Esszett isn't an English character is meaningless. WP:UE clearly says, "Article titles should use the Latin alphabet, not any other alphabets or other writing systems...." It does not say English alphabet. The Esszett is a Latin character, therefore it has every right to be in the title of an article. WP:UE also states that, "There is disagreement as to whether German, Icelandic and Faroese names need transliteration for the characters ß, þ and ð." This is exactly what we are discussing and it is my opinion that the Esszett should be used in Meißen, as it was when the article was originally created. If I am not wrong (which I may be) but when there is a spelling dispute then the first non-stub article title is to be used, that means it should be Meißen, not Meissen. Na uf an a : talk  19:37, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

 * To answer the question about Bill Clinton. If, in Germany, every major German-language newspaper referred to Clinton as "Bil Clintn", and German-language books referred to him as "Bil Clintn", then yes, the German-language Wikipedia should absolutely title his article in the same way, as "Bil Clintn".  It's not about correct native spelling, it's about "most common usage."  See WP:NAME. --Elonka 01:33, 24 September 2006 (UTC)

Well in WP:NAME I found this, "In general, there are no special naming conventions for cities, unless multiple cities with the same name exist." And was there ever a WP:RM vote for the Meißen to the Meissen? Ultimately though, if your hypothetical Clinton situation were true I would really hope that some german would have to say, "What a moment, Bil Clintn is wrong!" On another note, I'm beginning to fear that this discussion is devolving into a blind dance, if you follow my metaphor. Na uf an a : talk  04:44, 24 September 2006 (UTC)

 * To be clear: I understand the point of view of the "native spelling" camp.  In your opinion, most articles on Wikipedia should be titled with the version of the name that is the correct spelling of that subject, in its native language.  This is a valid way that things could have been done.  However, as Wikipedia was forming, a decision needed to be made on whether to title articles with "native spelling," or to instead use "exonym" spelling which reflected most common usage.  This was debated extensively, and the community consensus was (and is) to use the "most common usage in English" exonym method rather than the native spelling method.  There are plenty of examples on Wikipedia which show the result of these extensive consensus-building debates, such as for Bill Clinton or Julius Caesar.  For other examples, please see Naming conventions (common names). --Elonka 20:34, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

 * It is clear that Munich is preferred over München and Cologne is preferred over Köln -- these are different English names, not just spelling variants.
 * However, it is not so clear if the "English" name just drops the diacritics or replaces uncommon latin characters with others. Is Dusseldorf an English exonym or just a ersatz spelling used by those who can't type ü? What about Weissenburg vs. Weißenburg?
 * In my opinion, if in doubt, the spelling closer to the original one should be used. -- 3247 21:52, 1 October 2006 (UTC)
 * See, again, German-speaking_Wikipedians%27_notice_board/Umlaut_and_%C3%9F. There is considerable deliberate avoidance of ß in English by publishers perfectly capable of using it; the umlaut is much more acceptable. In this case, there is no doubt; the English name of Meissen is Meissen. Septentrionalis 22:31, 1 October 2006 (UTC)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Talk:Meissen/Archive 1


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Ecevit

Ecevit is a Turkish surname. Notable people with the surname include:

 * Bülent Ecevit (1925–2006), Turkish politician, poet, writer and journalist
 * Nazlı Ecevit (1900–1985), Turkish female painter and mother of Bülent Ecevit
 * Rahşan Ecevit (1923–2020), spouse of the late Turkish politician and former prime minister Bülent Ecevit

title: Ecevit


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Project Ozma

Project Ozma was a search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) experiment started in 1960 by Cornell University astronomer Frank Drake, at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Green Bank at Green Bank, West Virginia. The object of the experiment was to search for signs of life in distant planetary systems through interstellar radio waves. The program was named after Princess Ozma, ruler of the fictional land of Oz, inspired by L. Frank Baum's supposed communication with Oz by radio to learn of the events in the books taking place after The Emerald City of Oz. The search was publicized in articles in the popular media of the time, such as Time magazine and was described as the first modern SETI experiment.

Drake used a radio telescope with a diameter of 85 ft to examine the stars Tau Ceti and Epsilon Eridani near the 1,420 MHz marker frequency, the equivalent of wavelength of 21 centimeters which corresponds to the energy of a photon emitted from a hydrogen atom during "spin-flip" transition. Both are nearby Sun-like stars that then seemed reasonably likely to have inhabited planets. A 400 kilohertz band was scanned around the marker frequency, using a single-channel receiver with a bandwidth of 100 hertz. The information was stored on tape for off-line analysis. Some 150 hours of intermittent observation during a four-month period detected no recognizable signals. A false signal was detected on April 8, 1960, but it was determined to have originated from a high-flying aircraft.

The receiver was tuned to wavelengths near 21 cm, which is the wavelength of radiation emitted naturally by interstellar hydrogen; it was thought that this would be familiar, as a kind of universal standard, to anyone attempting interstellar radio communication.

A second experiment, called Ozma II, was conducted with a larger (300 ft) telescope at the same observatory by Patrick Palmer and Benjamin Zuckerman, who intermittently monitored 670 nearby stars for about four years (1972–76). They examined a 10 MHz bandwidth with 52 kHz resolution and a 625 kHz bandwidth with 4 kHz resolution. The spectrometer was centered on the 21 cm hydrogen line in the rest frame of each observed star.

title: Project Ozma


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User:Tkh

I've started contributing to Wikipedia in May 2004. I'm studying computer science and hoping to get Ph.D in the near future. Most of my contributions will be about Japan.

Manual_of_Style

title: User:Tkh


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Commissioning pennant

The commissioning pennant (or masthead pennant) is a pennant (also spelled "pendant") flown from the masthead of a warship. The history of flying a commissioning pennant dates back to the days of chivalry with their trail pendants being flown from the mastheads of ships they commanded. Today, the commissioning pennants are hoisted on the day of commissioning and not struck until they are decommissioned. Some navies have a custom of flying a "paying off" or "decommissioning pennant," the length of which often reflects the length of service of the warship.

History

The custom of wearing a pennant at the masthead of a man-of-war stems from Tromp's broom and Blake's whip. During the First Anglo-Dutch War (1652–1654), Dutch Admiral Maarten Tromp lashed a broom to his flagship's masthead as a sign that he had swept the English off the seas. In reply, English Admiral Robert Blake hoisted a whip to the masthead to signify that he would whip the Dutchman into subjection. However, records show that pennants were in use well before this period as the mark of a warship.

In the days of chivalry, knights and their squires carried pennons and pennoncells on their lances, just as men-of-war fly pennants from their masts. Records show that pennants were in use in the 13th century, when merchant ships were commandeered during war and placed in command of military officers, who transferred their trail pendants from their lances to the mastheads of the ships they commanded.

The pennant is an evolution of old "pennoncell", that in the Royal Navy used to consist of three colours for the whole of its length, and towards the end left separate in two or three tails. The tradition continued until the end of the Napoleonic Wars when the Royal Navy adopted the style of pennants used by the service today. Pennants have been carried by warships from the earliest times, prior to 1653 at the yardarm, but since then at the maintopgallant masthead.

Today the pennant is hoisted on the day a warship or establishment commissions and is never struck until the day of decommissioning. It is, however, displaced by Royal Standards and the personal or distinguishing flags or pennants of commodores and admirals. In Navy ships the pennant is flown at the masthead, for which reason it is also commonly referred to as a masthead pennant.

Commissioning pennant

The commissioning pennant reflects the fact that the ship is a ship of war, and is flown until the ship is decommissioned. It is generally taken to signify the commissioned status of the warship. In some navies, the commissioning pennant is used in addition to represent the personal authority of the captain, although it is flown continuously aboard the ship whether the captain is aboard or not.

Royal Navy

In the Royal Navy the commissioning pennant is flown continuously in every ship and establishment in commission unless displaced by a senior officer's Rank flag. The masthead pennant is a cross of St George in the hoist and a white fly. Formerly, when the Royal Navy was divided into red, white and blue squadrons, there were four different pennants in use, the colour of the fly of three of the pennants corresponding with the colour of the squadron ensign, and a fourth for ships on independent commission (i.e. not attached to a squadron, therefore directly under the command of the Admiralty in London), with the fly containing (from top to bottom) red white and blue in a triband form (such ships would wear the red ensign). Modern commissioning pennants are significantly shorter than in previous centuries - typically 1m in length and only 10 cm at the hoist, tapering to a squared-off point.

A boat carrying a captain of one of His Majesty's ships will on ceremonial occasions fly a commissioning pennant from the bows of the boat as a symbol of his authority.

Royal Canadian Navy

Since its creation in 1910, until 1990, the Royal Canadian Navy and afterwards, Maritime Command (after unification into the Canadian Armed Forces) used the same commissioning pennant as the Royal Navy. In 1990, the old version was phased out with a new design; replacing the Cross of Saint George with a stylized Canadian red maple leaf.

Hellenic Navy

In the Hellenic Navy, the commissioning pennant (Επισείων Πολεμικού Πλοίου, lit. 'Warship Pennant') is blue coloured, has shape of isosceles triangle elongated, bearing a white cross near the base of the triangle. The flag has typically base to length (height of triangle) 1 to 20. The cross has arms width 1/5 base length and each arm length 3/5 of base length. The pennant flown on the top of mainmast.

Indian Navy
In the Indian Navy, a white triangular pennant is flown with at hoist a gold-blue octagon bearing the crest of the Indian Navy in the center.

Indonesian Navy
In the Indonesian Navy, the commissioning pennant is called the War Pennant (Ular-Ular Perang) and has the same red and white colors of the Indonesian flag, except it is longer and shaped like a swallowtail flag. The pennant is flown in all Indonesian Navy ships and indicating that the ship is on active duty.

United States Navy and United States Coast Guard
The commissioning pennant of the United States Navy is "blue at the hoist, bearing seven white stars; the rest of the pennant consists of single longitudinal stripes of red and white." The commissioning pennant of the United States Coast Guard is a near opposite, being white at the hoist, bearing thirteen blue stars, and with the rest of the pennant consisting of multiple vertical red and white stripes.

Ships of the United States Navy and the United States Coast Guard fly their respective commissioning pennants from the moment of commissioning until the decommissioning ceremony, the only exceptions being when either a flag officer or a civilian official is embarked and the flag officer's or civilian official's personal flag is flown in its place.

The ensign, jack and commissioning pennant are hoisted directly after the reading out of the commissioning order and struck as the final act before the captain declares the ship decommissioned.

The U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard use the respective pennants as the symbol of the vessel's commanding officer. When the vessel's commanding officer is ashore, the ship will also display the international code flag known as the Third Substitute pennant.

NOAA fleet
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) operates a fleet of research and survey ships which are in commission for United States Government service, although they are not warships. Ships in the NOAA fleet fly a "commission pennant" in a similar manner to U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard ships. The NOAA fleet has three commission pennants, one for its largest ships (which it deems "Class I" vessels), and two for smaller ships NOAA defines as "Class II," "Class III," or "Class IV" vessels. The pennant for Class I vessels is 15 ft long and has 13 red triangles on a white background at the hoist, with the remainder of the pennant blue, while the pennants for Class II, III, and IV vessels are 9 and 4 ft long and have seven red triangles but otherwise are identical in design to the Class I pennant. The pennants are identical to those flown by commissioned ships of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, one of the ancestor organizations of NOAA, and the red triangles represent the discipline of triangulation used in hydrographic surveys. The flag of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, used from 1899 to 1970, and that of NOAA, in use since 1970, include a similar red triangle.

Taiwanese Navy
In the Republic of China (Taiwan) Navy, a red trapezoidal pennant is flown with the Blue Sky with a White Sun in the hoist. The flag has typically base to length 1 to 10, and hoist to fly 5 to 1.

Paying-off pennants

It is the custom in many navies for a ship which is "paying off" to wear an extremely long commissioning pennant, which is normally at least the length of the ship, and the length of which reflects the length of service. This is in contrast to the modern practice of using pennants of not more than one or one-and-a-half metres for convenience.

Formerly a ship "paid off" each time she returned home after a commission overseas: the term refers to the fact that sailors were not paid until the ship returned home, to avoid desertion. The bible of Royal Navy traditions and slang, Covey-Crump, emphasises:

 * "It should be borne in mind that the commission referred to is the length of time the ship's company has been abroad, not the ship herself: when a ship recommissions abroad a fresh commission is started; thus a commission of longer than 2¾ years is exceptional."

This custom is maintained in the United States Navy, where the paying-off pennant is known as the "homeward-bound pennant". Nevertheless, present usage in the Royal Navy has degenerated to using paying-off pennants only as part of a ship's decommissioning ceremony.

title: Commissioning pennant


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Dhankuta

Dhankuta (धनकुटा ) is a hill town and the headquarters of Dhankuta District in Koshi Province in Eastern Nepal. According to 2011 Nepal census, it has population of 26,440 inhabitants.

History

Until about 1963, Dhankuta Bazaar (the town) was the administrative headquarters for the whole of north-eastern Nepal. Located a half-mile above the town were the buildings of the Bada Hakim, the feudal district governor of the whole north-eastern region, a man with enormous power. The town also had the regional jail and army post. Because of Dhankuta's isolation from the lowland Terai and from Kathmandu, it was in many ways a self-governing area.

Income to purchase items (cloth, kerosene, batteries, medicines, etc.) that could not be produced locally came from a combination of sales of hill produce (tangerines, potatoes, etc.) and funds repatriated back into the hills by Gorkha soldiers serving first in the British and then more-often in the Indian armies.

The first five (3 male; 2 female) American Peace Corps Volunteers arrived in Dhankuta Bazaar in Fall, 1962 to work as teachers in the two high schools. In October 1963 three male PCV's arrived to help establish the new Panchayat Development program.

From 1963 Nepal was divided into 75 Panchayat Districts, and the traditional Dhankuta administrative region was divided up into about six of the panchayat districts. The power of the Bada Hakim was transferred to the central government's appointed Panchayat Development Officer and each district's elected Panchayat President.

During the pre-panchayat period Dhankuta Bazaar prided itself as being in the cultural vanguard, a relatively progressive community with its own "intellectual" elite. Dhankuta Bazaar, already in the 1930s, had the only high school in Nepal to be located outside of the Kathmandu Valley. Early on it added a girl's high school and a two-year college.

Then and now there is a sharp contrast between Dhankuta Bazaar and the surrounding rural villages. The town is a commercial center and has a population that is primarily Newar. The surrounding area is agricultural and the population is made up of many caste/tribal groups, notably Athpare, Limbu, Yakkha, Rai, Magar, Tamang and Tibetan.

One of the famous places in Dhankuta is Hile. It serves as a gateway to Dhankuta and Panchthar districts and from here, visitors can also trek to the temple of Goddes Pahtibhara, situated three kilometers west of the place.Another place situated here is the Rajarani valley, which is a place of historical significance and is also believed to be the capital of Limbu kingdom in the past.The place that once had two ponds called Raja and Rani now lay as plain areas.

Demographics
At the 2011 Nepal census, Dhankuta Municipality had a population of 38,629. Of these, 49.8% spoke Nepali, 14.6% Athpare, 7.0% Tamang, 6.6% Magar, 6.2% Newar, 4.5% Rai, 3.5% Limbu, 2.1% Bantawa, 1.2% Maithili, 0.6% Yakkha, 0.5% Sherpa, 0.4% Chamling, 0.3% Sampang, 0.3% Urdu, 0.2% Bhujel, 0.2% Gurung, 0.2% Hindi, 0.1% Bhojpuri, 0.1% Chhiling, 0.1% Chintang, 0.1% Khaling, 0.1% Kulung, 0.1% Majhi, 0.1% Tharu, 0.1% Thulung, 0.1% Yamphu and 0.3% other languages as their first language.

In terms of ethnicity/caste, 20.5% were Chhetri, 15.7% Aathpariya, 10.1% Rai, 9.6% Hill Brahmin, 9.3% Newar, 8.2% Tamang, 7.3% Magar, 4.3% Limbu, 3.8% Kami, 1.9% Damai/Dholi, 1.4% Gharti/Bhujel, 1.4% Thakuri, 1.2% Sarki, 0.6% Yakkha, 0.5% Sherpa, 0.4% Gurung, 0.3% Bantawa, 0.3% Majhi, 0.3% Musalman, 0.3% Tharu, 0.2% Halwai, 0.2% Teli, 0.2% other Terai, 0.1% Bengali, 0.1% Bhote, 0.1% Terai Brahmin, 0.1% Chamar/Harijan/Ram, 0.1% Chamling, 0.1% other Dalit, 0.1% Dom, 0.1% Hajjam/Thakur, 0.1% Kalwar, 0.1% Kayastha, 0.1% Marwadi, 0.1% Sanyasi/Dasnami, 0.1% Yadav and 0.5% others.

In terms of religion, 62.5% were Hindu, 23.6% Kirati, 11.2% Buddhist, 1.8% Christian, 0.3% Muslim, 0.1% Prakriti and 0.4% others.

In terms of literacy, 81.7% could read and write, 1.5% could only read and 16.8% could neither read nor write.

Present status
Dhankuta Bazaar, on the North-South Koshi Highway, is now the administrative headquarters for the Eastern Development Region, and is home to a number of offices for NGOs and aid agencies serving in the area. The large bazaar of Hile further up the road, is an important trading centre and major road head, serving the remote hinterlands of the Arun valley and Bhojpur. Villagers walk for many days from surrounding districts to trade in Hile and Dhankuta bazaars, although road building in the district may reduce the importance of these centers.

‘Nepal's cleanest city’ as proposed by The Kathmandu post.

Vegetation
The vegetation zones in the district range from sub-tropical Sal forest along the Tamor and Arun rivers, and cooler temperate forests on some of the high ridges that mark the watershed between the two catchments. The altitude ranges from around 300m to 2500m. The majority of the population are involved in agriculture and crops include maize, rice and millet. Important cash crops include citrus fruits, cauliflower, cabbage, ginger, and in recent years, tea. A well-preserved forest (Rani Bhan – Queen's Forest) spreads along a ridge line on the northwest side of the village, with well-developed mature stands of rhododendron and pine trees.

Health centres
Dhankuta District Hospital is located off the main street at the south end of the town. The hospital has facilities like inpatient service, Ultrasonography and x-ray. Besides the government posted doctors, medical and dental intern doctors from BPKIHS are also posted there.

Media
Radio Nepal has a regional station in Dhankuta which transmits various programs of mass interest. Likewise, Radio Lali Guransa (105.2 MHz), Radio Makalu Dhankuta (92.2 MHz), and Radio Dhankuta (106.2 MHz) are community radio stations transmitting local programmes.

title: Dhankuta


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Mackinac National Park

Mackinac National Park was a United States national park that existed from 1875 to 1895 on Mackinac Island in northern Michigan, making it the second U.S. national park after Yellowstone National Park. The 1044 acre park was created in response to the growing popularity of the island as a summer resort. Its creation was largely the result of efforts by United States Senator Thomas W. Ferry, a native of the island. Senate Bill 28 "to set aside a certain portion of the island of Mackinaw and the straits of Mackinaw, within the State of Michigan as a national park" was introduced December 2, 1874, and signed by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 3, 1875. The national park covered 821 acres while the fort retained 103 acres and the remainder of the island was privately owned.

The park grounds abutted Fort Mackinac, which continued to serve as a United States Army garrison during the operation of the park, as well as island geological features such as Arch Rock and Sugar Loaf. The fort's commander ran the park and federal troops served as park rangers, as at Yellowstone. The park had the authority to construct roads and trails and to lease small numbers of lots for buildings to offset its expenses, as no federal money was provided to run the park. The park lands also had to be available to the army for military training and in time of war.

In 1895, the fort was decommissioned and, at the request of Michigan Governor John T. Rich, the park and fort was turned over to the State of Michigan, becoming Mackinac Island State Park, the first state park in Michigan. The park was established on the condition that it remain a state park or it would revert to the United States. This restriction caused a problem in the 1960s when the city proposed to lease land from the park for an expanded airport for the island. The lease to the city was ruled a non-park use but the park, on its own, expanded and continues to run the airport.

title: Mackinac National Park