Ali Fethi Okyar (29 April 1880 – 7 May 1943) was a Turkish diplomat and politician, who also served as a military officer and diplomat during the last decade of the Ottoman Empire. He was also the second Prime Minister of Turkey (1924–1925) and the second Speaker of the Turkish Parliament after Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

Fethi Okyar
2nd Prime Minister of Turkey
In office
22 November 1924 – 3 March 1925
PresidentMustafa Kemal Atatürk
Preceded byİsmet İnönü
Succeeded byİsmet İnönü
4th Prime Minister of the Government of the Grand National Assembly
In office
14 August 1923 – 27 October 1923
Preceded byRauf Orbay
Succeeded byİsmet İnönü (As Prime Minister of Turkey)
3rd Speaker of the Grand National Assembly
In office
1 November 1923 – 22 November 1924
PresidentMustafa Kemal Atatürk
Prime Ministerİsmet İnönü
Preceded byMustafa Kemal Atatürk
Succeeded byKâzım Özalp
Member of the Grand National Assembly
In office
8 February 1935 – 7 May 1943
ConstituencyBolu (1935, 1939, 1943)
In office
28 June 1923 – 25 April 1931
ConstituencyIstanbul (1923)
Gümüşhane (1927)
Minister of Justice
In office
26 May 1939 – 12 March 1941
Presidentİsmet İnönü
Prime MinisterRefik Saydam
Preceded byTevfik Fikret Sılay
Succeeded byHasan Menemencioğlu
Minister of National Defense
In office
22 November 1924 – 3 March 1925
Prime MinisterHimself
Preceded byKâzım Fikri
Succeeded byMehmet Recep
Minister of the Interior of the Government of the Grand National Assembly
In office
5 November 1922 – 27 October 1923
Preceded byİsmail Safa Özler
Succeeded byAhmet Ferit Tek
In office
10 October 1921 – 9 July 1922
Preceded byRefet Bele
Succeeded byİsmail Safa
Minister of the Interior (Ottoman Empire)
In office
14 October 1918 – 8 November 1918
First MinisterAhmet İzzet
Preceded byMehmet Talaat (acting)
Succeeded byMustafa Arif
Personal details
Born
Ali Fethi

(1880-04-29)29 April 1880
Prilep, Manastir Vilayet, Ottoman Empire (modern North Macedonia)
Died7 May 1943(1943-05-07) (aged 63)
Istanbul, Turkey
Political partyRepublican People's Party (1930–1943)
Liberal Republican Party (1930)
Republican People's Party (1923–1930)
Ottoman Liberal People's Party (1918–1919)
Union and Progress Party (1913–1918)
Military service
AllegianceOttoman Empire
Branch/serviceOttoman Army
Years of service1898–1923
RankLieutenant General
Battles/warsItalo-Turkish War
Balkan Wars

Biography

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He was born in the Ottoman town of Prilep in Manastir Vilayet (present-day North Macedonia) to an Albanian family.[1][2][3] Some sources also claim that he was of Circassian descent.[4] He attended the Monastir Military High School, where he was a friend of Mustafa Kemal, helping him with French and introducing him to French political thought.[5] In 1913, he joined the Committee of Union and Progress (İttihat ve Terakki Cemiyeti) and was elected as the secretary general. In 1924 he was appointed prime minister as the successor of İsmet İnönü. But only a few months later in March 1925 he was replaced again by İnönü as a more decisive policy was needed to suppress the Sheikh Said rebellion.[6] Following he was appointed the Turkish ambassador to France in Paris.[6] In 1930, he received the permission to establish the Serbest Cumhuriyet Fırkası (Liberal Republican Party), an early party of opposition.[7] However, when the government noticed the support of this opposition party among Islamists, it was declared illegal and closed down, a situation similar to that of the Progressive Republican Party, which had lasted for a few months in 1924. He later served as Justice Minister from 1939 to 1941.

References

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  1. ^ Stevenson, Charles (2014). A Box of Sand. The Italo-Ottoman War 1911-1912. p. 110. ISBN 9780957689275.
  2. ^ Karpat, Kemal (2001). The politicization of Islam: reconstructing identity, state, faith, and community in the late Ottoman state. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780190285760.
  3. ^ Gingeras, Ryan (2019). Eternal Dawn: Turkey in the Age of Atatürk. Oxford University Press. p. 27. ISBN 978-0-19-879121-8.
  4. ^ Arslanbenzer, Hakan. "Fethi Okyar: Commissioned liberal, faithful Kemalist". dailysabah. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
  5. ^ Avci, Müşerref. "Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's Knowledge of Foreign Language and the Works He Brought into Turkish". Kırıkkale University.
  6. ^ a b Üngör, Umut. "Young Turk social engineering : mass violence and the nation state in eastern Turkey, 1913- 1950" (PDF). University of Amsterdam. pp. 235–236. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  7. ^ Weiker, Walter F. (1991). Heper, Metin; Landau, Jacob M. (eds.). Political Parties and Democracy in Turkey. I.B. Tauris. p. 84. ISBN 1-85043300-3.

Bibliography

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  • Balkaya, İhsan Sabri (2005). Ali Fethi Okyar (29 Nisan 1880-7 Mayıs 1943) (in Turkish) (I. ed.). Ankara: Turkish History Association. ISBN 9751617162.
  • Çay, Abdulhaluk Mehmet (2009). Başlangıçtan Bugüne Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Hükümetleri (PDF) (in Turkish). Künüçen, Hale. Ankara: Turkey Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Culture Portal. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 May 2020. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  • Güneş, İhsan (August 2012). Özmel Akın, Nur; Güven, Pınar (eds.). Meşrutiyet'ten Cumhuriyet'e Türkiye'de Hükümetler: Programları ve Meclisteki Yankıları (1908-1923) (in Turkish) (I. ed.). Istanbul: Turkey İş Bank Cultural Publications. ISBN 9786053606512.
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Political offices
Preceded by Prime Minister of Turkey
14 August 1923 – 23 October 1923
Succeeded by
Preceded by Speaker of the Parliament of Turkey
1 November 1923 – 22 November 1924
Succeeded by
Preceded by Prime Minister of Turkey
22 November 1924 – 3 March 1925
Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of National Defense
22 November 1924 – 3 March 1925
Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of Justice
27 May 1939 – 13 March 1941
Succeeded by