Sadi Koçaş (1919–1998) was a Turkish military officer and politician. He was among the military figures who planned a

military coup A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

against the rule of the Democrat Party on 27 May 1960. Retired from the army in 1961 he became a member of the

Republican People's Party The Republican People's Party (RPP; , CHP ) is a Kemalism, Kemalist and Social democracy, social democratic political party in Turkey. It is the oldest List of political parties in Turkey, political party in Turkey, founded by Mustafa Kemal ...

. He briefly served as the deputy prime minister in the cabinet led by

Nihat Erim İsmail Nihat Erim (30 November 1912 – 19 July 1980) was a Turkish politician and jurist. He served as the 13th prime minister of Turkey for almost 14 months after the 1971 Turkish military memorandum. He was assassinated by the Revolutionary ...

immediately after another

in 1971.

Early life and education

He was born in Karaman, Ottoman Empire, in 1919. His family later settled in Istanbul. He graduated from the

Turkish Military Academy The Turkish Military Academy () or as it is known historically and popularly Harbiye is a four-year co-educational military academy and part of the National Defense University (Turkey), National Defence University. It is located in the cent ...

as an artillery officer in 1940. He continued his education and became a staff officer in 1950. Then he was educated at the School of Land/Air Warfare in the United Kingdom between 1952 and 1953.

Career and activities

Following his graduation Koçaş worked in the Turkish Army and in the Ministry of Defense. He was a

military attaché A military attaché or defence attaché (DA),Defence Attachés
''Geneva C ...

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

Socialist Republic of Romania The Socialist Republic of Romania (, RSR) was a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist One-party state, one-party socialist state that existed officially in Romania from 1947 to 1989 (see Revolutions of 1989). From 1947 to 1965, the state was ...

, between 1954 and 1956. He was first involved in the secret activities in November 1954 to carry out a military coup against the government led by

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Adnan Menderes Ali Adnan Ertekin Menderes (; 1899 – 17 September 1961) was a Turkish politician who served as Prime Minister of Turkey between 1950 and 1960. He was one of the founders of the Democrat Party (DP) in 1946, the fourth legal opposition party of ...

. During this period Koçaş was a

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

. In 1957 he formed another secret group of the military officers in Ankara against the government. In February 1959 he managed to get support from

Cemal Gürsel Cemal Gürsel (9 June 1894 – 14 September 1966) was a Turkish military officer and politician who was the fourth president of Turkey, serving from 1960 to 1966 after taking power in a coup d'état. Early life Gürsel was born in the town ...

, commander of

land forces Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of Earth not submerged by the ocean or another body of water. It makes up 29.2% of Earth's surface and includes all continents and islands. Earth's land surface ...

, to implement the planned coup. Shortly after these activities Koçaş was sent to London as a military attaché which he held until 1961. He retired from the army with the rank of

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

in 1961. Cemal Gürsel, leader of the 1960 military coup and

President of Turkey The president of Turkey, officially the president of the Republic of Türkiye (), is the head of state and head of government of Turkey. The president directs the executive branch of the national government and is the commander-in-chief of the ...

, appointed Koçaş as a senator in 1962. He served at the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

until his resignation in 1969. Then he joined the Republican People's Party and was elected as a deputy from Konya. On 26 March 1971 he was appointed deputy prime minister to the cabinet led by Prime Minister Nihat Erim which had been formed shortly after the Turkish military memorandum on 12 March. Koçaş's ministerial portfolio included political and administrative affairs. Koçaş and eleven other cabinet members resigned from their posts on 3 December 1971. Following this incident he retired from politics.

Personal life and death

Koçaş was married and had two daughters. He died in Istanbul on 12 January 1998 and was buried in the

Zincirlikuyu cemetery The Zincirlikuyu Cemetery () is a modern burial ground in the European part of Istanbul, Turkey. It is administered by the Metropolitan Municipality. Many prominent figures from the world of politics, business, sports and arts rest here. The ce ...

next day.

Work

Koçaş is the author of several non-fiction books. Two of his books were his memoirs which were published in 1977 and 1978. In these books Koçaş reports the existence of an extremely secret service within the state apparatus which was allegedly led by Fuat Doğu, the undersecretary of Turkish National Intelligence Agency. This claim was also shared by Prime Minister Nihat Erim, and they managed to remove Fuat Doğu from office. Koçaş also published a book on the history of Armenians and the relations between Armenians and Turks in 1990.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kocas, Sadi 20th-century Turkish non-fiction writers 1919 births 1998 deaths People from Karaman Deputies of Konya Republican People's Party (Turkey) politicians Members of the 14th Parliament of Turkey Members of the Senate of the Republic (Turkey) Deputy prime ministers of Turkey Members of the 33rd government of Turkey Turkish colonels Military attachés Turkish Military Academy alumni