İsmet İnönü
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Mustafa İsmet İnönü (; 24 September 1884 – 25 December 1973) was a Turkish army officer and statesman of Kurdish descent, who served as the second President of Turkey from 11 November 1938 to 22 May 1950, and its Prime Minister three times: from 1923 to 1924, 1925 to 1937, and 1961 to 1965. İnönü is acknowledged by many as Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's right-hand man, with their friendship going back to the Gallipoli campaign. In the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922, he served as the first
Chief of the General Staff The Chief of the General Staff (CGS) is a post in many armed forces ( militaries), the head of the military staff. List * Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (United States) * Chief of the General Staff (Abkhazia) * Chief of General Staff ( ...
( tr, Erkân-ı Harbiye-i Umumiye Reis Vekili) from 1922 to 1924 for the regular Turkish army, during which he commanded the forces of the battles of First and Second İnönü. Mustafa Kemal bestowed İsmet with the surname İnönü, where the battles took place, when the 1934 Surname Law was adopted. He was also chief negotiator in the Mudanya and Lausanne conferences for the Ankara government, successfully negotiating away the Sevre treaty for the
Treaty of Lausanne The Treaty of Lausanne (french: Traité de Lausanne) was a peace treaty negotiated during the Lausanne Conference of 1922–23 and signed in the Palais de Rumine, Lausanne, Switzerland, on 24 July 1923. The treaty officially settled the conf ...
. As his Prime Minister for most of his presidency İnönü executed many of Atatürk's modernizing and nationalist
reforms Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement ...
. İnönü is also noted of being the main perpetrator of the
Zilan Massacre The Zilan massacre ( ku, Komkujiya Zîlanê, tr, 1=Zilan Katliamı or Zilan Deresi Katliamı, etc.) was the massacre of thousands of Kurdish civilians by the Turkish Land Forces on the orders of İsmet İnönü in the Zilan Valley of Van Pr ...
. İnönü succeeded Atatürk as president of Turkey after his death in 1938, and was granted the official title of ("''National Chief''") by the parliament. As president and chairman of the Republican People's Party (CHP), İnönü initially continued Turkey's one party state and Kemalist programs by supporting projects like
Village Institutes Village Institutes (Turkish: ''Köy Enstitüleri'') were a group of rural schools in Turkey founded in accordance with a project led by Hasan Âli Yücel, who was the Minister of Education at the time. The project started on April 17, 1940 in or ...
. His governments implemented notably heavy statist economic policies. The Hatay State was annexed in 1939, and Turkey was able to maintain an armed neutrality during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, joining the Allied powers only three months before the end of the European Theater. The Turkish Straits crisis prompted İnönü to build closer ties with the Western powers, with the country eventually joining
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
in 1952, though by then he was no longer president. Factionalism between statists and liberals in the CHP eventually lead to the creation of the Democrat Party in 1946. İnönü held the first multiparty elections in the Republic's history that year, beginning Turkey's multiparty period. 1950 saw a peaceful transfer of power to the Democrats when the CHP suffered defeat in the elections. For ten years İnönü served as the
leader of the opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...
before returning to power as Prime Minister after the 1961 election, held after the 1960 coup-d'etat. His chairmanship saw the start of the CHP's shift to " Left of Center" as a new party cadre led by
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 1 ...
became more influential. İnönü remained leader of the CHP until 1972, whereupon he was defeated by Ecevit in a leadership contest. He died on 25 December 1973 of a heart attack, at the age of 89, and is interred opposite to Atatürk's mausoleum at Anıtkabir in
Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, mak ...
.


Early life

İsmet İnönü was born in
Smyrna Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to promi ...
(now known in English as
İzmir İzmir ( , ; ), also spelled Izmir, is a metropolitan city in the western extremity of Anatolia, capital of the province of the same name. It is the third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara and the second largest urban aggl ...
) in the
Aidin Vilayet The Vilayet of Aidin or Aydin ( ota, ولايت ايدين, translit=Vilâyet-i Aidin, french: vilayet d'Aïdin) also known as Vilayet of Smyrna or Izmir after its administrative centre, was a first-level administrative division ( vilayet) of th ...
to Hacı Reşit () and Cevriye (; later Cevriye Temelli). Hacı Reşit was retired from the First Examinant Department of Legal Affairs Bureau of the War Ministry (''Harbiye Nezareti Muhakemat Dairesi Birinci Mümeyyizliği'').T.C. Genelkurmay Harp Tarihi Başkanlığı Yayınları, ''Türk İstiklâl Harbine Katılan Tümen ve Daha Üst Kademelerdeki Komutanların Biyografileri'', Genkurmay Başkanlığı Basımevi, Ankara, 1972. İnönü's father was Kurdish descent, who was born in
Malatya Malatya ( hy, Մալաթիա, translit=Malat'ya; Syro-Aramaic ܡܠܝܛܝܢܐ Malīṭīná; ku, Meletî; Ancient Greek: Μελιτηνή) is a large city in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey and the capital of Malatya Province. The city ...
and a member of Kürümoğulları family of Bitlis. His mother was a daughter of ''Müderris'' (professor) Hasan Efendi who belonged to the ulema and was a member of a
Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...
family of Razgrad. Due to his father's assignments, the family moved from one city to another. Thus, Ismet completed his primary education in Sivas and graduated Sivas Military Junior High School (''Sivas Askerî Rüştiyesi'') in 1894. And then he studied at Sivas School for Civil Servants (''Sivas Mülkiye İdadisi'') for a year.


Military career

Ismet graduated from the Imperial School of Military Engineering (''Mühendishane-i Berrî-i Hümâyûn'') in 1903 as gunnery officer, and received his first military assignment in the Ottoman Army. He joined the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP). He was a staff member of the Action Army which marched on Constantinople during the 31 March Incident. He won his first military victories by suppressing two major revolts against the struggling
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
, first in
Rumelia Rumelia ( ota, روم ايلى, Rum İli; tr, Rumeli; el, Ρωμυλία), etymologically "Land of the Romans", at the time meaning Eastern Orthodox Christians and more specifically Christians from the Byzantine rite, was the name of a hi ...
and later in
Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the north and Oman to the northeast an ...
, whose leader was Yahya Muhammad Hamid ed-Din. He served as a military officer during the
Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defe ...
on the Ottoman-Bulgarian front. Ismet was part of the delegation which negotiated the Constantinople Treaty with the Bulgarians. He played an active role in the reformation of the army initiated by
Enver Pasha İsmail Enver, better known as Enver Pasha ( ota, اسماعیل انور پاشا; tr, İsmail Enver Paşa; 22 November 1881 – 4 August 1922) was an Ottoman military officer, revolutionary, and convicted war criminal who formed one-third ...
.


World War I

During
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
, Ismet began working with Mustafa Kemal Pasha as the Corps Commander on the Caucasian Front. He was appointed to the 4th Corps Command on January 12, 1917, upon the recommendation of Mustafa Kemal. He was recalled to Istanbul after a while and took part in the formation of the 7th Army in Aleppo. On May 1, he was appointed to the 20th Corps Command on the Palestine Front, and to the 3rd Corps Command on 20 June. He once again came in contact with Mustafa Kemal Pasha when he assumed the command of the 7th Army. However, Ismet was wounded during the Battle of Megiddo, and was sent back to Istanbul where he was held various administrative positions in the War Ministry.


Turkish War of Independence

After the military occupation of Constantinople on 16 March 1920, he decided to pass to
Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The r ...
to join the Turkish National Movement. He and his chief of staff Major Saffet (Arıkan) escaped Maltepe in the evening of 19 March 1920 and arrived at Ankara on 9 April 1920. He joined the Grand National Assembly which was opened on April 23, 1920, as a deputy of Edirne. Like many others in the Turkish National Movement, he was sentenced to death in absentia by the Ottoman government on 6 June 1920. He was appointed the commander of the
Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers *Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...
of the
Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
of the Grand National Assembly (GNA), a position in which he remained during the Turkish War of Independence. He was promoted to the rank of Mirliva (arbitrarily the equivalent of
Brigadier General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed t ...
or
Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...
; the most junior General rank with the title
Pasha Pasha, Pacha or Paşa ( ota, پاشا; tr, paşa; sq, Pashë; ar, باشا), in older works sometimes anglicized as bashaw, was a higher rank in the Ottoman political and military system, typically granted to governors, generals, dignita ...
in the Ottoman and pre-1934 Turkish Army) after winning the First Battle of İnönü which took place between 9 and 11 January 1921. He also won the subsequent Second Battle of İnönü which was fought between 26 and 31 March 1921. İnönü was replaced by
Mustafa Fevzi Pasha Mustafa ( ar, مصطفى , Muṣṭafā) is one of the names of Prophet Muhammad, and the name means "chosen, selected, appointed, preferred", used as an Arabic given name and surname. Mustafa is a common name in the Muslim world. Given name ...
, who was also the Prime Minister and Minister of Defense at the time, as the Chief of Staff of the Army of the GNA after the Turkish forces lost major battles against the advancing Greek Army in July 1921, as a result of which the cities Afyonkarahisar, Kütahya and Eskişehir were temporarily lost. He participated as a staff officer (with the rank Brigadier General) to the later battles, until the final Turkish victory in September 1922 in which he was the commander of the front.


Chief negotiator in Mudanya and Lausanne

After the War of Independence was won, İsmet Pasha was appointed as the chief negotiator of the Turkish delegation, both for the Armistice of Mudanya and for the
Treaty of Lausanne The Treaty of Lausanne (french: Traité de Lausanne) was a peace treaty negotiated during the Lausanne Conference of 1922–23 and signed in the Palais de Rumine, Lausanne, Switzerland, on 24 July 1923. The treaty officially settled the conf ...
. The Lausanne conference convened in late 1922 to settle the terms of a new treaty that took the place of the Treaty of Sèvres. Inönü became famous for his stubborn resolve in determining the position of Ankara (then known as Angora in English and French) as the legitimate, sovereign government of Turkey. After delivering his position, Inönü turned off his hearing aid during the speeches of British foreign secretary Lord Curzon. When Curzon had finished, İnönü reiterated his position as if Curzon had never said a word.


Prime Minister

İnönü served as the Prime Minister of Turkey through out Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's presidency, stepping down as prime minister only between 1923 and 1924, during Ali Fethi Okyar's premiership. İnönü therefore helped to execute Atatürk's reformist programs. It was his suggestion to make Ankara the capital of Turkey, which successively was approved by the parliament. He returned to the prime ministry during the Sheikh Said Rebellion, immediately banning all opposition parties (including the Progressive Republican Party) and press. Independence Tribunals were reestablished to prosecute the Kurdish rebels. In 1926 it came out that former members of the CUP attempted to assassinate Atatürk in the Izmir plot, which resulted in remaining CUP leaders such as Kara Kemal, Dr. Nazım, İsmail Canbulat and
Mehmed Cavid Mehmet Cavit Bey, Mehmed Cavid Bey or Mehmed Djavid Bey ( ota, محمد جاوید بك; 1875 – 26 August 1926) was an Ottoman economist, newspaper editor and leading politician during the dissolution period of the Ottoman Empire. A founding me ...
being executed. While dealing with the Sheikh Said revolt İnönü proclaimed a Turkish nationalist policy and encouraged the turkification of the non-Turkish population. In September 1925, following the suppression of the Sheikh Said rebellion, he presided over the Reform Council for the East () which prepared the Report for Reform in the East (), which recommended to impede an establishment of a Kurdish elite, to forbid non-Turkish languages and the creation of regional administrative units called Inspectorates-General, which were to be governed with
martial law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Marti ...
. He stated the following in regards to the
Kurds ug:كۇردلار Kurds ( ku, کورد ,Kurd, italic=yes, rtl=yes) or Kurdish people are an Iranian peoples, Iranian ethnic group native to the mountainous region of Kurdistan in Western Asia, which spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Ir ...
; "we're frankly nationalists and nationalism is our only factor of cohesion. Before the Turkish majority other elements have no kind of influence. At any price, we must turkify the inhabitants of our land, and we will annihilate those who oppose" Following this report, three Inspectorates-Generals were established in the Kurdish areas comprising several provinces. On the direct order of İnönü the
Zilan massacre The Zilan massacre ( ku, Komkujiya Zîlanê, tr, 1=Zilan Katliamı or Zilan Deresi Katliamı, etc.) was the massacre of thousands of Kurdish civilians by the Turkish Land Forces on the orders of İsmet İnönü in the Zilan Valley of Van Pr ...
Christopher Houston, ''Islam, Kurds and the Turkish nation state'', Berg Publishers, 2001,
p. 102.
Interview with Mehmet Pamak, who was the founder and president of Conservative Party (Muhafazakâr Parti) that was founded in place of Nationalist Action Party (Milliyetçilik Hareket Partisi) banned by junta regime of
1980 Turkish coup d'état The 1980 Turkish coup d'état ( tr, 12 Eylül Darbesi), headed by Chief of the General Staff General Kenan Evren, was the third coup d'état in the history of the Republic of Turkey, the previous having been the 1960 coup and the 1971 coup ...
. Pamak is Kurdish origin and his family was exiled from Erciş to Çanakkale.
Freedom of the Press Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic media, especially published materials, should be considered a right to be exerci ...

Freedom of the Press 2010 Draft Report
p. 2.
*Ercan Öksüz
"Zilan Katliamı'ndan 8 Mart Şehidi'ne"
''Gündem'', April 2, 2008, Retrieved September 4, 2010. *Mehmet Şevket Eygi

, '' Millî Gazete'', November 17, 2009, Retrieved August 16, 2010. *M. Kalman, ''Belge, Tanık ve Yaşayanlarıyla Ağrı Direnişi 1926-1930'', Pêrî Yayınları, 1997, , p. 105. *Felit Özsoy, Tahsin Eriş, ''Öncesi ve Sonrasıyla 1925 Kürt Direnişi (Palu-Hanî-Genç)'', Pêrî Yayınları, 2007, , p. 271. *Nazan Sala
"Devlet Zilan Katliamı ile yüzleşmeli"
, '' Gündem'', October 8, 2009, Retrieved August 18, 2010.
of thousands of Kurdish civilians was perpetrated by the Turkish Land Forces in the Zilan Valley of Van Province on 12/13 July 1930, during the Ararat rebellion in
Ağrı Province The Ağrı Province ( tr, Ağrı ili, ku, Parêzgeha Agiriyê) is a province in eastern Turkey, bordering Iran to the east, Kars to the north, Erzurum to the northwest, Muş and Bitlis to the southwest, Van to the south, and Iğdır to the no ...
. İnönü managed the
economy An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with t ...
with heavy-handed government intervention, especially after the 1929 economic crisis, by implementing an economic plan inspired by the '' Five Year Plan'' of the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
. In doing so, he took much private property under government control. Due to his efforts, to this day, more than 70% of land in Turkey is still owned by the state. Desiring a more liberal economic system, Atatürk dissolved the government of İnönü in 1937 and appointed Celâl Bayar, the founder of the first Turkish commercial bank Türkiye İş Bankası, as Prime Minister.


"National Chief" period


Domestic Policy

After the death of Atatürk on 10 November 1938, İnönü was viewed as the most appropriate candidate to succeed him, and was elected the second President of the
Republic of Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula i ...
and leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP). He attempted to build himself a cult of personality by being the official title of "Millî Şef", i.e. "National Chief". İnönü dismissed Bayar's government because of differences between the two on economic policy in 1939. İnönü was an avowed statist, while Bayar wished for a more liberal economy. The Hatay State, which declared independence from French Syria in 1938, was annexed in the next year. 1940 saw the establishment of the
Village Institutes Village Institutes (Turkish: ''Köy Enstitüleri'') were a group of rural schools in Turkey founded in accordance with a project led by Hasan Âli Yücel, who was the Minister of Education at the time. The project started on April 17, 1940 in or ...
, in which well performing students from the country side were selected to train as teachers and return to their hometown to run community development programs. İnönü also hoped to move on from one party rule by taking incremental steps to multiparty politics. He hoped to accomplish this through the establishment
Independent Group Independent Group may refer to: * Independent Group (art movement), a group of artists *Independent Group (Kenya), a defunct political party in Kenya *Independent Group (Solomon Islands), a political faction in the Solomon Islands *Independent Grou ...
as a force of opposition in the parliament, but they fell short of expectations under war-time conditions.


World War II

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
broke out in the first year of his presidency, and both the Allies and the Axis pressured İnönü to bring Turkey into the war on their side. The Germans sent Franz von Papen to
Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, mak ...
in April 1939 while the British sent Hughe Knatchbull-Hugessen and the French René Massigli. On 23 April 1939, Turkish Foreign Minister Şükrü Saracoğlu told Knatchbull-Hugessen of his nation's fears of Italian claims of the Mediterranean as ''
Mare Nostrum ''Mare Nostrum'' (; Latin: "Our Sea") was a Roman name for the Mediterranean Sea. In Classical Latin, it would have been pronounced , and in Ecclesiastical Latin, it is pronounced . In the decades following the 1861 unification of Italy, Italia ...
'' and German control of the Balkans, and suggested an Anglo-Soviet-Turkish alliance as the best way of countering the Axis. In May 1939, during the visit of Maxime Weygand to Turkey, İnönü told the French Ambassador René Massigli that he believed that the best way of stopping Germany was an alliance of Turkey, the Soviet Union, France and Britain; that if such an alliance came into being, the Turks would allow Soviet ground and air forces onto their soil; and that he wanted a major programme of French military aid to modernize the Turkish armed forces. The signing of the
Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact was a non-aggression pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union that enabled those powers to partition Poland between them. The pact was signed in Moscow on 23 August 1939 by German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ri ...
on 23 August 1939 drew Turkey away from the Allies; the Turks always believed that it was essential to have the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
as an ally to counter Germany, and thus the signing of the German-Soviet pact undercut completely the assumptions behind Turkish security policy. With the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, İnönü chose to be neutral in World War II as taking on Germany and the Soviet Union at the same time would be too much for Turkey, through he signed a treaty of alliance with Britain and France on 19 October 1939.Weinberg, Gerhard ''A World In Arms'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005 page 78 It was only with France's defeat in June 1940 that İnönü abandoned the pro-Allied neutrality that he had followed since the beginning of the war. A major embarrassment for the Turks occurred in July 1940 when the Germans captured and published documents from the Quai d'Orsay in Paris showing the Turks were aware of Operation Pike—as the Anglo-French plan in the winter of 1939–40 to bomb the oil fields in the Soviet Union from Turkey was codenamed—which was intended by Berlin to worsen relations between Ankara and Moscow. In turn, worsening relations between the Soviet Union and Turkey were intended to drive Turkey into the arms of the ''Reich''. After the publication of the French documents relating to Operation Pike, İnönü had to sign the German–Turkish Treaty of Friendship and the Clodius Agreement, which placed Turkey within the German economic sphere of influence, but İnönü went no further towards the Axis.In the first half of 1941, Germany which was intent upon invading the Soviet Union went out of its way to improve relations with Turkey as the ''Reich'' hoped for a benevolent Turkish neutrality when the German-Soviet war began. At the same time, the British had great hopes in the spring of 1941 when they dispatched an expeditionary force to Greece that İnönü could be persuaded to enter the war on the Allied side as the British leadership had high hopes of creating a Balkan front that would tie down German forces, and which thus led a major British diplomatic offensive with the
Foreign Secretary The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Seen as ...
Sir
Anthony Eden Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon, (12 June 1897 – 14 January 1977) was a British Conservative Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1955 until his resignation in 1957. Achieving rapid pro ...
visiting Ankara several times to meet with İnönü. İnönü always told Eden that the Turks would not join the British forces in Greece, and the Turks would only enter the war if Germany attacked Turkey.Weinberg, Gerhard ''A World In Arms'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005 page 219. For his part, Papen offered İnönü parts of Greece if Turkey were to enter the war on the Axis side, an offer İnönü declined. In May 1941 when the Germans dispatched an expeditionary force to Iraq to fight against the British, İnönü refused Papen's request that the German forces be allowed transit rights to Iraq.Weinberg, Gerhard ''A World In Arms'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005 page 226. Another attempt by Hitler to woo Turkey came in February of 1943, when
Talaat Pasha Mehmed Talaat (1 September 187415 March 1921), commonly known as Talaat Pasha or Talat Pasha,; tr, Talat Paşa, links=no was an Ottoman politician and convicted war criminal of the late Ottoman Empire who served as its leader from 1913 t ...
's remains were returned to Turkey for a state burial. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill traveled to Ankara on 30 January 1943 for a conference with President İnönu, to urge Turkey's entry into the war on the allied side. Churchill met secretly with İnönü in January 1943, inside a railroad car at the Yenice Station near
Adana Adana (; ; ) is a major city in southern Turkey. It is situated on the Seyhan River, inland from the Mediterranean Sea. The administrative seat of Adana province, it has a population of 2.26 million. Adana lies in the heart of Cilicia, ...
. However, by 4–6 December 1943, İnönü felt confident enough about the outcome of the war, that he met openly with Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill at the Second Cairo Conference. Until 1941, both Roosevelt and Churchill had thought that Turkey's continuing neutrality would serve the interests of the Allies by blocking the Axis from reaching the strategic oil reserves of the
Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...
. But the early victories of the Axis up to the end of 1942 caused Roosevelt and Churchill to re-evaluate a possible Turkish participation in the war on the side of the Allies. Turkey had maintained a decently-sized Army and Air Force throughout the war, and Churchill wanted the Turks to open a new front in the
Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
. Roosevelt, on the other hand, still believed that a Turkish attack would be too risky, and an eventual Turkish failure would have disastrous effects for the Allies. İnönü knew very well the hardships which his country had suffered during decades of incessant war between 1908 and 1922 and was determined to keep Turkey out of another war as long as he could. The young Turkish Republic was still re-building, recovering from the losses due to earlier wars, and lacked any modern weapons and the infrastructure to enter a war to be fought along and possibly within its borders. İnönü based his neutrality policy during the Second World War on the premise that Western Allies and the Soviet Union would sooner or later have a falling out after the war.Andrew Mango, ''The Turks Today'', p. 37. Thus, İnönu wanted assurances on financial and military aid for Turkey, as well as a guarantee that the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
and the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
would stand beside Turkey in the event of a Soviet invasion of the Turkish Straits after the war. In August 1944 İnönü broke off diplomatic relations with Germany and on 5 January 1945, İnönü severed diplomatic relations with Japan. Shortly afterwards, İnönü allowed Allied shipping to use the Turkish straits to send supplies to the Soviet Union and on 25 February 1945 he declared war on Germany and Japan. The post-war tensions and arguments surrounding the Turkish Straits would come to be known as the Turkish Straits crisis. The fear of Soviet invasion and
Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...
's unconcealed desire for Soviet military bases in the Turkish Straits eventually caused Turkey to give up its principle of neutrality in foreign relations and join
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
in February 1952.


Conditions of armed neutrality

Maintaining an armed neutrality proved to be disruptive for the young republic. The country existed in a practical state of war throughout the Second World War: military production was prioritized at the expense of peacetime goods, rationing and curfews were implemented, and high taxes were put in place, causing severe economic hardship for many. One such tax was the Wealth Tax ( Varlık Vergisi), a discriminatory tax which demanded very high one-time payments from Turkey's non-Muslim minorities. This tax is seen by many to be a continuation of the Jizya tax paid by
dhimmi ' ( ar, ذمي ', , collectively ''/'' "the people of the covenant") or () is a historical term for non-Muslims living in an Islamic state with legal protection. The word literally means "protected person", referring to the state's obligatio ...
s during Ottoman times, or Millî Iktisat (National Economy) economic policy implemented by the Committee of Union and Progress regime three decades ago. A famous story of İnönü happened in a meeting in
Bursa ( grc-gre, Προῦσα, Proûsa, Latin: Prusa, ota, بورسه, Arabic:بورصة) is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in t ...
for the 1969 general elections. A young man yelled at him; "You let us go without food!" by implying not joining World War II. İnönü replied him by saying "Yes, I let you go without food, but I did not let you become fatherless" by implying the death of millions of people from both sides of World War II.


Multi-party period

Under international pressure to transform the country to a democratic state, İnönü allowed for Turkey's first multiparty elections to be held in 1946. The CHP's competition was the Democrat Party (DP), which separated from CHP following the " motion with four signatures". However the
1946 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1946. Africa * French legislative election, November 1946 (French Equatorial Africa) * French legislative election, November 1946 (Guinea) * 1946–1947 Moyen-Congo Representative Council election * 194 ...
were infamously not free and fair; voting was carried out under the gaze of onlookers who could determine which voters had voted for which parties, and where secrecy prevailed as to the subsequent counting of votes. Free and fair national elections had to wait till 1950, and on that occasion İnönü's government was defeated. Between 1946 and 1950 the CHP had to deal with the DP as an opposition force in parliament during which some Kemalist programs were terminated due to anti-Communist hysteria brought on by the DP. Village Institutes and
People's Room The People's Rooms (Turkish: Halkodaları) were community centers established in rural Turkey beginning in 1939. The Turkish government established the People's Rooms to promote secular and Western cultural activities and to indoctrinate the residen ...
s were closed by the CHP due to the pressure.


Leader of the Opposition

In the 1950 election campaign, the leading figures of the Democrat Party used the following slogan: ''"Geldi İsmet, kesildi kısmet"'' ("Ismet arrived, urfortune left"). İnönü presided over the peaceful transfer of power to the DP leaders: Celâl Bayar and Adnan Menderes. Bayar would serve as Turkey's third president, and Menderes its first Prime Minister not from the CHP. For ten years İnönü served as the
leader of the opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...
. In the opposition, the CHP established its
youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood ( maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as being a young adult. Y ...
and women's branch. On 22 June 1953, the establishment of
trade unions A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits (s ...
and vocational chambers was proposed, and the
right to strike Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to Labor (economics), work. A strike usually takes place in response to grievance (labour), employee grievance ...
for workers was added to the party program. In the lead up to the elections prepared for 1960, İnönü faced almost regular harassment from authorities and DP supporters, to the point where he was almost lynched. İnönü returned to power as Prime Minister after the 1961 election, held after the military coup-d'etat in 1960, which shut down the DP.


Second Republic

Following the declaration of the Second Republic, the military junta in the form of the
National Unity Committee The National Unity Committee ( tr, Milli Birlik Komitesi, MBK) was a military committee formed following the 1960 Turkish coup d'état. It dissolved with the 1961 general election. Background Between 1950 and 1960, the ruling party in Turkey was ...
chose general Cemal Gürsel to become the next president. Gürsel appointed İnönü as his Prime Minister when CHP won in the election. İnönü's premiership was defined by an effort to deescalate tensions between radical forces in the Turkish army wishing for extended junta rule and former Democrats. İnönü's CHP did not gain enough seats in the legislature to win a majority in the elections, so he formed coalition governments with the Republican Villagers Nation Party and neo-Democrat parties Justice Party and New Turkey Party until 1965. During this time, the CHP started to define itself as " Left of Center," as a new party cadre led by
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 1 ...
became more influential (which the party is still faithful to, to this day). During İnönü's premiership, there was an attempted coup in 1962 lead by during which İnönü, Gürsel and the Chief of Staff Cevdet Sunay were briefly held up in Çankaya Mansion. Aydemir decided to let the group go, which foiled the coup. Aydemir carried out another coup in 1963 () which was also suppressed. Aydemir was later executed for conducting both coups. In 1964 İnönü renounced the Greco-Turkish Treaty of Friendship of 1930 and took actions against the
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
minority. The Turkish Government also strictly enforced a long‐overlooked law barring Greek nationals from 30 professions and occupations, for example Greeks could not be doctors, nurses, architects, shoemakers, tailors, plumbers, cabaret singers, ironsmiths, cooks, tourist guides, etc. and 50,000 more Greeks were deported. These actions were done because of the growing anti-Greek sentiment in Turkey after the
Cyprus issue The Cyprus problem, also known as the Cyprus dispute, Cyprus issue, Cyprus question or Cyprus conflict, is an ongoing dispute between Greek Cypriots in the south and Turkish Cypriots in the north. Initially, with the occupation of the island b ...
became a reality. The United States would prohibit Turkish intervention on the island. İnönü survived an assassination attempt while he was in Ankara that year. İnönü's government established the National Security Council, Turkish Statistical Institute, and Turkey's leading research institute
TÜBİTAK The Scientific and Technological Research Institution of Turkey ( tr, Türkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Araştırma Kurumu, TÜBİTAK) is a national agency of Turkey whose stated goal is to develop "science, technology and innovation" (STI) policies ...
. Turkey signed the
Ankara agreement The Agreement Creating An Association Between The Republic of Turkey and the European Economic Community, commonly known as the Ankara Agreement ( tr, Ankara Anlaşması), is a treaty signed in 1963 that provides for the framework for the co-oper ...
, the first treaty of cooperation with the European Economic Community, and also increased ties with
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkm ...
and
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
. The army was modernized and intelligence services reformed as well. İnönü lost both the 1965 and 1969 general elections to a much younger man, Justice Party leader
Süleyman Demirel Süleyman Sami Demirel (; 1 November 1924 – 17 June 2015) was a Turkish politician, engineer, and statesman who served as the 9th President of Turkey from 1993 to 2000. He previously served as the Prime Minister of Turkey seven times between ...
. İnönü remained leader of CHP till 1972, whereupon an interparty crisis over his endorsement of the 1971 military memorandum lead to his defeat by Ecevit in the 5th extraordinary CHP convention. This was the first overthrow of a party leader in a leadership contest in the Republics history. İnönü resigned his parliamentarianship afterwords. Being a former president he was a member of the Senate in the last year of his life.He died on 25 December 1973 of a heart attack, at the age of 89, and is interred opposite to Atatürk's mausoleum at Anıtkabir in
Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, mak ...
.


Legacy

İnönü University and Malatya İnönü Stadium in
Malatya Malatya ( hy, Մալաթիա, translit=Malat'ya; Syro-Aramaic ܡܠܝܛܝܢܐ Malīṭīná; ku, Meletî; Ancient Greek: Μελιτηνή) is a large city in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey and the capital of Malatya Province. The city ...
are named after him, as is the İnönü Stadium in
Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
, home of the Beşiktaş football club.


Personal life

A highly educated man, İnönü was able to speak fluently in
Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...
, English,
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
and German in addition to his native Turkish. During the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...
, on 13 April 1916, Ismet married Mevhibe, who was a daughter of an Ashraf (''Eşraf'') of Ziştovi (present day
Svishtov Svishtov ( bg, Свищов ) is a town in northern Bulgaria, located in Veliko Tarnovo Province on the right bank of the Danube river opposite the Romanian town of Zimnicea. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Svishtov Municipali ...
) Zühtü Efendi. They had three children: Ömer, Erdal and Özden (married to Metin Toker). Erdal İnönü became a physicist and later a statesman. He served as secretary general of the CHP successor parties SODEP and SHP, which merged with the revived CHP.


Media

File:IsmetInonu1963 text.pdf, Text of the message by President İsmet İnönü on Mustafa Kemal Atatürk


See also

* Pembe Köşk – Private home from 1925 to 1973 *
Çankaya Köşkü Çankaya may refer to: * Çankaya, Ankara (neighbourhood), a neighbourhood in Ankara, Turkey * Çankaya, Ankara (district), a district of Ankara, Turkey, which includes the Çankaya neighbourhood * Çankaya, İzmir, a neighbourhood in Konak distr ...
– The Presidency of the Republic of Turkey *
List of high-ranking commanders of the Turkish War of Independence This list includes high-ranking commanders who took part in the Turkish War of Independence: See also * Turkish State Cemetery#Burials * List of recipients of the Medal of Independence with Red-Green Ribbon (Turkey) Footnotes References ...
* Treaty of Lausanne (1923) *
1st government of Turkey The 1st government of Turkey (30 October 1923 – 6 March 1924) was the first government formed in the Republic of Turkey. In reality, there were other governments between 23 April 1920 and 29 October 1923, but the republic was proclaimed on 29 ...
*
2nd government of Turkey The 2nd government of Turkey (6 March 1924 – 22 November 1924) was the second government in the history of the Republic of Turkey. Background The prime minister was İsmet İnönü of the Republican People's Party (CHP, than known as ''Peopl ...
* 4th government of Turkey *
26th government of Turkey The 26th government of Turkey (20 November 1961 – 25 June 1962), also known as the ''first coalition government of Turkey'' and the ''eight government of İsmet İnönü'', was the first civilian government following the 1960 Turkish coup d'ét ...
* 27th government of Turkey * 28th government of Turkey


References


Sources

*


Further reading

* Kinross, Lord, ''Atatürk: A Biography of Mustafa Kemal, Father of Modern Turkey'' (New York: William Morrow & Company, 1965). * Liebmann, George W. ''Diplomacy between the Wars: Five Diplomats and the Shaping of the Modern World'' (London I. B. Tauris, 2008) * Mango, Andrew, ''The Turks Today'' (New York: The Overlook Press, 2004). . * Pope, Nicole and Pope, Hugh, ''Turkey Unveiled: A History of Modern Turkey'' (New York: The Overlook Press, 2004). .


External links


Biography
(İsmet İnönü Foundation) * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Inonu, Ismet 1884 births 1973 deaths 20th-century prime ministers of Turkey 20th-century presidents of Turkey People from İzmir People from Aidin Vilayet Turkish Kurdish politicians Bulgarian Turks in Turkey Ottoman Imperial School of Military Engineering alumni Ottoman Military College alumni Ottoman Army officers Ottoman military personnel of World War I Turkish Army generals Turkish military personnel of the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922) Republican People's Party (Turkey) politicians Chiefs of the Turkish General Staff Government ministers of Turkey Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Turkey Ministers of National Education of Turkey Leaders of the Republican People's Party (Turkey) World War II political leaders Recipients of the Medal of Independence with Red-Green Ribbon (Turkey) Leaders of the Opposition (Turkey) Deputies of Ankara Deputies of Malatya People of the Dersim rebellion Turkish Sunni Muslims Members of the 1st government of Turkey Members of the 2nd government of Turkey Members of the 4th government of Turkey Members of the 5th government of Turkey Members of the 6th government of Turkey Members of the 7th government of Turkey Members of the 8th government of Turkey Members of the 26th government of Turkey Members of the 27th government of Turkey Members of the 28th government of Turkey Members of the 2nd Parliament of Turkey Turkish nationalists