Orhan Birgit (13 July 1927 – 15 October 2019) was a Turkish lawyer, politician and journalist. He was a member of the Republican People's Party (CHP) and served as the minister of tourism in the first cabinet of

Bülent Ecevit Mustafa Bülent Ecevit (; 28 May 1925 – 5 November 2006) was a Turkish politician, statesman, poet, writer, scholar, and journalist. He served as the Prime Minister of Turkey four times between 1974 and 2002. He served as prime minister in 197 ...

in 1974. He was one of the deputies of the party. He contributed to the leading newspapers, including ''

Ulus Ulus may refer to: Places * Ulus, Bartın, a district in Bartin Province, Turkey * Ulus, Beşiktaş, neighborhood in Beşiktaş, Istanbul Province, Turkey *Ulus, Ankara, an important quarter in central Ankara, Turkey ** Ulus (Ankara Metro), an und ...

'' and ''

Cumhuriyet ''Cumhuriyet'' (; English: "Republic") is the oldest up-market Turkish daily newspaper. It has been described as "the most important independent public interest newspaper in contemporary Turkey". The newspaper was awarded the ''Freedom of Press ...

''.

Early life and education

Birgit was born in

Kars Kars ( or ; ; ) is a city in northeast Turkey. It is the seat of Kars Province and Kars District.� ...

on 13 July 1927. His father was a civil servant. He received a degree in law from

Istanbul University Istanbul University, also known as University of Istanbul (), is a Public university, public research university located in Istanbul, Turkey. Founded by Mehmed II on May 30, 1453, a day after Fall of Constantinople, the conquest of Constantinop ...

Career and activities

Following his graduation Birgit worked as a lawyer and a journalist. His first journalist work was for a local newspaper entitled ''Akın'' based in

Mersin Mersin () is a large city and port on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast of Mediterranean Region, Turkey, southern Turkey. It is the provincial capital of the Mersin Province (formerly İçel). It is made up of four district governorates ...

. In 1946 he joined the CHP. He was one of the contributors of ''Ulus'', ''Memleket'' and ''Yeni Sabah''. Birgit was a member of executive board of the Association of Turkish Cyprus (Turkish: Kıbrıs Türktür Cemiyeti (KTC)) which had been established in August 1954 to support the rights of the Turkish minority in

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

against the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

and other organisations. He was arrested during the

Istanbul pogrom The Istanbul pogrom, also known as the Istanbul riots, were a series of state-sponsored anti-Greek mob attacks directed primarily at Istanbul's Greek minority on 6–7 September 1955. The pogrom was orchestrated by the governing Democrat ...

on 7 September 1955 due to his KTC membership and was acquitted on all counts. In 1958 he established a weekly news magazine, ''Kim'', with Şahap Balcıoğlu,

Ali İhsan Göğüş Ali İhsan Göğüş (1923 – 22 July 2011) was a Turkish people, Turkish journalist, politician and former government minister. Life Ali İhsan Göğüş was born in Gaziantep in 1923. He completed the Kabataş Erkek Lisesi, Kabataş High Scho ...

and Özcan Ergüder. In the 1965 general election Birgit became a deputy for the CHP. Next year

was elected as the CHP secretary general, and Birgit was elected as a member of the central committee of the party in the congress. Güneş was part of the left of center group in the central committee. In the first cabinet of Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit Birgit was named as the minister of tourism and the speaker of the cabinet serving in the post between January and November 1974. Following the

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 ...

in 1980 Birgit worked as a journalist for '' Dünya'' and ''

Hürriyet ''Hürriyet'' (, ''Liberty'') is a major List of newspapers in Turkey, Turkish newspaper, founded in 1948. it had the highest circulation of any newspaper in Turkey at around 319,000. ''Hürriyet'' combines entertainment with news coverage and ...

''. In 1991 he was again elected to the Parliament from Istanbul for the Democratic Left Party led by Bülent Ecevit. He also taught at faculty of communications of several universities, including

Galatasaray University Galatasaray University (, ) is a public university established in Istanbul, Turkey in 1992, following an agreement signed in the presence of President François Mitterrand of France and President Turgut Özal of Turkey during a ceremony at Gala ...

, Istanbul University and

Anadolu University Anadolu University () is a public university in Eskişehir, Turkey. Anadolu University Distance Education Faculty (or Anadolu University Global Campus) serves as the national provider of distance education and is a member of the European Associ ...

. Then Birgit joined the ''Cumhuriyet'' newspaper. He was author of the following books: ''Herşey çok güzel olacak'' (Turkish: Everything will be great), ''Kalbur saman içinde'' (Turkish: Griddle in straw) and ''Evvel zaman içinde'' (Turkish: Once upon a time). Birgit also directed a documentary entitled ''Ermenek – Çamlıbel kültür çadırları'' () with Behlül Dal.

Personal life and death

Birgit was married and had a daughter. He died in Istanbul on 15 October 2019. He was buried in Edirnekapı Sakızağacı cemetery in Istanbul on 17 October.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Birgit, Orhan 20th-century Turkish lawyers 20th-century Turkish journalists 1927 births 2019 deaths People from Kars Istanbul University Faculty of Law alumni Members of the 15th Parliament of Turkey Republican People's Party (Turkey) politicians Members of the 13th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 16th Parliament of Turkey Democratic Left Party (Turkey) politicians Ulus (newspaper) people Cumhuriyet people Hürriyet people 20th-century Turkish non-fiction writers Ministers of tourism of Turkey 21st-century Turkish journalists Turkish documentary film directors Turkish magazine founders