# Fethi Okyar

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.

## Early life

Ali Fethi (Okyar after 1934) was born in the Ottoman town of Prilep in Manastir Vilayet (present-day North Macedonia) to an Albanian family. Some sources also claim that he was of Circassian descent. His father was İsmail Hakkı Bey, a civil servant in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who died when Ali Fethi was young. His uncle Müderris İbrahim Ethem Efendi, who was the Governor of Manastır at the time, helped to complete his education.
He attended the Monastir Military High School, where he was a friend of Mustafa Kemal (Atatürk), helping him with French and introducing him to French political thought. Politics began to interest him during this period, as he began reading Namık Kemal's works. Fethi entered the Military Academy with Kemal in 1898. There he befriended with figures like Ali Fuat (Cebesoy), Şevket, Cafer Tayyar (Eğilmez), Kara Vasıf, and Mürsel. He went further into dangerous literature, reading books smuggled into the country by Committee of Union and Progress. He had the opportunity to read the works of Montesquieu, Voltaire, Rousseau, Mirebeau, and Robespierre. Tevfik Fikret's works were also among those read. With the impressions these works left on his own worlds; he joined in the discussions he had with his friends about exile, oppression, and freedom. After graduating from the Harbiye with the rank of "Infantry Lieutenant" in 1900, he continued his education in the War Institute, graduating top of his class in 1903.

## Career in the Ottoman Empire

In 1904, Fethi began his duty as a staff captain in the Third Army in Salonika in the 13th Cavalry Regiment. During his internship training he came face to face with Bulgarian, Serbian, and Greek chetas and committee units. He was promoted to the rank of Kolağası in 1906. On 30 April 1906 he was appointed as an assistant course supervisor at the Edirne War School, despite his wishes. He was soon appointed to Third Army's Mahçova (Metsovo) Greek Border Zone Command in August 1906. On 1 March 1907 he was appointed to the Salonika Eastern Railway Line Inspectorate.
While on the staff of the Third Army Marshal İbrahim Pasha, he played an important role in the clashes with Greek committee bands, which became more active after the Reval meeting between King Edward VII and Tsar Nicholas II, and in Strebne. Upon the suggestion of Rumelia Inspector Hüseyin Hilmi Pasha, he was appointed as the commander of the Salonika Gendarmerie Officer's School on 21 March 1908 and promoted to the rank of "Major".

### Revolutionary career

In 1907, he was indicted into the Committee of Union and Progress by one of the members of the General Staff, Major İsmail Hakkı. Hakkı advised him to go to Manastir (Bitola) and asked him to meet İsmail Enver Bey, where he was initiated with Enver's guidance. He returned to Kesriye (Kastoria) opened a CUP cell there. He quickly became an important member, becoming a member of the Salonika central committee with İsmail Canbulat, Mithat Şükrü, Topçu Rasim, and Hamdi. During this period of military service, he also worked to induct new members for the CUP. When Mustafa Kemal was assigned to the Third Army in Selanik in October 1907, Fethi made sure to induct him into the committee, and also for Mustafa İsmet (İnönü). As membership in the committee increased, new branches cells were formed, many of which were administered by him. After Paris and Salonika became the two centers of the CUP, it was Fethi that handled communication between Salonika and other branches.
Following the Reval meetings between King Edward VII and Tsar Nicholas II, on June 25, 1908, Ali Fethi Bey and the leading figures of the CUP gathered at the house of Manyasizade Refik Bey, the chief of the Salonika branch, to discuss a response. These events initiated the beginning of the Young Turk Revolution. It was decided that the Unionists should rise in revolt and that if necessary, the incoming Hamidian agents, principally Şemsi Pasha, must be killed. On 3 July, 1908, a group of 150 people, including Reşneli Ahmed Niyazi began an uprising from which many Rumelian cities joined in revolution. After demonstrations in places like Salonika, Serres, İştip, Priştina in support of the constitution Ali Fethi and the leading Unionists again gathered at Manyasizade Refik's house. Atıf Kamçıl advocated for assassinating Şemsi Pasha and personally executed the plan. Şemsi was shot dead by Lieutenant Atıf at the entrance of the Manastır Post Office on 7 July. On the night of 22–23 July, another Unionist meeting was held at Manyasizade Refik's house. It was decided per Mehmet Talât's suggestion that they should prepare a declaration of constitutional monarchy. Talât asked Fethi to write the declaration himself, and this proposal was also accepted in another vote. While the meeting continued, Ali Fethi wrote the declaration in another room.
He was appointed the Paris Military Attaché by the Minister of War Mahmut Şevket Pasha on 12 January 1909, but took up his post in March, serving until 1911. During his duty he returned to Salonika to participate in the Action Army. Returning from Istanbul, he accompanied Abdul Hamid II to his house arrest in Salonika, serving as a guard at the Villa Allatini for more than three months.
During his second period as attaché to Paris, between 12–18 September 1910 Fethi observed the Picardie maneuvers that France carried out as a response to the maneuvers that Germany carried out in the Rhine region. He followed the maneuvers with Mustafa Kemal and Hüseyin Selahattin Bey. He spent most of his time between 1910–1911 writing reports on the maneuvers and informing the capital and the General Staff. During the Malissori uprising on 25 June 1911 his request to join the Shkodra War Staff was granted, which he served for a three months.

### Tripolitanian war

On 29 September 1911, Italy declared war on the Ottoman Empire for Tripolitania. Due to the Ottoman government's belief that the issue would be resolved through diplomatic means, the CUP leaders decided to take matters into their own hands. Ten Unionists including Ali Fethi, Mustafa Kemal, Eşref Kuşçubaşı, and Süleyman Askerî gathered at Enver's house. After the meeting, it was decided they would organize a resistance. Ali Fethi went by way of Paris with Ambassador Rıfat's assistance. He also asked for help from SFIO leaders Jean Jaures and Pierre Loti, and the two of them wrote articles criticizing the Italian occupation. Fethi first reached the port of Sfax in French Tunisia with five military medical doctors and a boatman from Marseille, and arrived in Tripoli on 12 October 1911. He was appointed chief of staff of the 42nd Division, commanded by Colonel Neşet Pasha, and took to organizing local militia groups against the Italians.
During his activities around Tripoli, on 3 November he reported to the division command that Italian soldiers were abusing the civilian population, and he requested that this situation be protested by the European states. Fethi played an important role in the Battle of Ain Zara, but outnumbered and outgunned, the Italians took the oasis. However the Italians couldn't advance beyond Ain Zara into December and January, they lost control over Sedra, failed to take Homs and retreated back to Ain Zara. Responding to the stalemate in Libya, Italy invaded the Dodecanese between April 23 and May 17.
In April 1912, he was elected deputy of Monastir in that year's general election for the Chamber of Deputies. After the closure of the Chamber, he returned to Tripoli. However by the start of the First Balkan War, Ali Fethi and other officers had to return to the capital.

### Balkan Wars

Fethi was given command over the Dardanelles Strait Staff on 25 November 1912. When the London Conference was unsuccessfully dispersed on 29 January 1913, the Bulgarian armies resumed their offensive on the Çatalca line, surrounded Edirne, and advanced on the Gallipoli peninsula; squeezing the Bolayır Corps into a narrow line, where Fethi and Kemal fought alongside each other. Battle plans were drawn up for an operation to relieve Edirne, which included an amphibious landing at the Bolayır line and Şarköy. The aim was to surround the Bulgarians between the two lines. However due to the complexity of the operation and last minute criticisms the two forces failed to link up and land on time. The Tenth Corps commanded by Hurşit Pasha and Staff Officer Enver Pasha, landed successfully, but Bolayır Corps commanded by Fahri Pasha and Staff Officer Ali Fethi (Mustafa Kemal Director of the Operations Department) suffered many casualties upon landing in Şarköy. Despite all the losses, Enver Pasha insisted on attacking Şarköy again, despite Fahri Pasha, Ali Fethi and Mustafa Kemal's opposition. The commanders of the two corps blamed each other for the defeat. As a result of the defeat, Ali Fethi and Mustafa Kemal attempted to submit their resignations, but they were not accepted. The Bulgarians captured Edirne on March 26, and the city was lost with the Treaty of London on May 30 1913.
In July 1913, the Second Balkan War broke out over Bulgaria and Serbia's disagreements over captured territory, and the Ottoman Empire soon entered the war to retake lost Rumelian territory. Fethi's Bolayır Corps participated in the operations to retake Edirne from Bulgaria, but Enver Pasha's troops retook the city first. Fethi resigned from military service immediately after returning from the war on September 14, 1913.

## Last days of the Ottoman Empire

He was elected as the secretary general of the CUP in an abortive attempt to liberalize the party, but quickly resigned and sent to Sofia on a diplomatic exile. There he kept up with Mustafa Kemal, who was also in Sofia as a military attaché.
On 8 December 1917 he was elected as a deputy of Istanbul in a by-election and left his ambassadorial post.
After the fall of the CUP government, he became the Minister of the Interior in the Ahmet İzzet Pasha government, per Mustafa Kemal's suggestion. He was accused of letting the CUP leaders escape the country, which caused the resignation of Ahmet İzzet Pasha's cabinet. With the fall of the CUP, Ali Fethi founded the Ottoman Liberal People's Party, which largely consisted of liberal Unionists. He published the newspaper Minber together with Mustafa Kemal between 1 November and 21 December 1918, as an organ of the party. The party was banned on 5 May 1919 for being a continuation of the CUP, and a few days later, on 10 March 1919 he was arrested for being a member of a secret Unionist organization, and was exiled to Malta on 2 June 1919. He was released in a prisoner exchange on 30 May 1921.
He joined the First Grand National Assembly as an Istanbul Deputy on 15 August 1921. He served as the Minister of Internal Affairs between 10 October, 1921 and 4 October, 1922. He was re-elected in the 1923 election. He served as the Chairman of the Executive Board (Prime Minister of the Ankara government) and Minister of Internal Affairs from August 14, 1923 until the declaration of the Republic. The political events that led to the resignation of the Fethi Bey cabinet led to the declaration of the Republic of Turkey with a constitutional amendment on October 29, 1923.

## During the Republic

Immediately after the declaration of the Republic, he was elected as the President of the Grand National Assembly on 1 November 1923, and reelected the next year. However, in November 1924, a group of deputies led by Kazım Karabekir and Ali Fuat Pashas the Progressive Republican Party as an opposition party, and on 22 November, 1924, Ali Fethi was appointed Prime Minister, replacing İsmet. Fethi's reconciliatory politics were intended to be more tolerable than İsmet Pasha's hardliner stance. However, three months later, Fethi's strategy failed when the Sheikh Said Rebellion broke out in the East. On 2 March, 1925, Fethi and his government resigned, and İsmet Pasha became Prime Minister again. The same day, the Law for the Establishment of Peace [Takrir-i Sükûn Kanunu] silenced opposition nationwide. The Progressive Party was closed, and Fethi Bey requested to be appointed as ambassador to Paris.
Atatürk long attempted to liberalize Turkey's political system and establish an opposition party. On 9 August 1930, per his instruction, Fethi resigned from the ambassadorship and returned to Turkey, founding the Liberal Republican Party [Serbest Cumhuriyet Fırkası] and became the party's chairman. He was allowed to re-enter the parliament as deputy of Gümüşhane. However it quickly became clear that the opposition party was attracting reactionaries and Islamists after the İzmir Meeting, so he dissolved his own party on 17 November, heeding Atatürk's request. He went abroad again.
In 1933, he contracted heart failure. Learning of his friend's illness, Atatürk assigned his aide Salih Bozok as his companion and arranged for Fethi Bey to receive treatment in Vienna. He was appointed to as Ambassador to London on 31 March 1934, where he played an important role in the rapprochement between Turkey and the United Kingdom before World War II; he was among the architects of the Montreux Convention. He received the surname "Okyar". Shortly after Atatürk's death, in accordance with President İsmet İnönü's policy of reconciliation with his former enemies, he returned to the country and was rehabilitated, being appointed as Deputy of Bolu on 4 January 1939, winning reelection the same year. He became the Minister of Justice in the 2nd Refik Saydam Cabinet and continued this duty until 12 March 1941. He died in Istanbul on 7 May 1943. His grave is in Zincirlikuyu cemetery.

## Personal life

He was married to Galibe Hanım (1899–1981). British intelligence reports described the couple as “the Turkish Greta Garbo and her ambassador husband with a Tatar’s looks.” They had two kids, a son Osman (1917–2002) and a daughter Nermin (1919–1999). The Okyars were close friends of Atatürk and Latife, despite the president repeatedly exiling the Okyars.