Mustafa Necati, also known as Mustafa Necati Uğural (1894 - January 1, 1929) was a Turkish statesman in the early years of the

Turkish Republic 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 in ...

, who served as the Minister of National Education during the reform period. He died before the Turkish

Surname Law Surname law can refer to any law regulating the use of surnames. Canada From 1941 to 1978, the Government of Canada issued disc numbers to identify Inuit in their records. In the mid-1960s Project Surname began, and, headed by Abe Okpik, Inuit ...

was adopted and the surname Uğural is actually the surname his family members adopted after his death.

Early years

Mustafa Necati was born in 1894 in

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 ...

. His father was Halit and his mother was Naciye. After his primary and secondary education in İzmir, he went to

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

for higher education and studied law. He returned to İzmir in 1914 to serve as a lawyer and teacher. In 1915 he established a private school with his friend

Vasıf Çınar Hüseyin Vasıf Çınar (1895–1935) was a Turkish educator, politician, journalist and diplomat. Early years He was born on Crete. He was of Kurdish descend, and was the son of Abdullah Hulusi Bey, a son of Emir Bedirkhan, Emir of the Boh ...

. He also served as a legal adviser for the local railway company. After 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 fightin ...

in which the

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) ...

was defeated, the Allies fired the railway workers. He tried to defend the workers' rights by establishing a committee. Later he expanded his activities to defend the rights of the reserve officiers who returned from the front. After İzmir was

occupied ' (Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 October ...

by the

Greek army The Hellenic Army ( el, Ελληνικός Στρατός, Ellinikós Stratós, sometimes abbreviated as ΕΣ), formed in 1828, is the land force of Greece. The term ''Hellenic'' is the endogenous synonym for ''Greek''. The Hellenic Army is the ...

, he fled to Istanbul and then to

Balıkesir Balıkesir () is a city in Turkey and is the capital city of Balıkesir Province. Balıkesir is located in the Marmara region of Turkey and has a population of 338,936. Between 1341–1922, it was the capital of Karasi. History Close to ...

, where he began to participate in the

Turkish War of Independence The Turkish War of Independence "War of Liberation", also known figuratively as ''İstiklâl Harbi'' "Independence War" or ''Millî Mücadele'' "National Struggle" (19 May 1919 – 24 July 1923) was a series of military campaigns waged by th ...

. Among other things he published a short lived newspaper named ''İzmir'e Doğru'' ("Towards İzmir") to defend Turkish rights against Greek invasion.University of Balıkesir periodical
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As a politician during the War of Independence

After the

Ottoman parliament The General Assembly ( tr, Meclis-i Umumî (French romanization: "Medjliss Oumoumi" ) or ''Genel Parlamento''; french: Assemblée Générale) was the first attempt at representative democracy by the imperial government of the Ottoman Empire. Als ...

in Istanbul was abolished by the Allies on 16 March 1920,

Turkish parliament The Grand National Assembly of Turkey ( tr, ), usually referred to simply as the TBMM or Parliament ( tr, or ''Parlamento''), is the unicameral Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by the Turkish Consti ...

was established 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, maki ...

on 23 April 1920 and Mustafa Necati was elected as the Saruhan (present Manisa) MP. However, during the 1920-1922 term he spent most of his time out of Ankara. He was appointed as the member of Independence Tribunals in

Sivas Sivas (Latin and Greek: ''Sebastia'', ''Sebastea'', Σεβάστεια, Σεβαστή, ) is a city in central Turkey and the seat of Sivas Province. The city, which lies at an elevation of in the broad valley of the Kızılırmak river, is ...

and then

Kastamonu Kastamonu is the capital district of the Kastamonu Province, Turkey. According to the 2000 census, population of the district is 102,059 of which 64,606 live in the urban center of Kastamonu. (Population of the urban center in 2010 is 91,012.) The ...

. Finally he was appointed as the chairman of

Amasya Amasya () is a city in northern Turkey and is the capital of Amasya Province, in the Black Sea Region. It was called Amaseia or Amasia in antiquity."Amasya" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th ...

Independence Tribunal.

As a politician in the Republic of Turkey

As soon as the Republic was proclaimed on 29 October 1923, Mustafa Necati became a government minister of

İsmet İnönü 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 tim ...

’s cabinets. His first seat was Minister of Exchange Construction and Settlement in the

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 O ...

. This was a very important seat for its main responsibility was the

Population exchange between Greece and Turkey The 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey ( el, Ἡ Ἀνταλλαγή, I Antallagí, ota, مبادله, Mübâdele, tr, Mübadele) stemmed from the "Convention Concerning the Exchange of Greek and Turkish Populations" signed at ...

. In the 2nd government of Turkey he was the

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

. However his most important seat was that of Minister of National Education following a revision in the

4th government of Turkey The 4th government of Turkey (3 March 1925 – 1 November 1927) was a government in the history of Turkey. It is also called ''the third İnönü government''. Background The government was formed after the previous government led by Fethi Oky ...

. As such he presented the draft bill which allowed the establishment of the Language Council to the Turkish Parliament in March 1926. He kept this post in the 5th government of Turkey till his death.

Nation schools

Up to 1928 the Arabic script was used in Turkey. However, the

Turkish language Turkish ( , ), also referred to as Turkish of Turkey (''Türkiye Türkçesi''), is the most widely spoken of the Turkic languages, with around 80 to 90 million speakers. It is the national language of Turkey and Northern Cyprus. Significant sma ...

has 8 vowels and the Arabic script remained incapable in reproducing the Turkish words. Nevertheless, being the script of

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...

it was considered to be inalterable. But president Atatürk decided to adopt

Latin alphabet The Latin alphabet or Roman alphabet is the collection of letters originally used by the ancient Romans to write the Latin language. Largely unaltered with the exception of extensions (such as diacritics), it used to write English and th ...

(with small changes). Moreover, he insisted that the reform should be carried out immediately. In addition to adding the Latin alphabet to school curricula, short term courses for the adults called Nation's schools ( tr, Millet Mektebi) were established. As the minister of National Education, Mustafa Necati was responsible for establishing these courses. The courses were successful and Necati was later considered to be one of the pioneers of the new

Turkish alphabet The Turkish alphabet ( tr, ) is a Latin-script alphabet used for writing the Turkish language, consisting of 29 letters, seven of which ( Ç, Ğ, I, İ, Ö, Ş and Ü) have been modified from their Latin originals for the phonetic require ...

Death

Mustafa Necati died due to

appendicitis Appendicitis is inflammation of the appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these typical symptoms. Severe complications of a ru ...

on 1 January 1929, the very same day the Nation Schools were opened. The next day he was laid to rest in Cebeci Asri Cemetery in Ankara.

Discussion on Mustafa Necati’s house

In 2006 Mustafa Necati’s 3 story house, in Ankara on Mithatpaşa Caddesi, was set to be handed over to a restaurant chain, which sparked vigorous protests. Following an intense debate, the

decided, in 2008, to convert the house to a cultural center for MPs.

Mustafa Necati in sports

Mustafa Necati was one of the founders of Altay sports club in 1914.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Necati, Mustafa 1894 births 1929 deaths Republican People's Party (Turkey) politicians Burials at Cebeci Asri Cemetery Istanbul University alumni Istanbul University Faculty of Law alumni Deaths from appendicitis Ministers of National Education of Turkey Altay S.K. Recipients of the Medal of Independence with Red-Green Ribbon (Turkey) 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 2nd Parliament of Turkey