Refik Koraltan (1889 – June 17, 1974) was a Turkish politician, having served as the Speaker of the

Grand National Assembly of Turkey 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 ...

(TBMM) from May 22, 1950 to May 27, 1960.

Biography

Koraltan was born in

Divriği Divriği (formerly Tephrike, Greek: Τεφρική) is a small town and district of Sivas Province of Turkey. The town lies on gentle slope on the south bank of the Çaltısuyu river, a tributary of the Karasu river. The Great Mosque and Hospit ...

Sivas Province Sivas Province ( tr, ) is a province of Turkey. It is largely located at the eastern part of the Central Anatolia region of Turkey; it is the second largest province in Turkey by territory. Its adjacent provinces are Yozgat to the west, Kays ...

, in 1889, the son of Ali Bey, a local leading citizen. Although he was known as Refik Koraltan, the name on his birth record was Bekir Refik. After completing the primary and middle education in Divriği, Koraltan studied at Istanbul Mercan High School. He graduated from Istanbul Faculty of Law in 1914.

Political career

Koraltan entered public service as an assistant prosecutor and became the Attorney General of

Karaman Karaman, historically known as Laranda (Greek: Λάρανδα), is a city in south central Turkey, located in Central Anatolia, north of the Taurus Mountains, about south of Konya. It is the capital district of the Karaman Province. According t ...

in 1915. He was assigned as police inspector on March 2, 1918 and charged as Chief of Police of

Trabzon Trabzon (; Ancient Greek: Tραπεζοῦς (''Trapezous''), Ophitic Pontic Greek: Τραπεζούντα (''Trapezounta''); Georgian: ტრაპიზონი (''Trapizoni'')), historically known as Trebizond in English, is a city on the Bl ...

on May 29, 1918. During this duty, he facilitated the establishment of the "Society of Defence of the National Rights to counteract the Pontus Rum Organizations" that started to appear after the end of

World War I 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 ...

. He was elected in the TBMM as the Deputy of

Konya Konya () is a major city in central Turkey, on the southwestern edge of the Central Anatolian Plateau, and is the capital of Konya Province. During antiquity and into Seljuk times it was known as Iconium (), although the Seljuks also called it D ...

in 1920 and reelected from the same city for three more terms. He served as Governor of Bursa Province from 1939 to 1942.Bursa Gazeteciler Cemiyeti
VALİ (Bursa valileri)
/ref> He served briefly as governor of Konya Province before returning to the parliament six more terms. In 1946, he quit from the CHP and formed the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

together with Celal Bayar,

Adnan Menderes Adnan 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 Turkey. He ...

and

Mehmet Fuat Köprülü Mehmet Fuat Köprülü (December 5, 1890 – June 28, 1966), also known as Köprülüzade Mehmed Fuad, was a highly influential Turkish sociologist, turkologist, scholar, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister of the Republi ...

. Finally, he served as the Speaker of the TBMM from May 22, 1950 until May 27, 1960. Koraltan died on June 17, 1974 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, ...

, and is buried 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 ...

Personal life

Koraltan was married with four children.

References

Sources

* Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the General Directorate of Cultural Heritages and Museums {{DEFAULTSORT:Koraltan, Refik 1889 births 1974 deaths People from Divriği Republican People's Party (Turkey) politicians Democrat Party (Turkey, 1946–1961) politicians 20th-century Turkish politicians Istanbul University Faculty of Law alumni Turkish civil servants Turkish jurists Deputies of Konya Speakers of the Parliament of Turkey Governors (Turkey) Governors of Bursa Deputies of Mersin Burials at Cebeci Asri Cemetery Grand Crosses 1st class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany