Fatin Rüştü Zorlu (20 April 1910 – 16 September 1961) was a Turkish

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. He was executed by hanging after the coup d'état in 1960 along with two other politicians.

Early life and education

He was born on 20 April 1910 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, ...

to a family originating from the village of Zor,

Artvin Artvin (Laz language, Laz and ; hy, Արտուին, translit=Artuin) is a List of cities in Turkey, city in northeastern Turkey about inland from the Black Sea. It is located on a hill overlooking the Çoruh, Çoruh River near the Deriner Dam ...

in northeastern

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. After finishing high school at

Galatasaray High School Galatasaray High School ( tr, Galatasaray Lisesi, french: Lycée de Galatasaray), established in what was then Constantinople and is now Istanbul, in 1481, is the oldest high school in Turkey. It is also the second-oldest Turkish educational in ...

, Zorlu was educated in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

at the

Institut d'études politiques de Paris , motto_lang = fr , mottoeng = Roots of the Future , type = Public research university''Grande école'' , established = , founder = Émile Boutmy , accreditation ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and in law at the

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by John Calvin as a theological seminary. It remained focused on theology until the 17th centu ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

Political career

Returning to Turkey, Zorlu began his career as a diplomat in 1932 in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From 1938 on, he served at various posts in embassies and consulates in

Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...

(Switzerland),

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

(France),

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

(

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

(

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

) and at the ministry in Ankara as well. Following Turkey’s joining of

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 ...

on 18 February 1952 he was appointed ambassador to NATO at the

Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) is the military headquarters of the NATO, North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) Allied Command Operations (ACO) that commands all NATO operations worldwide. ACO's and SHAPE's commander ...

in Paris. In 1954, Zorlu entered politics and was elected into the

Turkish Grand National Assembly 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 ...

as the deputy of

Çanakkale Çanakkale (pronounced ), ancient ''Dardanellia'' (), is a city and seaport in Turkey in Çanakkale province on the southern shore of the Dardanelles at their narrowest point. The population of the city is 195,439 (2021 estimate). Çanakkale is ...

for 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 ...

. He served as deputy prime minister between 1954 and 1955 and as minister of state in 1955. In 1955 he was also acting minister of foreign affairs and participated in the Tripartite Conference on

Cyprus problem 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 Modern history of Cyprus#In ...

in London in June that year. He was appointed minister for foreign affairs in 1957 and held the post until 27 May 1960 when the

Turkish Armed Forces The Turkish Armed Forces (TAF; tr, Türk Silahlı Kuvvetleri, TSK) are the military forces of the Republic of Turkey. Turkish Armed Forces consist of the General Staff, the Land Forces, the Naval Forces and the Air Forces. The current Chi ...

staged a coup and ousted the government of Prime Minister

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 ...

. In 1959 he participated along with

in the Bilderberg meeting in Yesilkoy, Turkey. It is rumoured that the coup might have something to do with that meeting. During his tenure as minister of foreign affairs Turkey applied for the membership of the

European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...

in 1959.

Arrest and execution

He was arrested along with other party members, charged with violating the

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

, and put on

trial In law, a trial is a coming together of Party (law), parties to a :wikt:dispute, dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence (law), evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to Adjudication, adjudicate claims or d ...

on the island of

Yassıada Yassıada ( Turkish: Flat Island), officially renamed Democracy and Freedom Island ( Turkish: Demokrasi ve Özğürlükler Adası) in 2013, is one of the Princes' Islands in the Sea of Marmara, to the southeast of Istanbul. In Byzantine times, i ...

. His roommate in the Yassıada prison was

Celal Yardımcı Celal Yardımcı (1911–1986) was a Turkish politician who served as the minister of education and minister of justice in the 1950s. Being a member of the Democrat Party (DP) he was arrested and imprisoned following the military coup in 1960. ...

, a fellow party member and minister of justice. He and Menderes were accused by the court of planning the Istanbul Pogrom. Though both of them rejected the claims, it is believed by scholars that Menderes assented to the organization of protests in İstanbul against the Greeks, but the extent of knowledge of Zorlu, who had been in London for the conference, is unclear. According to Zorlu's lawyer at the Yassiada trial, a mob of 300,000 was marshaled in a radius of around the city for the attacks. Zorlu was sentenced to death and executed by hanging on the island of

İmralı İmralı is a small Turkish prison island in the south of the Sea of Marmara, west of the Armutlu-Bozburun peninsula within Bursa Province. It measures in the north–south direction with a width of , and has an area of . The highest peak is ...

on 16 September 1961 along with Adnan Menderes and

Hasan Polatkan Hasan Polatkan (1915 – 16 September 1961) was a Turkish politician and Minister of Labor and Finance, who was executed by hanging after the coup d'état in 1960 along with two other cabinet members. Early years He was born 1915 in Eski� ...

. He approached the death penalty calm, helped the hangman to lay the noose around his neck.

Personal life

Zorlu married Emel Aras on 29 October 1933. She was the daughter of

Tevfik Rüştü Aras Tevfik Rüştü Aras (1883, Çanakkale – 5 January 1972, Istanbul) was a Turkish politician, serving as deputy and foreign minister of Turkey during the Atatürk era (1923–1938). He played a prominent role in the Armenian genocide. E ...

who was serving as the minister of foreign affairs at that time. Fatin Rüştü Zorlu and Emel Aras had a daughter, Sevin Zorlu (1936–2006), who was a journalist.

Legacy

Many years after his death his grave was moved to a

mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be consid ...

in İstanbul on 17 September 1990 along with the graves of the two other cabinet members hanged.

References

External links

* * Biyografi.info
''Biography of Fatin Rüştü Zorlu''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zorlu, Fatin Rustu 1910 births 1961 deaths Politicians from Istanbul People from Constantinople vilayet Democrat Party (Turkey, 1946–1961) politicians 20th-century diplomats Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Turkey Deputy Prime Ministers of Turkey Deputies of Çanakkale Permanent Representatives of Turkey to NATO Galatasaray High School alumni Executed politicians Executed Turkish people People executed by Turkey by hanging 20th-century executions by Turkey People who have received posthumous pardons Members of the 21st government of Turkey Members of the 23rd government of Turkey Members of the 22nd government of Turkey Grand Crosses 1st class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Politicians arrested in Turkey People expelled from public office Burials at Topkapı Cemetery Istanbul pogrom