Osman Mümtaz Soysal (15 September 1929 – 11 November 2019) was a

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

professor of constitutional law, political scientist, politician,

human rights activist A human rights defender or human rights activist is a person who, individually or with others, acts to promote or protect human rights. They can be journalists, environmentalists, whistleblowers, trade unionists, lawyers, teachers, housing campai ...

, ex-prisoner of conscience, senior advisor, columnist, and author. Soysal served as the 30th

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

in 1994. He was a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

in 1961 and

Grand National Assembly Great National Assembly or Grand National Assembly may refer to: * Great National Assembly of Alba Iulia, an assembly of Romanian delegates that declared the unification of Transylvania and Romania * Great National Assembly (Socialist Republic of R ...

from 1991 to 1999. He actively contributed to the constitutions of Turkey (1961) and the DR Congo (2006). He was constitutional advisor of the

President of Northern Cyprus The president of Northern Cyprus is the head of state of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Rauf Denktaş was the first and founding president of Northern Cyprus, and retired in 2005. His position was taken over by Mehmet Ali Talat, follow ...

Rauf Denktaş Rauf Raif Denktaş (27 January 1924 – 13 January 2012) was a Turkish Cypriot politician, barrister and jurist who served as the founding president of Northern Cyprus. He occupied this position as the president of the Turkish Republic of North ...

. He was elected to

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

International Executive Committee in September 1974 as the first Turkish and the first ex-prisoner of conscience member ever. He served as the vice-chairman of Amnesty International from 1976 to 1978. He became the first winner of the

UNESCO Prize for Human Rights Education The UNESCO/Bilbao Prize for the Promotion of a Culture of Human Rights, created in 1978 as the UNESCO Prize for Human Rights Education to mark the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, serves to honour the ef ...

in 1978. As a hard-line Kemalist statist, Mümtaz Soysal persistently worked against

privatisation Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...

policies and initiatives of Turkish governments, especially in the 1990s. He founded Center for Development of Public Enterprise in April 1994, and the organisation was converted to a foundation in 1996. Mümtaz Soysal was member of the

Republican People's Party The Republican People's Party ( tr, Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi, , acronymized as CHP ) is a Kemalist and social-democratic political party in Turkey which currently stands as the main opposition party. It is also the oldest political party ...

, the Social Democratic Populist Party and the Democratic Left Party. In 2002, he founded the Independent Republican Party with many academics and served as the first chairman of the party from 2002 to 2014.

Early life and career

He was born on 15 September 1929 in

Zonguldak Zonguldak () is a city and the capital of Zonguldak Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey. It was established in 1849 as a port town for the nearby coal mines in Ereğli and the coal trade remains its main economic activity. According to the ...

, Turkey to Osman Muhtar, a naval kol aghassi and his wife Samiye. He graduated from

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 ...

and went in to the

Ankara University Ankara University ( tr, Ankara Üniversitesi) is a public university in Ankara, the capital city of Turkey. It was the first higher education institution founded in Turkey after the formation of the republic in 1923. The university has 40 vocat ...

where he earned degrees from the Faculty of Political Science, also known as SBF, and the law faculty. Soysal became a professor of constitutional law at Ankara University. He then entered the

Constituent Assembly of Turkey The Constituent Assembly of Turkey ( tr, TBMM 1961 Kurucu Meclisi), also called the Chamber of Deputies, existed from 6 January 1961 to 24 October 1961. It was established by the military rule of 1960 Turkish coup d'état. About half of the members ...

after the 1960 military coup and helped write the

Turkish Constitution of 1961 The Constitution of 1961, officially titled the Constitution of the Republic of Turkey ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Anayasası), was the fundamental law of Turkey from 1961 to 1982. It was introduced following the 1960 ''coup d'état'', replacin ...

. Soysal became involved in left-wing politics as one of the founders of ''

Yön ''Yön'' ( Turkish: ''Direction'') was a weekly Turkish political magazine published between 1961 and 1967. It was a Kemalist and leftist magazine. In fact, ''Yön'' was more than a publication in that its contributors represented a political mov ...

'', a left-wing political magazine founded in 1961. He also became the dean of SBF, which was known at the time for its leftist politics.

Arrest

The 1971 military coup ended his tenure as dean and later led to his detention. He was also the editor-in-chief of a newly founded weekly political magazine, '' Ortam'', when he was arrested. He was arrested and charged with making communist propaganda. For this, he was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison and a lifetime ban from public office. He served just over 14 months of the sentence and later received a pardon. For his detention, he was listed as an

prisoner of conscience. In 1974, he became the first former prisoner of conscience to serve on the International Executive Committee of Amnesty International. He served on the organization’s board until 1976, becoming its vice chairman.

Later career

In 1991, as a member of the Social Democratic Populist Party and won election to the

in coalition with Prime Minister

Süleyman Demirel Süleyman Sami Demirel (; 1 November 1924 – 17 June 2015) was a Turkish people, Turkish politician, engineer, and statesman who served as the List of Presidents of Turkey, 9th President of Turkey from 1993 to 2000. He previously served as the ...

’s

True Path Party The True Path Party ( tr, Doğru Yol Partisi, DYP) was a centre-right political party in Turkey, active from 1983 to 2007. For most of its history, the party's central figure was Süleyman Demirel, a former Prime Minister of Turkey who previously ...

. He was a critic of government policies as a member of the assembly. He was appointed as

by Prime minister

Tansu Çiller Tansu Çiller (; born 24 May 1946) is a Turkish academic, economist and politician who served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Turkey from 1993 to 1996. She is Turkey's first and only female prime minister to date. As the leader of the True Path P ...

but resigned only four months later. Soysal wrote columns for the daily ''

Milliyet ''Milliyet'' ( Turkish for "''nationality''") is a Turkish daily newspaper published in Istanbul, Turkey. History and profile ''Milliyet'' came to publishing life at the Nuri Akça press in Babıali, Istanbul as a daily private newspaper on 3 ...

'' between 1974 and 1991, for ''

Hürriyet ''Hürriyet'' (, ''Liberty'') is one of the major Turkish newspapers, founded in 1948. , it had the highest circulation of any newspaper in Turkey at around 319,000. ''Hürriyet'' has a mainstream, liberal and conservative outlook. ''Hürriyet ...

'' between 1991 and 2001, and for ''

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 Pres ...

'' after 2001.

Personal life

He was married to

Sevgi Soysal Sevgi Soysal (born Sevgi Yenen; September 30, 1936 – November 22, 1976) was a Turkish writer. Personal life She was born in Istanbul on September 30, 1936 as the third child of six to Mithat Yenen, an architect-civil servant, and his Germa ...

(until her death in 1976). Later he married Sevinç Karasapan Soysal. He had two daughters, Defne (1973) and Funda (1975) and two step-sons. Mümtaz Soysal died at the age of 90 on 11 November 2019 at his home in

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul, Turkey, located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and Şişli, on the west by Kağıthane and Şişli, on the south by Beyoğlu, and ...

, Istanbul, Turkey. He was interred at

Zincirlikuyu Cemetery __NOTOC__ The Zincirlikuyu Cemetery ( tr, Zincirlikuyu Mezarlığı) is a modern burial ground residing on the European part of Istanbul, Turkey. It is administered by the Metropolitan Municipality. Many prominent figures from the world of polit ...

following the religious funeral service at Zincirlikuyu Mosque.

References

External links

* Who is Who database
''Biography of Prof. Dr. Mümtaz Soysal''
* Biyografi.net
''Biography of Mümtaz Soysal''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Soysal, Mumtaz 1929 births People from Zonguldak Galatasaray High School alumni Ankara University Faculty of Political Sciences alumni Ankara University Faculty of Law alumni Alumni of the London School of Economics Academic staff of Ankara University Turkish legal scholars Kemalists Turkish human rights activists Turkish magazine founders Turkish prisoners and detainees Amnesty International prisoners of conscience held by Turkey Republican People's Party (Turkey) politicians Social Democratic People's Party (Turkey) politicians Democratic Left Party (Turkey) politicians Leaders of political parties in Turkey Deputies of Ankara Deputies of Zonguldak Members of the Constituent Assembly of Turkey Members of the 19th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 20th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 50th government of Turkey Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Turkey Turkish columnists Milliyet people Hürriyet people Cumhuriyet people 2019 deaths Burials at Zincirlikuyu Cemetery