Åžaban KarataÅŸ

Şaban Karataş (1928–2016) was a Turkish academic and conservative politician who was the director general of the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) between 1976 and 1977. He served at the Parliament in the late 1970s and 1990s. He joined different right-wing political parties, including the Justice Party, the Welfare Party and the Nationalist Movement Party.

Early life and education

KarataÅŸ was born in a village of EreÄŸli, Konya, in 1928. He graduated from the Faculty of Agriculture at Ankara University in 1953 receiving a degree in agricultural engineering. He obtained a Ph.D. in zootechnics from the same university in 1958. He also received a Ph.D. in statistics and pursued his post-doctorate studies in biometry and animal breedingat Cornell University, USA, between 1958 and 1961.

Career and activities

Karataş joined his alma mater as a research assistant on 30 June 1955. Then he began to teach at Atatürk University and was promoted to associated professor of biostatistics on 29 November 1962. He served as the chair of the Zootechnics Department at Ankara University between 18 March 1965 and 30 June 1966 and became a full professor on 30 June 1966. Then he worked as the dean of the Faculty of Science and Literature and the Faculty of Agriculture at Atatürk University.

Karataş was appointed director general of the TRT in January 1976 replacing Nevzat Yalçıntaş in the post. Karataş's tenure ended on 22 June 1977 when the Council of State annulled his appointment as a result of Bülent Ecevit's complaint against him and the TRT. His successor in the post was Cengiz Taşer.

KarataÅŸ was elected as a member of the Parliament in the 1979 by-election for the Justice Party representing Konya. His tenure was very brief due to the military coup on 12 September 1980. Following the coup KarataÅŸ was among the Justice Party members whose political activities were banned by the military rule.

After his ban was lifted in 1987 KarataÅŸ served as the head of the Ankara branch of the Intellectuals' Hearth. He became a member of the Parliament in the 1995 general election for the Welfare Party from Ankara. He joined the Nationalist Movement Party when the Welfare Party was banned in January 1998. KarataÅŸ's tenure at the Parliament ended in 1999 when he did not win his seat from Konya in the general election.

Karataş was also a member of the Middle East Technical University's board of trustees. He was the founding chair of the Bezmialem Vakıf University's board of trustees.

Work and views

Karataş published a book entitled ''İstatistiğe Giriş'' () in 1963. He also published a book on his term at the TRT entitled ''TRT Kavgası'' ().

KarataÅŸ was respectful for the will of the nation and extremely loyal to the Republic of Turkey, but he was not a Kemalist.

Personal life and death

Karataş was married and had two children. He died in Ankara on 14 February 2016 and was buried in the Gölbaşı cemetery on 16 February.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karatas, Saban
20th-century Turkish non-fiction writers
21st-century Turkish non-fiction writers
1928 births
2016 deaths
Ankara University alumni
Nationalist Movement Party politicians
Welfare Party politicians
Justice Party (Turkey) politicians
Deputies of Ankara
Deputies of Konya
Members of the 16th Parliament of Turkey
Members of the 20th government of Turkey
Turkish Radio and Television Corporation people
Academic staff of Ankara University
Academic staff of Atatürk University
People from EreÄŸli, Konya
Cornell University alumni
Turkish statisticians
20th-century Turkish engineers
Agricultural engineers
Turkish academic administrators