Ahmet Ali Çelikten
in the official website of the Naval Air Base Command of the

Turkish Naval Forces The Turkish Naval Forces (), or Turkish Navy (), is the naval warfare service branch of the TAF. The modern naval traditions and customs of the Turkish Navy can be traced back to 10 July 1920, when it was established as the ''Directorate o ...

. Dünyanın ilk siyahi pilotu: ARAP AHMET -4 "Pilotlarla Dolu Bir Aile"
, '' Posta'', 20 March 2011. (born İzmirli Alioğlu Ahmed; 1883 – 24 June 1969), also known as İzmirli Ali Ahmet (English: Ahmet Ali from

İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...

), was a Turkish aviator of Afro-Turkish descent regarded as the first

black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

pilot in history. He was one of the first black men to become a

fighter pilot A fighter pilot or combat pilot is a Military aviation, military aviator trained to engage in air-to-air combat, Air-to-ground weaponry, air-to-ground combat and sometimes Electronic-warfare aircraft, electronic warfare while in the cockpit of ...

, receiving his "wings" in 1914. He was one of the few black pilots in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, similar to

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

Eugene Jacques Bullard Eugene Jacques Bullard (born Eugene James Bullard; October 9, 1895 – October 12, 1961) was one of the first African-American military pilots, although Bullard flew for France, not the United States. Bullard was one of the few black combat pilo ...

(flying for France),

William Robinson Clarke Sergeant William Robinson Clarke (4 October 1895 – 26 April 1981) was a Jamaican World War I airman who was the first Black pilot to fly for Britain. Early life Clarke was born in Kingston, Jamaica, on 4 October 1895, son of Egbert Clarke an ...

from

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

(flying for Britain),

Pierre Réjon Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

flying for FranceUne autre histoire
/ref> and from

Eritrea Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...

(flying for Italy).

Biography

Ahmet was born in 1883 in

in the Vilayet of Aidin located in the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

.Dünyanın ilk siyahi pilotu: ARAP AHMET -1
''Posta'', 20 March 2011. His mother, Zenciye Emine Hanım, was of Nigerian descent; his father, Ali Bey, was also Afro-Turkish.Dünyanın ilk siyahi pilotu: ARAP AHMET -2
''Posta'', 20 March 2011. The family fled from Cairo, Egypt to Crete because Egypt was occupied by the French in the years 1798–1801, afterwards moving from Crete to İzmir. He aimed to become a sailor and entered the Naval Technical School ''Haddehâne Mektebi'' (literally "School of the Blooming Mill") in 1904. In 1908, he graduated from this school as a

First Lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a se ...

(''Mülâzım-ı evvel''). And then he went to aviation courses in the Naval Flight School (''Deniz Tayyare Mektebi''), formed on 25 June 1914 at

Yeşilköy (; meaning "Green Village"; prior to 1926, San Stefano or Santo Stefano , ) is an affluent neighbourhood () in the municipality and district of Bakırköy, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its population is 25,039 (2022). on the Marmara Sea about ...

. He was then a member of the

Ottoman Air Force The Aviation Squadrons of the Ottoman Empire were military aviation units of the Ottoman Army and Navy.Edward J. Erickson, ''Ordered To Die: A History of the Ottoman Army in the First World War'', "Appendix D The Ottoman Aviation Inspectorate ...

. During

, he married Hatice Hanım (1897–1991) who was a Turkish war immigrant from

Preveza Preveza (, ) is a city in the region of Epirus (region), Epirus, northwestern Greece, located on the northern peninsula of the mouth of the Ambracian Gulf. It is the capital of the Preveza (regional unit), regional unit of Preveza, which is the s ...

. He became one of the first black military pilots in aviation history on 11 November 1916. On 14 February 1917, Ahmet Ali was made a

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

(''Yüzbaşı'') and was then sent to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

on 18 December 1917 to complete aviation courses.DÜNYANIN İLK SİYAH PİLOTU: ARAP AHMET
, ''Havervitrin'', 8 March 2011. Following the completion of these courses, he was assigned to the İzmir Naval Aircraft Company. His Code Name was "Celik Kara Kartal" - Black Eagle of Steel, derived from his name. Following the end of World War I, Ahmet Ali became involved in the

Turkish War of Independence , strength1 = May 1919: 35,000November 1920: 86,000Turkish General Staff, ''Türk İstiklal Harbinde Batı Cephesi'', Edition II, Part 2, Ankara 1999, p. 225August 1922: 271,000Celâl Erikan, Rıdvan Akın: ''Kurtuluş Savaşı tarih ...

and supported the

Turkish National Movement The Turkish National Movement (), also known as the Anatolian Movement (), the Nationalist Movement (), and the Kemalists (, ''Kemalciler'' or ''Kemalistler''), included political and military activities of the Turkish revolutionaries that resu ...

. He volunteered his services as a pilot at the Konya Military Air Base, in

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. In 19th-century accounts of the city in En ...

, Turkey. At this time, Turkish Nationalists enacted a plan to steal airplanes from Ottoman warehouses and bring them to

Amasra Amasra (from Greek language, Greek Amastris Ἄμαστρις, ''gen''. Ἀμάστριδος) is a small Black Sea port town in the Bartın Province, Turkey. It is the seat of Amasra District.Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

. Ahmed was sent to Amasra in 1922 in order to assist with this operation. Pilots utilized these airplanes to monitor the Black Sea and protect their naval operations. Upon the establishment of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, a division was created to move aviation operations from Konya to

. Ahmet was assigned to this division and continued his service in İzmir. In 1928, he was appointed to the Air Undersecretariat, a division of the

Turkish Air Force The Turkish Air Force () is the Air force, air and space force of the Turkish Armed Forces. It traces its origins to 1 June 1911 when it was founded as the Ottoman Aviation Squadrons, Aviation Squadrons by the Ottoman Empire. It was composed ...

which operated under the

Ministry of National Defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divide ...

. He was Honored by the "Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Istiklal Madalyasi" (Independence Medal) with the Nr: 480 in 1924 by

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish field marshal and revolutionary statesman who was the founding father of the Republic of Turkey, serving as its first President of Turkey, president from 1923 until Death an ...

– and Ismet Inönü for his bravery in the

. Ahmet Ali retired in 1949 as Türk Hava Kuvvetleri Albayi (Colonel) the Turkish Air Force. He thereafter devoted his time to his family and led a secluded life. He died on 24 June 1969 in İzmir, Turkey. Ahmet Ali´s grandchildren are widely active in the Aviation Industry in Turkey. They live in İzmir.

Legacy

To quote David Nicolle's book, ''The Ottoman Army 1904–1918'', "Most Ottoman aircrew were recruited from the Turkish heartland ... others came from the Arab provinces of the Ottoman Empire as far south as Yemen, or even from neutral Iran. Captain Ahmet was a mix of Arab-African and Turkish origin and may have been the first 'Black' Air Force pilot in aviation history, having received his 'wings' in 1914-15." The book features a photo of Ahmet in front of a Bleriot XI-2 trainer at the Yeşilköy flying school. The same photo is featured in "Over the Front", Volume 9, No. 3, Fall 1994. Ahmet's "wings" would seem to have been earned prior to Bullard's earning his brevet No. 6259 on 20 July 1917, though Bullard is often cited as history's first black military aviator.

Gallery

File:Ahmet_Ali_Celikten_in_flight_suit.jpg, Ahmet Ali in flight suit with officers wearing a fez in the background. File:DenizTayyareMektebi.jpg, Ottoman naval aviators of the Naval Flight School (''Deniz Tayyare Mektebi'') at

; ''left to right'': pilot Ahmet Ali (Çelikten), Sami (Uçan), İhsan and observer Hüseyin Kâmil (Görgün). File:Ottoman Pilots.jpg, Ottoman pilots in 1914/1915 next to a

Blériot XI-2 Blériot may refer to: * Louis Blériot, a French aviation pioneer * Blériot Aéronautique, an aircraft manufacturer founded by Louis Blériot * Blériot-Whippet, a car * Bleriot (moonlet), a propeller moonlet in Saturn's A Ring * 11248 Blériot E ...

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...

. Ahmet Ali Çelikten can be seen next to the propeller.

References

External links

"Dünyanın ilk siyah pilotu: Arap Ahmet" (World's first Black pilot)
NTVMSNBC, 7 March 2011.
"Dünyanın ilk siyah pilotu: Arap Ahmet"
photo gallery in the website of ''

Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah has land borders with the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and Indonesia's North Kalima ...

''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Celikten, Ahmet Ali 1883 births 1969 deaths Military personnel from İzmir People from Aidin vilayet Turkish people of Nigerian descent Aviators from the Ottoman Empire Aviation pioneers Turkish aviators Naval aviators Ottoman Navy officers Ottoman military personnel of World War I World War I pilots from the Ottoman Empire Military aviation in the Ottoman Empire Turkish military personnel of the Turkish War of Independence Turkish Navy officers Nigerian people of World War I

Biography

Legacy

Gallery

References

Further reading

External links