Hıfzı Oğuz Bekata (17 March 1911 – 1 September 1995) was a Turkish lawyer and politician who was a long-term deputy and senator for

Republican People's Party The Republican People's Party (RPP; , CHP ) is a Kemalism, Kemalist and Social democracy, social democratic political party in Turkey. It is the oldest List of political parties in Turkey, political party in Turkey, founded by Mustafa Kemal ...

. He was the minister of state and the minister of interior in the coalition cabinets led by

İsmet İnönü Mustafa İsmet İnönü (24 September 1884 – 25 December 1973) was a Turkish politician and military officer who served as the second List of Presidents of Turkey, president of Turkey from 1938 to 1950, and as its Prime Minister of Turkey, pr ...

in the early 1960s. He was also a journalist and poet.

Early life and education

He was born in Ankara,

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 ...

, on 17 March 1911. He completed his secondary education at Bursa High School in 1931. He graduated from the Faculty of Law at

Ankara University Ankara University () is a public university, public research university in Ankara, the capital of Turkey. It was the first higher education institution founded in Turkey after the History of the Republic of Turkey, formation of the Turkish republ ...

in 1935. While attending the university he established a cultural and youth magazine entitled ''Çığır'' () in 1933 which he edited and published until its closure in 1948.

Career and activities

As of 1939 Bekata headed the language, history and literature branch of the People's Houses, a cultural organization. Then he worked at the Ministry of Economy and Trade in various posts. He became a member of the Republican People's Party in 1942 and was elected to the

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

from Ankara in 1943. His tenure at the Parliament lasted until 1950. Then he worked as a freelance lawyer. Bekata was again elected as a deputy in 1957 and served at the Parliament until 1960. Following the

military coup A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

on 27 May 1960 the rule of the Democrat Party ended, and a

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 ...

was formed. Bekata was made a member of the Assembly in 1961. Bekata was appointed minister of state to the

coalition cabinet A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an e ...

formed by

in 1961. He was reappointed to the post on 25 June 1962. Then he was named as the minister of interior in the

next cabinet The is the de facto shadow cabinet of Japan. First used in 1999, it was created by the Democratic Party of Japan while they were the country's main opposition party to the governing coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito. Nex ...

again led by İnönü on 17 October 1962, succeeding Sahir Kurtoğlu in the post. Bekata had to resign from the post on 4 October 1963 due to his conflict with the minister of health, Yusuf Azizoğlu, a member of the New Turkey Party. The tension occurred when Bekata accused Azizoğlu of collaborating with the Kurdist leaders. Bekata was also acting minister of defense in the same cabinet and served as the government spokesman. Bekata's successor as minister of interior was

İlyas Seçkin İlyas Seçkin (1918 – 17 December 1996) was a Turkish civil servant, lawyer, politician and former government minister. Early life and education İlyas Seçkin was born in Ayaş ilçe (district) of Ankara Province, Ottoman Empire in 1918. H ...

. Bekata was elected from Ankara as a senator in 1963 and held the post until 1975. He was among the opponents of the concept of the left of center which was discussed in the CHP congress held in October 1966. Then he joined the 76s group within the party which rejected the leftist policies. Bekata published four books between 1960 and 1970 which were about politics in Turkey and foreign policy of Turkey. He contributed to various publications and also, wrote many poems.

Personal life and death

Bekata was married and had two daughter. He died on 1 September 1995. Bekata's library containing books on history of science, technology, engineering, philosophy of science, political sciences, history and philosophy was donated to

Istanbul Technical University Istanbul Technical University, also known as Technical University of Istanbul (, commonly referred to as İTÜ), is an public university, public technical university located in Istanbul, Turkey. It is the world's third-oldest technical university ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bekata, Hifzi Oguz 1911 births 1995 deaths People from Ankara People from Angora vilayet Republican People's Party (Turkey) politicians Ministers of the interior of Turkey Ministers of state of Turkey Members of the 7th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 8th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 11th Parliament of Turkey Members of the Constituent Assembly of Turkey Deputies of Ankara Members of the Senate of the Republic (Turkey) Turkish magazine founders 20th-century Turkish non-fiction writers 20th-century Turkish lawyers 20th-century Turkish poets Ankara University Faculty of Law alumni