Mükerrem Sarol (1909 – 8 November 1995) was a Turkish physician and politician. He was one of the founders of the Democrat Party (DP) which ruled Turkey between 1950 and 1960.

Kemal Karpat Kemal Karpat (15 February 1924, Babadag Tulcea, Romania – 20 February 2019, Manchester, New Hampshire, United States) was a Romanian- Turkish naturalised American historian and professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Early life ...

describes him as part of the "rising professionals" within the early DP leadership. Sarol served at 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 ...

for three terms during the rule of the DP and was the minister of state from 1954 to 1955 in the

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

led by

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Adnan Menderes Ali Adnan Ertekin 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 ...

. Sarol was arrested 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 and was imprisoned between 1960 and 1965.

Early life and education

His father, Osman Nuri Bey, was a military officer in the

Ottoman army The Military of the Ottoman Empire () was the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire. It was founded in 1299 and dissolved in 1922. Army The Military of the Ottoman Empire can be divided in five main periods. The foundation era covers the years ...

and was serving in

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis (from , meaning "three cities") may refer to: Places Greece *Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in the Pelasgiotis district, Thessaly, near Larissa ...

Ottoman Lebanon The Ottoman Empire nominally ruled Mount Lebanon from its conquest in 1516 until the end of World War I in 1918. The Ottoman sultan, Selim I (1516–20), invaded Syria and Lebanon in 1516. The Ottomans, through the Maans, a great Druze feudal f ...

, in 1909 when he was born. Osman Nuri Bey was originally from Gediz, Kütahya, and belonged to a family consisting of military officers. His mother was Fatma Zehra Hanım. He was educated in different cities due to his father's military service. He graduated from the School of Medicine at Darülfünun, precursor of

Istanbul University Istanbul University, also known as University of Istanbul (), is a Public university, public research university located in Istanbul, Turkey. Founded by Mehmed II on May 30, 1453, a day after Fall of Constantinople, the conquest of Constantinop ...

, in 1930. He received his further medical training on

gynecology Gynaecology or gynecology (see American and British English spelling differences) is the area of medicine concerned with conditions affecting the Female reproductive system, female reproductive system. It is often paired with the field of obste ...

and

obstetrics Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a su ...

at the

University of Hamburg The University of Hamburg (, also referred to as UHH) is a public university, public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('':de:Allgemeines Vorlesungswesen, ...

becoming a surgeon in 1938.

Career and activities

Following his graduation Sarol worked as a surgeon in Yozgat and Aydın. Then he was involved in private medical practice in Aydın where he met Adnan Menderes, a native of the city. Sarol's political career began in 1946 when he contributed to the establishment of the local branch of the DP in Aydın. He settled in Istanbul 1947 and worked at the DP's Istanbul branch. He was elected as a deputy from Istanbul in the

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

held on 14 May 1950. Shortly after this he became a member of the DP's administrative board. He founded an Istanbul-based newspaper entitled ''Türk Sesi'' () in 1954. He won his seat in the next

general elections A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...

on 2 May 1954. He was elected as a deputy from Edirne in the

on 27 October 1957. Sarol was appointed minister of state to the third

formed by Adnan Menderes in May 1954. Sarol was in charge of press and political affairs and had to leave his newspaper following his ministerial appointment as a result of the harsh criticisms of the opposition. Sarol was subject to frequent corruption allegations during his tenure which were about the use of the government support for his paper in the form of official advertisements and forced subscriptions. There were other accusations about him in relation to his membership to the Etiler Housing Cooperative in 1954. It was alleged that Sarol had employed extra and unlawful credit from the Turkish Real Estate and Credit Bank for his house, and had been involved in the importation of extra iron for construction of the cooperative to sell it on the

black market A black market is a Secrecy, clandestine Market (economics), market or series of transactions that has some aspect of illegality, or is not compliant with an institutional set of rules. If the rule defines the set of goods and services who ...

. Due to these accusations Prime Minister Menderes asked his resignation on 9 October 1955. Sarol's tenure ended on 12 October 1955. He was elected as a member of the DP's administrative board in November 1955. He was dismissed from the DP on 2 December 1955. He returned the party in June 1957. Sarol was made a member of the commission which was established by the DP on 6 April 1960 to investigate the activities of the opposition party,

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 ...

(CHP). Its task was to produce evidence to initiate an inquiry against the CHP at the Parliament. Sarol was elected as the chairman of the commission on 7 April.

Arrest and later life

Immediately after the military coup on 27 May 1960 Sarol along with other DP politicians was arrested. He was tried by the Supreme Court of Justice in

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

from 14 October 1960 and sentenced to fifteen years in prison. The state took the ownership of his properties, including his house in

Etiler Etiler is a neighbourhood in the municipality and district of Beşiktaş, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its population is 11,258 (2022). It is on the European side of Istanbul, close to the business quarters of Levent and Maslak. Etiler is famous f ...

, Istanbul, in 1961. He was released from prison on 15 January 1965 due to his deteriorating health condition. Sarol joined the Justice Party in 1975.

Personal life and death

Sarol was married to Faliha Sarol and had three children. He was fluent in French and German languages. He died in Istanbul on 8 November 1995.

Work

Sarol published a book on Adnan Menderes in 1983.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sarol, Mukerrem 20th-century Turkish journalists 20th-century Turkish non-fiction writers 20th-century Turkish physicians 1909 births 1995 deaths Democrat Party (Turkey, 1946–1960) politicians Deputies of Istanbul Deputies of Edirne Darülfünun alumni Ministers of state of Turkey Members of the 21st government of Turkey Members of the 9th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 10th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 11th Parliament of Turkey Turkish politicians convicted of corruption People convicted in the Yassıada trials Justice Party (Turkey) politicians Politicians from Tripoli, Lebanon University of Hamburg alumni Turkish surgeons Turkish political party founders Turkish newspaper founders