Mehmet Recep Peker (; 5 February 1889 – 1 April 1950) was a Turkish military officer and politician. A heavy-handed modernist, he served in various ministerial posts and finally as the

Prime Minister of Turkey The prime minister of Turkey, officially the prime minister of the Republic of Turkey (), was the head of government of the Turkey, Republic of Turkey from 1920 to 2018, who led a political coalition in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, Tu ...

between 1946 and 1947.

Early life

Born in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

on 5 February 1889, his father was named Mustafa and was of Lezgi descent, migrated to

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

from the

Dagestan Dagestan ( ; ; ), officially the Republic of Dagestan, is a republic of Russia situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, along the Caspian Sea. It is located north of the Greater Caucasus, and is a part of the North Caucasian Fede ...

region of the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

. He studied at the Military College following his graduation from the Kuleli Military High School, where he enrolled after completing his primary and secondary education at Koca Mustafa Pasha Primary School and Military Middle School. After finishing the academy in the rank of a lieutenant in 1907, he was assigned to the staff officer class. Recep Peker took part at the battles of

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

Özkaya, Ahmet. ''Recep Peker'in Kişiliği ve İdeolojilere Bakışı'' and

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans, Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan states of Kingdom of Greece (Glücksburg), Greece, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Montenegro, M ...

Thrace Thrace (, ; ; ; ) is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe roughly corresponding to the province of Thrace in the Roman Empire. Bounded by the Balkan Mountains to the north, the Aegean Sea to the south, and the Black Se ...

and

campaigns of the

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 ...

. He graduated in 1919, as the first of his class, from the Staff College to which he entered in 1911. At the second half of 1919, he served as assistant teacher of history of war at the Military Academy. He joined 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 ...

as a squadron leader on the 4th of February 1920.

Politics

He was appointed secretary general of the

Grand National Assembly of Turkey The Grand National Assembly of Turkey ( ), usually referred to simply as the GNAT or TBMM, also referred to as , in Turkish, is the Unicameralism, unicameral Turkey, Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by ...

on 23 April 1920, the day the parliament was opened. He served in this position more than three years. In the time between his appointment as the parliament's secretary general until the

Battle of Sakarya The Battle of the Sakarya (), also known as the Battle of the Sangarios (), was an important engagement in the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922). The battle went on for 21 days from August 23 to September 13, 1921, close to the banks of the Sakar ...

, he served in addition as the chief of Second Branch Office at the General Staff. On 12 July 1923, he was re-elected into the parliament as the deputy from

Kütahya Kütahya (; historically, Cotyaeum or Kotyaion; Ancient Greek, Greek: Κοτύαιον) is a city in western Turkey which lies on the Porsuk River, at 969 metres above sea level. It is the seat of Kütahya Province and Kütahya District. In 19 ...

. He was the Minister of Finance between 6 March and 22 November 1924, and Minister of Interior and on commission the Minister of Barter and Minister of Development and Housing. Peker was appointed as the Minister of National Defence on 4 March 1926, and the Minister of Public Works in 1927. He was elected the parliamentary group spokesman and secretary general of the

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) in 1928. Recep Peker initiated the introduction of the "History of the Revolution" in the school curricula. He taught Republican Ideology at universities in

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

and Istanbul in the academic year 1933-1934. His classes were known as revolution lessons ''(İnkılap Dersleri)''. He wrote a book about it. He supported the idea that women should be liberated from the sack (the veil) and that the

Arabic alphabet The Arabic alphabet, or the Arabic abjad, is the Arabic script as specifically codified for writing the Arabic language. It is a unicase, unicameral script written from right-to-left in a cursive style, and includes 28 letters, of which most ...

should be replaced by a Latin based alphabet. On 17 August 1942, he was appointed Minister of Interior in the cabinet of

Şükrü Saracoğlu Mehmet Şükrü Saracoğlu (; 17 June 1887 – 27 December 1953) was a Turkish people, Turkish politician, the fifth prime minister of Turkey and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Turkey), Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs during the early stag ...

serving nine months. Recep Peker became the first prime minister of the multi-party period on 7 August 1946, however Peker was a strong advocate of

statism In political science, statism or etatism (from French, ''état'' 'state') is the doctrine that the political authority of the state is legitimate to some degree. This may include economic and social policy, especially in regard to taxation ...

and the authoritarian one-party state. As prime minister, he opposed democratization and the introduction of the multi-party system. He served in this position until 7 September 1947. In 1948, he retired from political life. Recep Peker died on 2 April 1950, and was laid to rest at the

Edirnekapı Martyr's Cemetery The Edirnekapı Martyr's Cemetery (), one of the largest burial grounds of Istanbul, Turkey, is located in the neighborhood of Edirnekapı of Eyüp district, in the European part of the city. It consists of an old, historical part and a mode ...

in Istanbul.

References