Saffet Arıkan (1888 – 24 November 1946) was a Turkish politician and former government minister.

Biography

He was born in

Erzincan Erzincan (; ), historically Yerznka (), is the capital of Erzincan Province in eastern Turkey. Nearby cities include Erzurum, Sivas, Tunceli, Bingöl, Elazığ, Malatya, Gümüşhane, Bayburt, and Giresun. The city is majority Turkish Sunni w ...

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 ...

. In 1910 he graduated from the Military Academy. After a brief service in

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 ...

, he was appointed to an office work 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 ...

. In 1915 he fought in the Battle of Gully Ravine (''Kerevizdere'') during the Dardanelles Campaign. Later he also served in the

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...

. After the Ottoman Empire was defeated 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 ...

, he joined the

nationalists Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, Id ...

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 ...

. He served briefly as the military attache of the newly founded

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

in Moscow. Beginning by 8 August 1923, he was elected as an MP in the

2nd Parliament of Turkey The 2nd Grand National Assembly of Turkey existed from 29 October 1923 to 1 September 1927. Actually the parliament members were elected on 11 August 1923, before the Turkey, Republic was proclaimed on 29 October. There were 333 MPs in the parlia ...

. He was reelected in the following terms. In the 8th, 9th and the 10th government of Turkey he was the

Minister of Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

and in the 12th government of Turkey he was the Minister National Defence. Between 1942 and 1944 he was the Turkish ambassador to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. He is known as one of the pioneers of the

Village Institutes Village Institutes (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Köy Enstitüleri'') were a group of rural schools in Turkey founded in accordance with a project led by Hasan Âli Yücel, who was the Ministry of Education (Turkey), Minister of Education at the t ...

. Although the project began after his term in the Ministry of Education, another project called "village trainer" (''Turkish:köy eğitmeni'') which was the predecessor of the village institutes began in 1936 during his term in the office. He is also known as proposing the surname ''Atatürk'' to Turkish national leader

Mustafa Kemal Mustafa () is one of the names of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and the name means "chosen, selected, appointed, preferred", used as an Arabic given name and surname. Mustafa is a common name in the Muslim world. Given name Moustafa * Moustafa A ...

. Arıkan committed suicide on 27 November 1946 in Istanbul.Türkiye'nin 75 Yılı, Tempo Yayıncılık, İstanbul, 1998 p.100

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arikan, Saffet 1888 births 1946 suicides 1946 deaths 20th-century Turkish diplomats People from Erzincan Ministers of national education of Turkey Ministers of national defence of Turkey Ambassadors of Turkey to Germany