İsmet İnönü

President of Turkey from 1938 to 1950

Mustafa İsmet İnönü (Turkish pronunciation::; 24 September 1884 – 25 December 1973) was a Turkish army officer and statesman who served as the second President of Turkey from 11 November 1938 to 22 May 1950, and its Prime Minister three times: from 1923 to 1924, 1925 to 1937, and 1961 to 1965.

İnönü is acknowledged by many as Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's right-hand man, with their friendship going back to the Gallipoli campaign. In the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922, he served as the first Chief of the General Staff (Turkish: Erkân-ı Harbiye-i Umumiye Reis Vekili) from 1922 to 1924 for the regular Turkish army, during which he commanded the forces of the battles of First and Second İnönü. Mustafa Kemal bestowed İsmet with the surname İnönü, where the battles took place, when the 1934 Surname Law was adopted. He was also chief negotiator in the Mudanya and Lausanne conferences for the Ankara government, successfully negotiating away the Sevre treaty for the Treaty of Lausanne. As his Prime Minister for most of his presidency İnönü executed many of Atatürk's modernizing and nationalist reforms. İnönü is also noted of being the main perpetrator of the Zilan M*acre.

İnönü succeeded Atatürk as president of Turkey after his death in 1938, and was granted the official *le of Millî Şef ("National Chief") by the parliament. As president and chairman of the Republican People's Party (CHP), İnönü initially continued Turkey's one party state. Kemalist style programs continued with great strides in education by supporting projects such as Village Ins*utes. His governments implemented notably heavy statist economic policies. The Hatay State was annexed in 1939, and Turkey was able to maintain an armed neutrality during World War II, joining the Allied powers only three months before the end of the European Theater. The Turkish Straits crisis prompted İnönü to build closer ties with the Western powers, with the country eventually joining NATO in 1952, though by then he was no longer president.

Factionalism between statists and liberals in the CHP eventually lead to the creation of the Democrat Party in 1946. İnönü held the first multiparty elections in the Republic's history that year, beginning Turkey's multiparty period. 1950 saw a peaceful transfer of power to the Democrats when the CHP suffered defeat in the elections. For ten years İnönü served as the leader of the opposition before returning to power as Prime Minister after the 1961 election, held after the 1960 coup-d'état. The 1960s saw İnönü reinvent CHP as a political party which was "Left of Center" as a new party cadre led by Bülent Ecevit became more influential. İnönü remained leader of the CHP until 1972, whereupon he was defeated by Ecevit in a leadership contest. He died on 25 December 1973 of a heart attack, at the age of 89, and is interred opposite to Atatürk's mausoleum at Anıtkabir in Ankara.

1 Early life (1884–1903)
2 Military career (1903–1923)
- 2.1 In the Ottoman Empire
- 2.2 World War I
- 2.3 Turkish War of Independence
- 2.4 Chief negotiator in Mudanya and Lausanne
3 Prime minister (1923–1937)
- 3.1 Nationalist policy
- 3.2 Social policy
- 3.3 Economic policy
4 Presidency (1938–1950)
- 4.1 Prewar
- 4.2 World War II
  - 4.2.1 Foreign Policy
  - 4.2.2 Domestic Policy
- 4.3 Post-War democratization
5 Leader of the opposition
6 Second Republic
7 Death and funeral
8 Legacy
9 Personal life
10 Honours
- 10.1 National Honours
11 Gallery
12 See also
13 References
14 Sources
15 Further reading
16 External links

Early life (1884–1903)

Mustafa İsmet was born in 1884 in Smyrna (İzmir) in the Aidin Vilayet to Hacı Reşit and Cevriye (later Cevriye Temelli). Hacı Reşit was retired from the First Examinant Department of Legal Affairs Bureau of the War Ministry (Harbiye Nezareti Muhakemat Dairesi Birinci Mümeyyizliği). İsmet's father was either of Turkish or Kurdish descent, who was born in Malatya and a member of Kürümoğulları family of Bitlis. His mother was a daughter of Müderris Hasan Efendi who belonged to the ulema and was a member of a Turkish family of Razgrad (present-day Bulgaria). Due to his father's *ignments, the family moved from one city to another.

Military career (1903–1923)

In the Ottoman Empire

Captain İsmet after returning from Yemen

İsmet completed his primary education in Sivas and graduated from Sivas Military Junior High School (Sivas Askerî Rüştiyesi) in 1894. He then studied at Sivas School for Civil Servants (Sivas Mülkiye İdadisi) for a year. İsmet graduated from the Imperial School of Military Engineering in 1903 as lieutenant gunnery officer, and entered the Military Academy to graduate as a first rank staff captain on September 26, 1906. He started his duty in the Second Army based in Adrianople (Edirne) on October 2, 1906, in the 3rd Battery Command of the 8th Field Artillery Regiment. As part of his platoon officer staff internship he gave lessons in military strategy and artillery. Captain İsmet was also part of the Ottoman–Bulgarian commissions.

Through Ali Fethi (Okyar), İsmet briefly joined the Committee of Union and Progress in 1907, which wished to overthrow Sultan Abdul Hamid II. During the 31 March Incident, he was on the staff of the Second Cavalry Division which was mobilized to join the Action Army and marched on Constantinople (İstanbul) to depose Abdul Hamid II. Returning to Adrianople following the suppression of the mutiny, captain Mustafa İsmet left the committee in the summer of 1909.

He won his first military victory by suppressing Imam Yahya Muhammad Hamiddin's revolt in Yemen. İsmet eventually became chief of staff of the force sent to suppress the rebellion, and personally negotiated with Imam Yahya in Kaffet-ül-Uzer to bring Yemen back into the empire. For this he was promoted to the rank of major. He returned to Constantinople in March 1913 to defend the capital from Bulgarian attack during the First Balkan War. İsmet was part of the Turkish delegation that negotiated the Treaty of Constantinople with the Bulgarians as a military adviser. He held a close relationship with Enver Pasha and played an active role in the reformation of the army.

World War I

İsmet began climbing the ranks during World War I, becoming lieutenant colonel on 29 November 1914 and then was appointed as the First Branch Manager of the General Headquarters on 2 December. He was appointed chief of staff of the Second Army on 9 October 1915 and was promoted to the rank of colonel on 14 December 1915.

İsmet began working with Mustafa Kemal (Atatürk) Pasha as a corps commander on the Caucasian Front. He was appointed to the IV Corps Command on January 12, 1917, upon the recommendation of Mustafa Kemal. He was recalled to Constantinople after a while, and returned to take part as a corps commander of Seventh Army. On May 1, he was appointed to command XX Corps on the Palestine Front, and then III Corps on 20 June. He once again came in contact with Mustafa Kemal Pasha when he *umed the command of the Seventh Army. İsmet's forces received the brunt of Edmond Allenby's attack on Beersheba that ended the stalemate on the Sinai front. İsmet was wounded in the Battle of Megiddo and was sent back to Constantinople, where he was held various administrative positions in the War Ministry during the armistice period.

Turkish War of Independence

Chief negotiator in Mudanya and Lausanne

See also: Armistice of Mudanya and Treaty of Lausanne

After the War of Independence was won, İsmet Pasha was appointed as the chief negotiator of the Turkish delegation, both for the Armistice of Mudanya and for the Treaty of Lausanne.

The Lausanne conference convened in late 1922 to settle the terms of a new treaty that would took the place of the Treaty of Sèvres. İsmet became famous for his stubborn resolve in determining the position of Ankara as the legitimate, sovereign government of Turkey. After delivering his position, İsmet turned off his hearing aid during the speeches of British foreign secretary Lord Curzon. When Curzon had finished, İsmet reiterated his position as if Curzon had never said a word.

Prime minister (1923–1937)

See also: Single-party period of the Republic of Turkey and Atatürk's reforms İsmet as the Prime Minister during the single party period, sporting morning dress

Mustafa İsmet (İnönü after 1934) served as the Prime Minister of Turkey through out Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's presidency, stepping down as prime minister for only three months, during Ali Fethi Okyar's premiership, and in 1937 when he was replaced by Celal Bayar. İnönü therefore helped to execute most of Atatürk's reformist programs. It was his suggestion to make Ankara the capital of Turkey, which successively was approved by the parliament. İnönü was also an important factor in the proclamation of the Republic and the abolition of the Caliphate and Evkaf Ministry. He resigned from the premiership for health reasons on 22 November 1924 for Fethi Okyar, but since he wasn't able to achieve a vote of confidence from parliament due to the Sheikh Said rebellion, İnönü returned to the prime ministry.

İnönü immediately banned all opposition parties (including the Progressive Republican Party) and press. Independence Tribunals were reestablished to prosecute the Kurdish rebels. In 1926 it allegedly came out that former members of the Committee of Union and Progress attempted to **inate Atatürk in the İzmir plot, which resulted in remaining CUP leaders such as Dr. Nazım, İsmail Canbulat and Mehmed Cavid being executed (Kara Kemal chose to take his own life). İnönü retired his military command in 1927.

Nationalist policy

While dealing with the Sheikh Said revolt İnönü proclaimed a Turkish nationalist policy and encouraged the turkification of the non-Turkish population. In September 1925, following the suppression of the Sheikh Said rebellion, he presided over the Reform Council for the East which prepared the Report for Reform in the East, which recommended to impede an establishment of a Kurdish elite, to forbid non-Turkish languages and the creation of regional administrative units called Inspectorates-General, which were to be governed with martial law. He stated the following in regards to the Kurds; "we're frankly nationalists and nationalism is our only factor of cohesion. Before the Turkish majority other elements have no kind of influence. At any price, we must turkify the inhabitants of our land, and we will annihilate those who oppose" Following this report, three Inspectorates-Generals were established in the Kurdish areas comprising several provinces. On the direct order of İnönü the Zilan m*acre of thousands of Kurdish civilians was perpetrated by the Turkish Land Forces in the Zilan Valley of Van Province on 12/13 July 1930, during the Ararat rebellion in Ağrı Province. Nation building was codified into law when a new settlement regime was enacted in 1934, resettling Albanians, Abkhazians, Circ*ians, and Kurds in new areas in order to create a *geneous Turkish state.

Social policy

Main article: Atatürk's reforms Atatürk and İnönü observing the Thracian Maneuvers

İnönü was responsible for most of the reformist legislation promulgated during Turkey's one party period. The Hat Law and the closure of Dervish lodges were enacted in 1925, in 1928 the Turkish alphabet switched to being written with Latin characters, and in 1934 *les such as Efendi, Bey, and Pasha were abolished, and certain articles of religious clothing were banned. 1934 was also the year that the Surname Law was adopted, with Mustafa Kemal Atatürk bestowing İsmet with the surname İnönü, the location where İsmet won the battles against the Greek army in 1921. He was also a proponent of replacing foreign loan words with "Pure Turkish" words.

Economic policy

İnönü managed the economy with heavy-handed government intervention, especially during the Great Depression, by implementing an economic plan inspired by the Five Year Plan of the Soviet Union. In doing so, he took much private property under government control. Due to his efforts, to this day, more than 70% of land in Turkey is still owned by the state.

Desiring a more liberal economic system, Atatürk dissolved the government of İnönü in 1937 and appointed Celâl Bayar, the founder of the first Turkish commercial bank Türkiye İş Bankası, as Prime Minister, thus beginning a decades long rivalry between Bayar and İnönü.

Presidency (1938–1950)

Prewar

Celâl Bayar and İnönü visiting the Bakırköy Cloth Factory

After the death of Atatürk on 10 November 1938, İnönü was viewed as the most appropriate candidate to succeed him, and was unanimously elected the second President of the Republic of Turkey and leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP). He attempted to build himself a cult of personality by receiving the official *le of Millî Şef, i.e. "National Chief".

One of his first actions was to annex in 1939 the Hatay State, which declared independence from French Syria. İnönü also wished to move on from one party rule by taking incremental steps to multiparty politics. He hoped to accomplish this through establishing the Independent Group as a force of opposition in the parliament, but they fell short of expectations under war-time conditions. İnönü dismissed Bayar's government because of differences between the two on economic policy in 1939. İnönü was an avowed statist, while Bayar wished for a more liberal economy. Turkey's early industrialization accelerated under İnönü but the onset of World War II disrupted economic growth.

Much reform in education was accomplished during İnönü's presidency through the efforts of Hasan Âli Yücel, who was Minister of Education through out İnönü's governments. 1940 saw the establishment of the Village Ins*utes, in which well performing students from the country side were selected to train as teachers and return to their hometown to run community development programs. A law p*ed in 1946 proved to be a significant step in securing autonomy for universities.

World War II

Foreign Policy

Main article: tr:II. Dünya Savaşı'nda Türkiye

World War II broke out in the first year of his presidency, and both the Allies and the Axis pressured İnönü to bring Turkey into the war on their side. The Germans sent Franz von Papen to Ankara in April 1939 while the British sent Hughe Knatchbull-Hugessen and the French René M*igli. On 23 April 1939, Turkish Foreign Minister Şükrü Saracoğlu told Knatchbull-Hugessen of his nation's fears of Italian claims of the Mediterranean as Mare Nostrum and German control of the Balkans, and suggested an Anglo-Soviet-Turkish alliance as the best way of countering the Axis. In May 1939, during the visit of Maxime Weygand to Turkey, İnönü told the French Amb*ador René M*igli that he believed that the best way of stopping Germany was an alliance of Turkey, the Soviet Union, France and Britain; that if such an alliance came into being, the Turks would allow Soviet ground and air forces onto their soil; and that he wanted a major programme of French military aid to modernize the Turkish armed forces.

The signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact on 23 August 1939 drew Turkey away from the Allies; the Turks always believed that it was essential to have the Soviet Union as an ally to counter Germany, and thus the signing of the German-Soviet pact undercut completely the *umptions behind Turkish security policy. With the signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop pact, İnönü chose to be neutral in World War II as taking on Germany and the Soviet Union at the same time would be too much for Turkey, through he signed a tripar*e treaty of alliance with Britain and France on 19 October 1939, obligating Turkey's entry into the war if fighting spread to the Mediterranean. However with France's defeat in June 1940 İnönü abandoned the pro-Allied neutrality that he had followed since the beginning of the war. A major embarr*ment for the Turks occurred in July 1940 when the Germans captured and published do*ents from the Quai d'Orsay in Paris showing the Turks were aware of Operation Pike—as the Anglo-French plan in the winter of 1939–40 to bomb the oil fields in the Soviet Union from Turkey was codenamed—which was intended by Berlin to worsen relations between Ankara and Moscow. In turn, worsening relations between the Soviet Union and Turkey were intended to drive Turkey into the arms of the Reich. After the publication of the French do*ents relating to Operation Pike, İnönü pulled out of the tripartide pact signed with Britain and France and signed the German–Turkish Treaty of Friendship and the Clodius Agreement, which placed Turkey within the German economic sphere of influence, but İnönü went no further towards the Axis.

Roosevelt, İnönü and Churchill at the Second Cairo Conference on 4–6 December 1943

In the first half of 1941, Germany which was intent upon invading the Soviet Union went out of its way to improve relations with Turkey as the Reich hoped for a benevolent Turkish neutrality when the German-Soviet war began. At the same time, the British had great hopes in the spring of 1941 when they dispatched an expeditionary force to Greece that İnönü could be persuaded to enter the war on the Allied side as the British leadership had high hopes of creating a Balkan front that would tie down German forces, and which thus led a major British diplomatic offensive with the Foreign Secretary Sir Anthony Eden visiting Ankara several times to meet with İnönü. İnönü always told Eden that the Turks would not join the British forces in Greece, and the Turks would only enter the war if Germany attacked Turkey. For his part, Papen offered İnönü parts of Greece if Turkey were to enter the war on the Axis side, an offer İnönü declined. In May 1941 when the Germans dispatched an expeditionary force to Iraq to fight against the British, İnönü refused Papen's request that the German forces be allowed transit rights to Iraq. Another attempt by Hitler to woo Turkey came in February 1943, when Talaat Pasha's remains were returned to Turkey for a state burial.

Internal opposition to Turkish neutrality came from ultra-nationalist circles and factions of the military that wished to incorporate the Turkic populated areas in the Soviet Union by allying with Germany. This almost erupted into a coup d'etat against the government. Leading pan-Turkists including Alparslan Türkeş, Nihal Atsız, and Şaik Gökyay were arrested and sentenced time in prison in the Racism-Turanism trials.

Winston Churchill and İsmet İnönü in conversation during a two day conference in a train at Adana, near the Turkish-Syrian border

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill traveled to Ankara on 30 January 1943 for a conference with President İnönu, to urge Turkey's entry into the war on the allied side. Churchill met secretly with İnönü in January 1943, inside a railroad car at the Yenice Station near Adana. However, by 4–6 December 1943, İnönü felt confident enough about the outcome of the war, that he met openly with Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill at the Second Cairo Conference. Until 1941, both Roosevelt and Churchill had thought that Turkey's continuing neutrality would serve the interests of the Allies by blocking the Axis from reaching the strategic oil reserves of the Middle East. But the early victories of the Axis up to the end of 1942 caused Roosevelt and Churchill to re-evaluate a possible Turkish participation in the war on the side of the Allies. Turkey had maintained a decently-sized Army and Air Force throughout the war, and Churchill wanted the Turks to open a new front in the Balkans. Roosevelt, on the other hand, still believed that a Turkish attack would be too risky, and an eventual Turkish failure would have disastrous effects for the Allies.

İnönü knew very well the hardships which his country had suffered during decades of incessant war between 1908 and 1922 and was determined to keep Turkey out of another war as long as he could. The young Turkish Republic was still re-building, recovering from the losses due to earlier wars, and lacked any modern weapons and the infrastructure to enter a war to be fought along and possibly within its borders. İnönü based his neutrality policy during the Second World War on the premise that Western Allies and the Soviet Union would sooner or later have a falling out after the war. Thus, İnönu wanted *urances on financial and military aid for Turkey, as well as a guarantee that the United States and the United Kingdom would stand beside Turkey in the event of a Soviet invasion of the Turkish Straits after the war. In August 1944 İnönü broke off diplomatic relations with Germany and on 5 January 1945, İnönü severed diplomatic relations with *an. Shortly afterwards, İnönü allowed Allied shipping to use the Turkish straits to send supplies to the Soviet Union and on 25 February 1945 he declared war on Germany and *an. For this Turkey became a founding member of the United Nations.

The post-war tensions and arguments surrounding the Turkish Straits would come to be known as the Turkish Straits crisis. The fear of Soviet invasion and Joseph Stalin's unconcealed desire for Soviet military bases in the Turkish Straits eventually caused Turkey to give up its principle of neutrality in foreign relations and join NATO in February 1952.

Domestic Policy

Maintaining an armed neutrality proved to be disruptive for the young republic. The country existed in a practical state of war throughout the Second World War: military production was prioritized at the expense of peacetime goods, rationing and curfews were implemented, and high taxes were put in place, causing severe economic hardship for many. One such tax was the Wealth Tax (Varlık Vergisi), a discriminatory tax which demanded very high one-time payments from Turkey's non-Muslim minorities. This tax is seen by many to be a continuation of the *ya tax paid by dhimmis during Ottoman times, or Millî İktisat (National Economy) economic policy implemented by the Committee of Union and Progress regime three decades ago. It was only repealed in 1944 under American and British pressure.

A famous story of İnönü happened in a meeting in Bursa for the 1969 general elections. A young man yelled at him; "You let us go without food!" İnönü replied him by saying "Yes, I let you go without food, but I did not let you become fatherless" by implying the death of millions of people from both sides of World War II.

Post-War democratization

See also: Multi-party period of the Republic of Turkey

For the Kemalists there was always a desire for Turkey to become develop into a democracy. Before the Independent Group, Atatürk experimented with opposition through the Liberal Republican Party, which lasted three months before it had to be shut down when reactionaries threatened to hijack the party. In an opening speech to the Grand National *embly on November 1, 1945, İnönü openly expressed the country's need for an opposition party. He welcomed Celal Bayar establishing the Democrat Party (DP), which separated from CHP. However due to anti-Communist hysteria brought on by the new Soviet threat new leftist parties were swiftly banned and rural development initiatives such as the Village Ins*utes and People's Rooms were closed. Even with such pressure on the left, İnönü established the Ministry of Labour in 1945 and signed into law important protections for workers. Universities were given autonomy, and İnönü's *le of "unchangeable chairman" of CHP was abolished.

İnönü allowed for Turkey's first multiparty elections to be held in 1946, however the elections were infamously not free and fair; voting was carried out under the gaze of onlookers who could determine which voters had voted for which parties, and where secrecy prevailed as to the subsequent counting of votes. Instead of inviting Şükrü Saraçoğlu to form another government, he *igned the CHP hardliner Recep Peker to the task, who contributed to a polarizing atmosphere in the parliament. İnönü had to act as a mediator several times between Peker and Bayar, who threatened to have the DP walk from parliament if they didn't have some of their demands met, such ensuring judicial review, secret ballots, and public counting for elections. On 12 July 1947 İsmet İnönü gave a speech broadcast on radio and newspapers that he would stand equal distance from the government and opposition, prompting Peker's resignation.

Free and fair national elections had to wait till 1950, and on that occasion İnönü's government was defeated. In the 1950 election campaign, the leading figures of the Democrat Party used the slogan: "Geldi İsmet, kesildi kısmet" ("İsmet arrived, fortune left"). CHP lost the election with 41% of the vote against DP's 55%, but due to the winner-takes-all electoral system, DP received 85% of the seats in parliament. İnönü presided over the peaceful transfer of power to the DP leaders: Bayar and Adnan Menderes. Bayar would serve as Turkey's third president, and Menderes its first Prime Minister not from the CHP.

Leader of the opposition

For ten years İnönü served as the leader of the opposition. In opposition, the CHP established its youth and women's branch. On 22 June 1953, the establishment of trade unions and vocational chambers was proposed, and the right to strike for workers was added to the party program.

In the lead up to the elections prepared for 1960, İnönü faced almost regular har*ment from the authorities and DP supporters, to the point where he was almost lynched several times. İnönü was banned from 12 sessions of parliament. This coincided an authoritarian turn of the Democrat Party, which culminated in a coup against the government.

Second Republic

Prime Minister İnönü and Levi Eshkol, 1964

On 27 May 1960, the Turkish Armed Forces overthrew the government. After one year of junta rule in which the Democrat Party was banned and its top leaders executed in the Y*ıada Trials, elections were held once the military returned to their barracks. İnönü returned to power as Prime Minister after the 1961 election, in which CHP won the election. Right-wing parties have since continuously attacked the İnönü and CHP for their perceived involvement of the hanging of Prime Minister Menderes, even though İnönü advocated for Menderes' pardoning.

İnönü's governments were defined by an effort to deescalate tensions between radical forces in the Turkish army wishing for extended junta rule and former Democrats that wished for amnesty. İnönü's CHP did not gain enough seats in the legislature to win a majority in the elections, so in an effort to create reconciliation he formed coalition governments with the neo-Democrat Justice Party and New Turkey Party and the Republican Villagers Nation Party until 1965. Forming coalitions with DP successor parties however provoked radical officers into action. Colonel Talat Aydemir: twice attempted overthrowing the government in 1962 and 1963:. Aydemir was later executed for conducting both coups. Aydemir's 1962 coup had the most potential to succeed, when İnönü, President Cemal Gürsel and Chief of Staff Cevdet Sunay were held up in Çankaya Mansion by the putschists. Aydemir decided to let the group go, which foiled the coup.

While in coalition with the far-right Republican Villagers Nation Party, İnönü renounced the Greco-Turkish Treaty of Friendship of 1930 and took actions against the Greek minority. The Turkish government also strictly enforced a long‐overlooked law barring Greek nationals from 30 professions and occupations, for example Greeks could not be doctors, nurses, architects, shoemakers, tailors, plumbers, cabaret singers, ironsmiths, cooks, tourist guides, etc. and 50,000 more Greeks were deported. These actions were done because of the growing anti-Greek sentiment in Turkey after ethnic conflict in Cyprus flared up again. With invasion of the island imminent, American President Lyndon Johnson sent a letter to İnönü, effectively vetoing Turkish intervention. A subsequent meeting at the White House between İnönü and LBJ on 22 June 1964 meant Cyprus' status quo continued for another ten years. İnönü survived an **ination attempt from a Menderes supporter that year.

İnönü's governments established the National Security Council, Turkish Statistical Ins*ute, and Turkey's leading research ins*ute TÜBİTAK. Turkey signed the Ankara agreement, the first treaty of cooperation with the European Economic Community, and also increased ties with Iran and Pakistan. The army was modernized and the National Intelligence Organization was founded. İnönü was instrumental in establishing CHP as "Left of Center" on the political spectrum as a new left-wing party cadre led by his protégé Bülent Ecevit became more influential.

İnönü lost both the 1965 and 1969 general elections to a much younger man, Justice Party leader Süleyman Demirel. He remained leader of CHP till 1972, whereupon an interparty crisis over his endor*t of the 1971 military memorandum lead to his defeat by Ecevit in the 5th extraordinary CHP convention. This was the first overthrow of a party leader in a leadership contest in the Republic's history. İnönü left his party and resigned his parliamentarianship afterwords. Being a former president he was a member of the Senate in the last year of his life.

Death and funeral

İnönü's tomb at Anıtkabir

On 25 December 1973 İsmet İnönü died of a heart attack at the age of 89. The parliament declared national morning until his burial. He was interred at Anıtkabir opposite to Atatürk's mausoleum on 28 December. Following the 1980 coup, Kenan Evren transferred twelve graves from Anıtkabir, but kept İnönü's in place. İnönü's tomb took its present shape in January 1997.

Legacy

İnönü University and Malatya İnönü Stadium in Malatya are named after him, as is the İnönü Stadium in Istanbul, home of the Beşiktaş football club.

Personal life

President İnönü (far right) with his family, c.1940s; from left: his wife Mevhibe, and their three children, Ömer, Özden (later Toker), and Erdal.

A highly educated man, İnönü was able to speak fluently in Arabic, English, French and German in addition to his native Turkish. During the First World War, on 13 April 1916, İsmet married Emine Mevhibe, who was a daughter of an Eşraf of Ziştovi (present day Svishtov) Zühtü Efendi. They had three children: Ömer, Erdal and Özden (married to Metin Toker). Erdal İnönü became a physicist and later a statesman, serving as secretary general of the CHP successor parties SODEP and SHP, which merged with the revived CHP.

İnönü had a slight build, and possessed a hearing impairment that he used to his advantage in negotiations, most famously during the Lausanne Conference. For this he was known as "The Old Fox". İsmet first listened to western Cl*ical Music while stationed in Yemen, an interest that persisted during his presidency.

Honours

National Honours

Turkey:: Medal of Independence, November 21, 1923

Gallery

With Mustafa Kemal Atatürk near the front lines in the Turkish War of Independence
With Kazım Karabekir
With Atatürk, 1936
With Jahangir Novruzov
In newly annexed Hatay
With Benito Mussolini, 1932
At Moscow, 1932
At a CHP congress
With Refik Saydam, 1939
With Atatürk and Reza Shah Pahlavi

References

M. Kalman, Belge, Tanık ve Yaşayanlarıyla Ağrı Direnişi 1926-1930, Pêrî Yayınları, 1997, ISBN:975-8245-01-5, p.:105.
Felit Özsoy, Tahsin Eriş, Öncesi ve Sonrasıyla 1925 Kürt Direnişi (Palu-Hanî-Genç), Pêrî Yayınları, 2007, ISBN:978-975-9010-57-7, p.:271. (in Turkish)
Nazan Sala, "Devlet Zilan Katliamı ile yüzleşmeli" Archived October 10, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, Gündem, October 8, 2009, Retrieved August 18, 2010. (in Turkish)

Sources

Hofmann, Tessa (2020). "A Hundred Years Ago: The **ination of Mehmet Talaat (15 March 1921) and the Berlin Criminal Proceedings against Sog*n Tehlirian (2/3 June 1921): Background, Context, Effect" (PDF). International Journal of Armenian Genocide Studies. 5 (1): 67–90. doi:10.51442/ijags.0009. ISSN:1829-4405. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 March 2021.

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Biography Archived 4 January 2017 at the Wayback Machine (İsmet İnönü Foundation)
Newspaper clippings about İsmet İnönü in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW