Cevdet Sunay

Cevdet Sunay in 1964

Cevdet Sunay (* 1899 in Trabzon ; † May 22, 1982 in Istanbul ) was a Turkish officer and politician who served as the 5th President of Turkey from March 28, 1966 to March 28, 1973 .

Cevdet Sunay was born in Trabzon (Trebizond) in 1899. After attending primary and secondary schools in Erzurum , Kirkuk (today: Iraq ) and Edirne , he graduated from Kuleli Military College in Istanbul. During the First World War he fought as a soldier on the front in Palestine in 1917 , before being captured by the British in Egypt in 1918 . After his release from captivity, he fought in the Turkish Liberation War , first on the southern front and later on the western front.

Sunay completed his military training in 1927 and graduated from the Military Academy as a staff officer in 1930. After holding several officer ranks, he was appointed Brigadier General in 1949 and finally General in 1959. He held important military posts, in 1960 he became commander-in-chief of the land forces and later also chief of staff . On March 14, 1966, during the presidency of Cemal Gürsel, he was appointed to the Senate , the upper house of parliament, to enable his later election as head of state.

After General Gürsel's term of office ended prematurely due to his poor health, Sunay was elected by the National Assembly as the fifth President of Turkey on March 28, 1966 . The ruling Conservative Justice Party of Prime Minister Süleyman Demirel submitted to the will of the military, which had put under Gürsel in 1960. Despite increasing terrorist activity, student unrest and the increasing risk of coups, Sunay remained president of the country until the regular end of his term of office on March 28, 1973. However, General Faruk Gürler , who was chosen by the military to succeed Sunay , failed in parliament, as the major parties gave preference to ex-Admiral Fahri Korutürk .

After retiring from the presidency, General Sunay was a Senator for life under the terms of the Constitution until the Senate was abolished by the 1980 military coup .

Cevdet Sunay had been married to Atıfet since 1929, with whom he had three children.

Cevdet Sunay died in Istanbul on March 22, 1982. He finally found his final resting place in August 1988 in the newly built Turkish State Cemetery in Ankara .

literature

• Cevdet Sunay , in: Internationales Biographisches Archiv 38/1982 of September 13, 1982, in the Munzinger archive ( beginning of article freely available)

Web links

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