Nuri Demirağ

Portrait of Nuri Demirağ (date of photo unknown)

Mühürzâde Mehmet Nuri Demirağ (until 1934: Mühürzâde Mehmed Nuri Bey, 1935: Mehmed Nuri Demirağ, * 1886 in Divriği , Ottoman Empire , † November 13, 1957 in Istanbul , Turkey ), commonly known as Nuri Demirağ called , was a Turkish industrialist and Politician. He became known for his commitment to the young Turkish Republic after 1923. He supported various economic and infrastructure projects, including the construction of three new railway lines.

Childhood and youth

Nuri Demirağ was born in Divriği, a small town in Sivas, in 1886 . His father Mühürzâde Ömer Bey died when Nuri Demirağ was three years old. He grew up with his brother Abdurrahman Naci with his mother Ayşe Hanım. After graduating from Divriği Rüştiye Mektebi (Ottoman Middle School of Divriği), he initially taught at the school as a teaching assistant. In 1903 he successfully passed the official examination of Ziraat Bankası and was then branch manager of the branches of Kangal and Koçgiri. He was first known for selling grain at very affordable prices after a famine broke out in Erzurum in 1909. In 1910 he began working as an official in the Ministry of Finance of the Ottoman Empire in the capital Istanbul. Within this ministry he continued to rise.

Türk Zaferi rolling paper

When Nuri Demirağ had given up his position as financial inspector in 1918, he opened a small shop in Eminönü and dedicated himself to the manufacture of cigarette paper. The reason for this was that the few profitable businesses at the time were owned by Greeks, Armenians and French. The only company that produced cigarette paper in the Ottoman Empire was owned by French businessmen. The following sentence was found in Demirağ's diary: “With the establishment of the Republic of Turkey at the latest, our economy must be independent from abroad”. In 1919 his goods went on sale. In this way he produced the first Turkish cigarette paper. At the same time the Turkish war of liberation took place. Demirağ called his product Türk Zaferi (Turkish victory), which was well received by the people. Through his young company he made a considerable fortune of 84,000 Turkish Lira . The entrepreneur had consistently adhered to his three principles and these when selling, which most likely made him so successful.

"Satış peşin ... fiyat maktu ... pazarlık yok"

"Cash payment ... fixed price ... no price negotiation"

- Nuri Demirağ

Expansion of the railway network

The Republic of Turkey was founded shortly after the War of Liberation. In terms of traffic, the country faced major problems. In the end, the transport infrastructure of the Ottoman Empire was relatively poor and the wars made it largely unusable. The government focused the rail network and wanted to expand it as quickly as possible. In 1925, a construction company from France began to replace the rails on numerous sections and to connect cities without rail connections to the rail network. In 1926 this company surprisingly stopped work. As a result, Nuri Demirağ was awarded the contract to build the first stage (7 kilometers) after saying that he would do it at a very affordable price. At Nuri's request, his brother Abdurrahman Naci gave up his job as an engineer. Together they built the new Samsun-Erzurum, Sivas-Erzurum and Afyon-Dinar lines and extended Turkey's rail network by 1012 kilometers within seven years. Nuri financed 90% of the construction himself with the assets from his cigarette paper factory. Because of these successes, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk invited him and his brother to Ankara. There they were given the surname Demirağ (German: Eisen (-bahn) netz) from Ataturk in 1934.

Aircraft factory

Demirağ was the richest person in Turkey at the time. The country was shaped by many reforms and innovations. It was also noticeable that the political situation in Europe was worsening. However, the air force of the Turkish army was very weak. Ataturk began to develop and stimulate military aviation in the country from 1925 . Numerous new pilots were trained, the Yeşilköy airfield was built and Turkish Airlines was founded. In 1937, his adopted daughter Sabiha Gökçen was the world's first female fighter pilot. Demirağ was bothered by the fact that the army was only looking for aircraft licenses.

“Avrupa'dan, Amerika'dan lisanslar alıp uçak yapmak kopyacılıktan ibarettir. Demode tipler için lisans verilmektedir. Yeni icat edilenler ise bir sır gibi, büyük bir kıskançlıkla saklanmaktadır. Binaenaleyh kopyacılıkla devam edilirse, demode şeylerle beyhude yere vakit geçirilecektir. Şu halde Avrupa'dan ve Amerika'nın son sistem tayyarelerine mukabil, yepyeni bir Türk tipi vücuda getirilmelidir. "

“Applying for licenses from Europe or America and building aircraft is nothing more than copying. In any case, only licenses for obsolete aircraft types are sold. The new planes, on the other hand, are hidden like a great secret with much envy. As a result, the time is wasted on unnecessary work when copying continues. One should develop and build an aircraft that can compete with the most modern aircraft in Europe and America. "

- Nuri Demirağ

After various discussions with Ataturk, he founded the Türk Tayyare Cemiyeti (German: Turkish Airplane Company) on February 16, 1925 . Ataturk gave a speech during the opening ceremony and began with the following words, which are still very well known today:

"İstikbal göklerdedir!"

"The future is in heaven!"

- Mustafa Kemal Ataturk

The Türk Tayyare Cemiyeti ( today THK - Türk Hava Kurumu ) began a month later with their project to develop their own fighter aircraft. Demirağ was the first to donate 120,000 Turkish Lira. Thereafter, donations were collected across the country for the project. A total of 495,000 Turkish Lira were raised. When the plans were ready, an aircraft factory, the Tayyare Etüt Atölyesi, was built and opened on September 17, 1937. Just a month later, the first product was presented to the public. The Nu D-36 became the first Turkish fighter aircraft. Two years later, based on the Nu.D-36, the Nu.D-38 passenger aircraft was built. In 1938 the construction of gliders began.

The facilities were closed in 1945 after General Zeki Doğan announced the cancellation of an order for 100 aircraft. The reason he gave was that the United States was ready to give hundreds of new fighter planes, including personnel and accessories, to Turkey free of charge. Numerous voices expressed criticism of the then President Ismet Inönü because he was silent during this time. They demanded that "our President protect the manufacture of our own [Turkish] aircraft".

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Nuri Demirağ kimdir. October 2, 2018, accessed April 18, 2019 (Turkish). 
2. ↑ Nuri Demirağ kimdir? Retrieved April 18, 2019 (Turkish). 
3. ^ Biography of Nuri Demirağ. Ankara Üniversitesi Türk İnkılâp Tarihi Enstitüsü, 2009, accessed April 18, 2019 (Turkish). 
4. ^ Nuri Demirağ (website of the Divriği district, Sivas). Retrieved April 18, 2019 (Turkish). 
5. ^ Yavuz, İsmail (2013). “Demirağ'ın Uçakları” - Bilim ve Teknik, p. 65
6. ↑ https://www.bk-luebeck.eu/zitate-mustafa-kemal-atatuerk.html
7. ↑ Uçak fabrikalarını kim kapadı? Retrieved April 18, 2019 .