Bayar, Mahmut Celal
(1884–1987), president of Turkey. Celal Bayar was cofounder of the Democrat Party and Turkey's third president (1950–1960). Educated in the Bursa French School, Bayar entered a career in banking. Following the 1908 Young Turk Revolution, he served as director of the Izmir chapter of the Committee of Union and Progress. After organizing nationalist forces in Izmir and Bursa in 1919, Bayar joined the nationalist government in Ankara in 1920. In 1924, during the presidency of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (1881–1938, ruled 1923–1938), Bayar was named director of Is Bankasi (Business Bank); in 1932 he became minister of the economy, and from 1937 to 1939, he served as prime minister. Bayar held a seat in the National Assembly during World War II, but split from the Republican People's Party to form the Democrat Party in 1946, along with Adnan Menderes (1889–1961) and others. When the Democrat Party won the 1950 election, Bayar became the third president of Turkey, and the first president to come from a nonmilitary background. In 1960, the military overthrew the Democrat Party government, and Bayar was removed from office. Tried and convicted of corruption and crimes against the nation, Bayar received a death sentence, which was commuted to life in prison. After serving six years, he was released for health reasons but was forced to retire from active politics.
Further Reading
Ahmad, Feroz. (1993) The Making of Modern Turkey. New York: Routledge.
Keyder, Caglar. (1987) State and Class in Turkey. London: Verso.
Zürcher, Erik. (1993) Turkey: A Modern History. London: I. B. Tauris.
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