Tayfur Sökmen

Tayfur Sökmen (1892 – 3 March 1980) was the president of the Hatay State during its existence (5 September 1938 – 23 July 1939).

Tayfur Sökmen
Tayfur Ata Sökmen
President of Hatay
In office 5 September 1938 – 23 July 1939
Deputy	Abdurrahman Melek
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Office abolished (Union with Turkey)
Member of the Grand National Assembly
In office 26 March 1939 – 2 May 1954
Constituency	Antalya (1939, 1943, 1946) Hatay (1950)
Personal details
Born	1892 Aintab, Aleppo Vilayet, Ottoman Empire (now Gaziantep, Turkey)
Died	3 March 1980 (aged 87–88) Istanbul, Turkey
Nationality	Turkish
Parents	Mustafa Şevki Paşa (father)
Relatives	Mustafa Murat Sökmenoğlu (son)

Life

He was born in Gaziantep. He graduated from the Rüştiye (high school) in Kırıkhan. During French Mandate in Hatay, he participated in opposition movement. But when he was sentenced with death penalty he escaped to Turkey. Although he was pardoned in 1926, next year he escaped to Turkey once more. In 1935 he was elected MP from Antalya Province. When Hatay was declared an independent state, Sökmen was elected as the president of the Republic. However soon Hatay merged to Turkey. In later years Sökmen was elected MP from Antalya and Hatay Province up to 1954.

According to Turkish constitution of 1961, former presidents had a seat in the Turkish Senate. Being the former president of Hatay, he became a permanent member of the Senate. However he resigned in 1975. He died in İstanbul.[1]

Sources

1. Online biography (in Turkish)

• Sökmen, Tayfur: Hatay'ın Kurtuluşu İçin Harcanan Çabalar, Ankara 1992, ISBN 975-16-0499-0