Fethi Tevetoğlu

Poet and writer (b. 31 January 1916, Beşiktaş / İstanbul – d. 20 November 1989, İstanbul). His former surname is Tevet. He wrote under the pen name M. Atsızayoldaş until 1938. After he graduated from high school (1934) and Army Medical College (1941), he worked as a children’s specialist at military institutions such as Gülhane Military Medical Academy. Meanwhile, he was arrested with Alpaslan Türkeş and his friends because of the “Turkism Incident” and they were imprisoned in small cells, or “coffins” as they were so-called, and were tortured. After he was released, he worked as a doctor at the General Staff Ministry Headquarters and as a teacher at the School for Military Medical Technicians until 1953. Meanwhile he studied to be a specialist at Ankara University, Faculty of Medicine (1950-53).

He went to the Universities of Texas and Baylor as a chief assistant and academician between the years 1953-57. He was selected as the district chairperson of the Democrat Party in Samsun (1957-60) and elected senator of Samsun for the Justice Party. He worked as the chairperson of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Senate between the years 1961-73, as the Turkish Parliamentary Group Chief of NATO (1961-62) and the Chief of the Senate Group between the years 1966-68 and again 1971-73.

Dr. Fethi Tevetoğlu who undertook the office of the vice president of the Justice Party between the years 1965-66, worked as a clinic chief of children’s diseases at Meinz University in Germany between the years 1973-1976, as a consultant at the Islamic Development Bank in 1975 and as the secretary-general of the same institution between the years 1976-1980. He was the chairman of the Conference of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Islamic Countries held in the years 1980-84. He was among the founders of the Institution of World Islamic Refugees and became the secretary-general of the institution. He was elected general coordinator of Arabic Countries in 1985. He also undertook duties at the Association for Opposing Communism.

His first poem Kastamonu, (Kastamonu) was published in the review Çığır in 1934. His work was published mostly in the monthly Turkist review Kopuz (1939-40, 1943-44), which he published in Samsun, and in the review İstanbul (1939-40). He wrote introductory books on Ahmet Hikmet Müftüoğlu, Enis Behiç Koryürek and Ömer Naci and edited the books of Hamdullah Suphi Tanrıöver, Dağ Yolu, Güne Bakan (Mountain Road, Sunflower, 1987). He was the editorial chief of the Türk Ansiklopedisi (Turkish Encyclopedia). His biography has featured in some famous encyclopedias. He was known for his articles that supported Turkish nationalism and depicted the struggle against communism.

He won the Medical Award of the United States of America with his discoveries on the subject of “Pheochromocytoma in Children and Geophagy Anemia” in 1956. In 1968 he was awarded the NATO Honorary Medal, in 1972 the Nationalist Chinese Honorary Medal, in 1972 the Korean Honorary Medal and was honored by the Turkish Parliamentary Members Society, the World Anti Communist League and the Middle East Solidarity Council. He also received the title of honorary doctor from Selçuk University. He married in 1941 and had five children.

WORKS:

POETRY: Yarın Turan Benimdir (Turan will be Mine Tomorrow, 1934), Türklüğe Kurban (Sacrifice to Being Turkish, 1934), Bir Bayrak Altında (Under One Flag, 1936).

RESEARCH: Fuzuli'nin Bahçesi (The Garden of Fuzuli, 1938), Tagore Hayatı ve Eserleri (Tagore, His Life and Works, 1939), Ahmet Hikmet Müftüoğlu, Enis Behiç Koryürek, Ömer Naci (Ahmet Hikmet Müftüoğlu, Enis Behiç Koryürek, Ömer Naci, 1987), Rabındranath Tagore, Hamdullah Suphi Tanrıöver ve Mehmed Emin Yurdakul (Rabindranath Tagore, Hamdullah Suphi Tanrıöver ve Mehmed Emin Yurdakul, Life and Works), Atatürk'le Samsun'a Çıkanlar (The Ones that Go to Samsun with Atatürk), Türkiye'de Sosyalist ve Komünist Faaliyetler (Socialist and Communist Activities in Turkey 1910-1960), Bugünkü Rusya (Russia Today), Açıklıyorum (I Disclose), Utançduvarı (The Wall of Shame), Milletlere Işık Tutan İki Beyanname (Two Declarations That Enlighten the Nations, Faşist Yok Komünist Var (There is no Fascist, but Communist), Kıbrıs ve Komünizm (Cyprus and Communism), Dış Politika Görüşümüz (Our Foreign Policy), Mukaddes Topraklardan Geçen Yol (Ways To the Holy Lands).

He also translated from G. Von Mende.