Politician and statesman (B. 1892,
Gaziantep – March 3rd, 1980, Istanbul). He was the son of
Karamürselzade Mustafa Şevki Pasha and was the first and only President of
Republic of Hatay. He was the former Hatay and Istanbul deputy and the father
of Mustafa Murat Sökmenoğlu, who was one of the founders of the Milliyetçi
Demokrasi Party (MDP).
Tayfur Sökmen completed his
education by special education after he finished Kırıkhan Junior High School
and started to work on intelligence duties during the First World War years.
During the years of Turkish War of Independence he served on following
positions; Commander of Kuvay-ı Milliye (T. N. Nationalist Forces) under Second
Corps, Representative of Hatay Müdafaa-i Hukuk Cemiyeti (T. N. Hatay Resistance
Organization), Founder and President of Müdafaa-i Hukuk Cemiyeti of Iskenderun
and its vicinity, President of Antakya-Iskenderun Muaveneti İçtimaiye Cemiyeti
(T. N. Social Welfare Organization), President of Hatay Erkimlik Cemiyeti. He
led the organization of resistance movement against the French invasion in the
District of Alexandretta. With the Ankara Agreement signed between the TBMM
Government and French Government on October 20th, 1921, Sanjak of
Alexandretta joined Syria, which was under the French mandate, as an autonomous
government unit. When the French mandate government started to adopt a manner
that favored the Arabs and Christians, the resistance started once more.
When Tayfur Bey was sentenced to
death penalty in absentia because he was one of the leaders of the resistance,
he fled to Adana. Afterwards, he went abroad and lived in Wien between the
years of 1924 and 1926. With the initiative of Foreign Affairs Ministry of
Turkey, a permission was obtained from France for Sökmen to enter the District of
Alexandretta. Despite this, because the pressure on him continued to exist he
was forced to live in Gaziantep, Adana and Istanbul after 1927.
Tayfur Sökmen got into TBMM by being
elected independent deputy from Antalya in 1935. After France granted
independence to Syria and Lebanon in 1936, he worked for the District of
Alexandretta to gain independence as well. In the meantime Mustafa Kemal
Atatürk was also taking serious steps for the District of Alexandretta to gain
its independence.
In January 1937, the District of
Alexandretta was recognized as a semi-autonomous district, which was
subordinated to Syria in foreign affairs but was to be governed by its own
constitution, and its name was changed to the District of Hatay. In the same
year, upon the diplomatic note Turkey sent, France requested the issue to be
resolved in the United Nations. With the agreement that was reached as a result
of the imposition of international conditions, the League of Nations (United
Nations) accepted a constitution for Hatay on May 19th, 1937 and
declared that Republic of Hatay was founded under the supervision of a council
consisting of Turks and the French. Tayfur Sökmen was elected the President of
Republic of Hatay on September 2nd, 1938.
Republic of Hatay joined the
Republic of Turkey upon the decision of its own National Assembly on June 23rd,
1939. Sökmen, whose Presidency came to an end upon the joining of Hatay to
Republic of Turkey, maintained his legislative task in TBMM as a deputy of
Antalya (1939-50) and Hatay (1950-54). Sökmen was elected the quota senator by
the Presidency in 1969 and was appointed as a member of Senate of the Republic.
He withdrew from active political life in 1975 and he died in Istanbul in 1980.
Some secondary schools and higher education institutions were called after him
following his death. He was married and was the father of six children. He
wrote about the Hatay Issue in detail in his book called “Hatay’ın Kurtuluşu İçin Harcanan Çabalar” (1978).
