Cevdet Sunay

Cevdet Sunay was a Turkish politician and army officer, who served as the fifth President of Turkey from 1966 to 1973. He was born in 1899 in the village of Ataköy near Çaykara in Trabzon Vilayet, Ottoman Empire. He attended elementary school and middle school in Erzurum and Edirne, and graduated from Kuleli Military High School in Istanbul. He fought in World War I at the Palestine front and became a prisoner of war of the British in Egypt in 1918. After his release, he joined the Turkish War of Independence and fought on the southern and western fronts. He completed his military education in 1927 and 1930, and rose through the ranks to become a general in 1949 and a four-star general in 1959. He held important military posts, such as the commander of the Turkish Army, the chief of the General Staff, and the joint chief of staff. In 1960, he was appointed to the senate by Cemal Gürsel under his presidential contingency. When Gürsel's presidency was terminated due to ill health in accordance with the constitution, Cevdet Sunay was elected as the fifth president of Turkey by the Grand National Assembly of Turkey on 28 March 1966. He maintained his office despite increasing terrorist activity, student riots, and threatened coups. He served the constitutional term of seven years until 28 March 1973 and became then a permanent senator. He was married to Atıfet in 1929 and they had three sons, Atilla, Aysel and Argun Sunay. He died of a heart attack on 22 May 1982 in Istanbul. His body was moved in August 1988 to a permanent burial place in the newly built Turkish State Cemetery in Ankara. He was awarded with several national and foreign honors, such as the Medal of Independence with Red Ribbon, the Commemorative Medal of the 2500th Anniversary of the founding of the Persian Empire, the Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of the White Rose of Finland, and the Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath. He is remembered as a respected and dignified leader who upheld the principles of the Turkish Republic.