Tayfur Sökmen

Tayfur Sökmen

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

Life

He was born in Gaziantep. He graduated from the Rüştiye (highscool) 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 Hayat merged to Turkey. In later years Sökmen was elected MP from Antalya and Hatay Provinceup 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 (Turkish)

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

French Mandate of Syria
States	State of Syria State of Aleppo State of Damascus Al-Jazira Province Jabal Druze State Alawite State Sanjak of Alexandretta Greater Lebanon
Conflicts	1919 revolt Franco-Syrian War Battle of Maysalun 1925–1927 revolt Capture of Salkhad Battle of al-Kafr Battle of al-Mazraa Battle of al-Musayfirah 1925 Hama uprising 1936 general strike Syria–Lebanon Campaign
Treaties	Sykes–Picot Agreement (1916) Paulet–Newcombe Agreement (1920) Franco-Syrian Treaty of Independence (1936)
People	Syrian Hashim al-Atassi Shukri al-Quwatli Khalid al-Azm Jamil Mardam Bey Sultan al-Atrash Yusuf al-'Azma Ibrahim Hananu Abd al-Rahman Shahbandar French French High Commissioner Charles de Gaulle Henri Gouraud