Rauf Orbay

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Rauf Orbay

Huseyin Rauf Orbay (1881–16 July 1964) was a Turkish soldier and statesman, born in Istanbul.

He served as a naval officer in the Ottoman Navy, he was the captain of the Hamidiye Battleship during the Balkan War. On October 31, 1918, he signed Mondros ceasefire treaty as the Minister of Navy, in order to help national Turkish forces to regroup and reorganise. When the Turkish War of Independence was started, he resigned from his position and went to Ankara to collaborate with Kemal Atatürk. He was elected as a member of the representative committee in the Congress of Erzurum on 23 July 1919. He joined the Congress of Sivas as Sivas delegate on September 4, 1919 and was elected deputy chairman.

When the War of Independence ended he became the first prime minister of the new Republic of Turkey on 11 August 1922. In 1924 he was one of the founders of the first opposition party in Turkey "Terakkiperver Cumhuriyet Fırkasi" (Progressive Republican Party). When this party was closed in 1925, he went to exile in Europe for 10 years. Later, he was cleared of all accusations and became a member of the Turkish parliament.

During World War II he was the Turkish ambassador in London. He always firmly believed in the Republic of Turkey and always stressed that Kemal Atatürk was the only person who could have organised and lead the transformation of the crumbling Ottoman Empire into modern Turkey.

Prime Ministers of the Republic of Turkey