Fatin Rüştü Zorlu

Fatin Rüştü Zorlu (1910 – 1961) was a Turkish diplomat and politician. He was executed by hanging after the coup d'état in 1960 along with two other politicians.

Biography

He was born on April 20, 1910 in Istanbul to a family originating from the village of Zor, Artvin in northeastern Turkey. After finishing high school at Galatasaray High School, Zorlu was educated in political science at the Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris, France and in Law at the University of Geneva, Switzerland.

Political career

Returning to Turkey, Zorlu began his career as a diplomat in 1932 in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From 1938 on, he served at various posts in embassies and consulates in Bern (Switzerland), Paris (France), Moscow (USSR), Beirut (Lebanon) and at the ministry in Ankara as well. Following Turkey’s joining of NATO on February 18, 1952, he was appointed Ambassador to NATO at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in Paris.

In 1954, Zorlu entered politics and was elected into the Turkish Grand National Assembly as the deputy of Çanakkale for the Democratic Party. He served as Deputy Prime Minister between 1954 and 1955, as Minister of State in 1955 and Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1957 until the Turkish Armed Forces staged a coup on May 27, 1960 and ousted the government of Prime Minister Adnan Menderes.

He was arrested along with some other party members, charged with violating the constitution, and put on trial on the island of Yassıada. He was sentenced to death and executed by hanging on the island of İmralı on September 16, 1961 along with Adnan Menderes and Hasan Polatkan. Many years after his death, he, along with Adnan Menderes and Hasan Polatkan, was posthumously pardoned and his grave was moved to a mausoleum in İstanbul on September 17, 1990 along with the graves of the two other cabinet members hanged.

See also

• List of Turkish diplomats

References

• Biyografi.info - Biography of Fatin Rüştü Zorlu (Turkish)

Political offices
Preceded by Fethi Çelikbaş Samet Ağaoğlu	Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey May 17, 1954–Dec 9, 1955	Succeeded by
Preceded by İbrahim Ethem Menderes	Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey Nov 25, 1957–May 27, 1960	Succeeded by Selim Rauf Sarper