Ferit Melen

Ferit Sadi Melen
Prime Minister of Turkey
In office 22 May 1972 – 15 April 1973
President	Cevdet Sunay Fahri Korutürk
Preceded by	Nihat Erim
Succeeded by	Naim Talu
Minister of National Defence
In office 26 March 1971 – 22 May 1972
Prime Minister	Naim Talu
Preceded by	Ahmet Topaloğlu
Succeeded by	Mehmet İzmen
In office 31 March 1975 – 21 June 1977
Prime Minister	Süleyman Demirel
Preceded by	İlhami Sancar
Succeeded by	Hasan Esat Işık
Minister of Finance
In office 25 June 1962 – 20 February 1965
Prime Minister	İsmet İnönü
Preceded by	Şefik İnan
Succeeded by	İhsan Gürsan
Personal details
Born	1906 Van, Turkey
Died	3 September 1988 (aged 82)
Political party	Republican People's Party (1950-1967) Reliance Party (1967-1971) National Reliance Party (1973-1973) Republican Reliance Party (1973-1980) Nationalist Democracy Party (1983–1986)
Children	Mithat Melen
Alma mater	Ankara University

Ferit Sadi Melen (1906, Van - September 3, 1988, Ankara) was a Turkish civil servant, politician and Prime Minister of Turkey.

Biography

After finishing the high school in Bursa, he obtained a degree in finance from the School of Political Science at Ankara University in 1931. Ferit Melen entered the state service right after his graduation, and was sent to Paris, France for an internship at the ministry of finance there. After one year, he returned home and worked in several services of the ministry of finance as inspector. In 1943, he was promoted to general director in the ministry.

Ferit Melen entered politics as deputy of Van Province from "Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi" CHP ("Republican People's Party") following the general elections in 1950. After the end of the legislative term, he did not run for the parliament at the elections in 1954, and returned to his profession to work as a chartered accountant, he practiced until his retirement in 1959. In 1957, he was elected again member of the parliament as deputy of Van.

Ferit Melen was minister of finance in the two cabinets of İsmet İnönü between June 25, 1962 and February 20, 1965 in the 27th and 28th governments without affiliation to the parliament. He left his party CHP along with 47 other colleagues to co-found on May 12, 1967 "Güven Partisi" GP ("Reliance Party"), which was renamed "Cumhuriyetçi Güven Partisi" CGP (Republican Reliance Party) after merging with "Cumhuriyetçi Parti" CP ("Republican Party") on February 28, 1973. He served also minister of national defense in the two cabinets of Nihat Erim from March 26, 1971 to May 22, 1972. Following the resignation of Nihat Erim, he was appointed prime minister of a military-approved coalition government that lasted until April 15, 1973. Between March 31, 1975 and June 21, 1977, he served a second time as minister of national defense in the cabinet of Süleyman Demirel.

In the time from June 7, 1964 to October 14, 1979, Ferit Melen was a member of the senate representing Van Province. On July 12, 1980, he was appointed again senator that ended on September 12, 1980 with the military coup. Ferit Melen was elected to Turkish Grand National Assembly in the 1983 elections as a candidate of the Nationalist Democracy Party (MDP).

He was succeeded by his son Mithat Melen, a former high ranked civil servant and academics, who in 2002 tried to enter politics by "Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi" MHP ("Nationalist Movement Party").

The airport of Van is named after him.

References

• Biyografi.info - Biography of Ferit Melen (Turkish)
• Terms of office
• Merging of GP with CP at the Wayback Machine (archived April 16, 2003) (Turkish)

Political offices
Preceded by Osman Şefik İnan	Minister of Finance of Turkey June 25, 1962–February 20, 1965	Succeeded by İhsan Gürsan
Preceded by Ahmet Topaloğlu	Minister of National Defence of Turkey Mar 26, 1971–May 22, 1972	Succeeded by Mehmet İzmen
Preceded by Nihat Erim	Prime Minister of Turkey May 22, 1972–Apr 15, 1973	Succeeded by Naim Talu
Preceded by İlhami Sancar	Minister of National Defence of Turkey Mar 31, 1975–June 21, 1977	Succeeded by Hasan Esat Işık