Fahri Sabit Korutürk (15 August 1903 – 12 October 1987) was a Turkish admiral, diplomat and politician who was thepresident of Turkey from 1973 to 1980. Before his presidency, he served as thecommander of theTurkish Naval Forces from 1957 to 1960.
He was also a member of theSenate of the Republic from 1968 to 1973 and again in 1980. Prior to his senatorship, he served as Turkey's ambassador to theSoviet Union from 1960 to 1964.[1]
Korutürk served the constitutional term of seven years until 6 April 1980.Kenan Evren said that he suggested President Korutürk to occupy the office of presidency one more term through military's intervention as he was a respected figure by both military officers and parliamentarians, but he refused this offer and stated it would be unconstitutional.[5] Afterwards he became a senator until thecoup d`etat in 1980.[6][1]
His son Osman Korutürk was appointed Turkey's ambassador inTehran in October 1996. The Iranian government presented him with documents about his father that had been acquired during 1979seizure of American embassy. In the documents it's said that most ambassadors serving in Soviet Union used the black market to exchange their paychecks with American dollars (which had more value among the population) while Fahri Korutürk is the only one who usedGosbank to exchange his paycheck.[8]
^Roger P. Nye (1977). "Civil-Military Confrontation in Turkey: The 1973 Presidential Election".International Journal of Middle East Studies, 8, pp 209-228. doi:10.1017/S0020743800026957.
