Suat Hayri Ürgüplü

Suat Hayri Ürgüplü was born in Damascus in 1903. After Galatasaray and legal studies in Istanbul, he worked in the population exchange courts and as a commercial court judge. He entered parliament for Kayseri in 1939 and later served as minister of customs and monopolies in Şükrü Saraçoğlu’s government. ¹

His move into diplomacy followed another parliamentary term and work in the Council of Europe’s Consultative Assembly. Ambassadorships in Bonn and London preceded Washington, where economic assistance and regional security occupied much of his attention. ¹

On 14 July 1958, the day of the Iraqi coup, Ürgüplü joined the Iranian and Pakistani ambassadors in consultations at the State Department. He argued that the United States should join the Baghdad Pact and reconsider its approach to Gamal Abdel Nasser. ²

That September he accompanied Finance Minister Hasan Polatkan in talks with Douglas Dillon about Türkiye’s stabilization program. The discussion covered release of American assistance, import financing, and local currency funds. ³

Ürgüplü subsequently served in Madrid and returned to national politics. He became the Republic Senate’s first president in 1961 and led a coalition government from February to October 1965. In presenting its program, he promised impartial administration and preparations for fair elections. He remained a senator into the early 1970s and died in 1981. ¹