Kasım Gülek
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Kasım Gülek (1905 - 1996) was a prominent Turkish statesman credited with being instrumental in entrenching democracy in Turkey by taking politics to the masses.
He was born and lived in Adana, southern Turkey, until he went away to school in Istanbul, where he studied respectively at Galatasaray High School and Robert College. He then went on to study at Ecole des Sciences Politiques in Paris, France followed by Columbia University in New York City, New York, USA, where he received his PhD in Economics. After undertaking post doctorate studies at Cambridge in the United Kingdom and Berlin University as a fellow of the Rockefeller Foundation, he returned to his country.
After receiving a letter praising Kasım Gülek from the Dean of Columbia University, Atatürk, founder of modern Turkey, called upon him and offered him to become a Member of Parliament. Throughout his career, he held various ministerial positions ranging from Public Works, Transport to Deputy Prime Minister.
He was most famous, however, for his role as the Secretary General of Ataturk's party, the Republican People's Party (CHP) from 1950 until 1959, a position to which he was elected seven consecutive times with an overwhelming majority of the vote. During his time as Secretary General, he resurrected the crushed CHP by travelling to the all corners of Turkey visiting almost every village in the country. He later served as a member of the Constituent Assembly and as a Senator from Adana.
He also held several international positions such as Chairman of the UN Commission on Korea, President of the North Atlantic Assembly, Governor of the Atlantic Institute, Vice-President of NATO Parliamentarians Conference and Vice-President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
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