Typed letter signed 'Fethi Okyar'.

ALI FETHI OKYAR, (Turkish diplomat and politician, Mİnister of Justice), (1880-1943).

Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Adliye Vekâleti, Ank., 1939.

Original typescript letter signed (TLS). 21x14 cm (Letter size). In Turkish. 1 p. Letterhead Turkish Ministry of Justice. Correspondent is 'Salih Sener', Istanbul - Kiziltoprak. Dated May 29, 1939. Okyar was a Turkish diplomat and politician, who also served as a military officer and diplomat during the last decade of the Ottoman Empire. He was also the second Prime Minister of Turkey (1924-1925) and the second Speaker of the Turkish Parliament after Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. He was born in the Ottoman town of Prilep in Manastir Vilayet (present-day Republic of Macedonia) to a Circassian family. In 1913, he joined the Committee of Union and Progress (Ittihad ve Terakki Cemiyeti) and was elected as the secretary-general. In 1930, while serving as Turkey's Ambassador in Paris, he was asked by Atatürk, during a meeting in Yalova, to establish the Serbest Cumhuriyet Firkasi (Liberal Republican Party), an early party of opposition, in order to establish the tradition of multi-party democracy in Turkey. However, when the government noticed the support of this opposition party among Islamists, it was declared illegal and closed down, a situation similar to that of the Progressive Republican Party, which had lasted for a few months in 1924. He later served as Justice Minister from 1939 to 1941. (Wikipedia). The letter includes Okyar's response to Sener's greetings for the 15th anniversary of the Turkish Republic.