Autograph letter signed 'Mustafa Necati' sent to Turkish female poet Halide Nusret Zorlutuna, (1901-1984).

MUSTAFA NECATI [UGURAL], (Turkish statesman in the early years of the Turkish Republic, who served as the Minister of National Education during the reform period), (1894-1929)

ALS  Manuscript in Ottoman script, Ist., 1926.

Original manuscript autograph letter signed (ALS) addressed to Turkish female poet Halide Nusret Zorlutuna, (1901-1984). 17,5x11,5 cm. In Ottoman script written with red ink on a special paper. 1 p. on bifolium. Dated January, 17, [1]926. It starts with "Aziz hemsire; Çok samimî mektubunuzu zevkle okudum.". 10 lines. Signed as 'Maarif müdürü' [i.e. Director of Ministery of Education] by Mustafa Necati. Mustafa Necati Ugural was a Turkish statesman in the early years of the Turkish Republic, who served as the Minister of National Education during the reform period. He died before the Turkish Surname Law was adopted and the surname Ugural is actually the surname his family members adopted after his death. Mustafa Necati was born in 1894 in Izmir. His father was Halit and his mother was Naciye. After his primary and secondary education in Izmir, he went to Istanbul for higher education and studied law. He returned to Izmir in 1914 to serve as a lawyer and teacher. In 1915 he established a private school with his friend Vasif Çinar. He also served as a legal adviser for the local railway company. After the First World War in which the Ottoman Empire was defeated, the Allies fired the railway workers. He tried to defend the workers' rights by establishing a committee. Later he expanded his activities to defend the rights of the reserve officers who returned from the front. After İzmir was occupied by the Greek army, he fled to İstanbul and then to Balikesir, where he began to participate in the Turkish War of Independence. Among other things, he published a short-lived newspaper to defend Turkish rights against the Greek invasion. After the Ottoman parliament in İstanbul was abolished by the Allies on 16 March 1920, Turkish parliament was established in Ankara on 23 April 1920 and Mustafa Necati was elected as the Saruhan (present Manisa) MP. However, during the 1920-1922 term, he spent most of his time out of Ankara. He was appointed as a member of Independence Tribunals in Sivas and then Kastamonu. Finally, he was appointed as the chairman of Amasya Independence Tribunal. As soon as the Republic was proclaimed on 29 September 1923, Mustafa Necati became a government minister of İsmet İnönü’s cabinets. His first seat was Minister of Exchange Construction and Settlement in the 1st government of Turkey. This was a very important seat for its main responsibility was the Population exchange between Greece and Turkey. In the 2nd government of Turkey, he was the Minister of Justice. However, his most important seat was that of the Minister of National Education following a revision in the 4th government of Turkey. He kept this post in the 5th government of Turkey till his death. Up to 1928, the Arabic script was used in Turkey. However, the Turkish language has 8 vowels and the Arabic script remained incapable in reproducing the Turkish words. Nevertheless, being the script of the Quran it was considered to be inalterable. But president Atatürk decided to adopt the Latin alphabet (with small changes). Moreover, he insisted that the reform should be carried out immediately. In addition to adding the Latin alphabet to school curricula, short term courses for the adults called Nation's schools (Turkish: Millet Mektebi) were established. As the minister of National Education, Mustafa Necati was responsible for establishing these courses. The courses were successful and Necati was later considered to be one of the pioneers of the new Turkish alphabet. (Wikipedia).