Subhi Bey Barakat

Subhi Bey Barakat al-Khalidi or Suphi Bereket (Arabic: صبحي بك بركات الخالدي; Turkish: Suphi Bereket; 1889–1939) was a Turkish^[3] politician from Antakya.^[4] During the French Mandate of Syria, he was the president of the Syrian Federation from 29^[1] June 1922 (the day following its creation) to 1 January 1925;^[5][6] and of the State of Syria from 1 January 1925 to 21 December 1925.^[4] Also, between 1938 and 1939, he served as the Antakya deputy of the Republic of Hatay^[7] and was elected to the Internal Affairs Committee.^[8]

Subhi Bey Barakat al-Khalidi
صبحي بك بركات الخالدي
1st President of the Syrian Federation and the State of Syria under the French Mandate
In office 29[1] June 1922 – 21 December 1925
Preceded by	Faisal I (As King of Syria)
Succeeded by	François Pierre-Alype
4th Prime Minister of Syria
In office 26 January 1925 – 21 December 1925
Preceded by	Jamil al-Ulshi
Succeeded by	Ahmad Nami
Personal details
Born	Suphi Bereket[2] 1889 Antakya, Ottoman Empire
Died	1939 (aged 49–50) Antakya, Turkey
Political party	Independent

Part of the reason the French supported his candidacy as president of the Syrian Federation was because as neither a native of Damascus nor a very strong Arabic speaker (Turkish was his mother tongue), he did not seem to pose a nationalist threat to French rule.^[9]

Initially, he was a partner of Ibrahim Hanano in his revolt. He played a major role in merging the States of Aleppo and Damascus into one state,^{[citation needed]} and he quit the presidency of Syria in 1925 in protest to the French position regarding the fate of the Alawite and Druze States,^{[citation needed]} which France refused to add to Syria because it feared that might endanger the independence of the newly created Lebanon.

Personal life

Barakat was married to Halide; They had three sons (named Rıfat, Halit, and Selahattin) and three daughters (Süheyla Mukbile, Zehra, and Saniye). Süheyla Mukbile married Refik Koraltan's son Oğuzhan Koraltan. Zehra married Turkish diplomat Vahit Melih Halefoğlu. Saniye married to businessman Fazıl Tüzemen.

See also

• Mandate for Syria and Lebanon
• Hatay State

References

1. Bulletin Hebdomadaire des Actes Administratifs du Haut-Commissariat (Report). 8 October 1922. p. 268.; "Fédération des États de Syrie: Discours du General Gouraud". Correspondance d'Orient: 459. 15 August 1922.
2. Cıvaoğlu, Güneri (2016). "Aile ağacında DNA". Milliyet. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
3. Bidwell, Robin (1998), "Barakat, Subhi (c.1886-)", Dictionary Of Modern Arab History, Routledge, p. 68, ISBN 1136162917, BARAKAT, Subhi (c. 1886-) Syrian Head of State. He was born into a Turkish family in Antioch and was educated in the local secondary school.
4. Moubayed, Sami M. (2006). Steel & silk: men and women who shaped Syria 1900-2000. Bridge between the cultures series. Cune Press. pp. 200–202. ISBN 978-1-885942-40-1. Retrieved February 21, 2012.
5. • Malsagne, Stéphane. Fouad Chéhab, 1902-1973. p. 62.
6. France. Ministère des affaires étrangères (1926). Rapport à la Société des Nations sur la situation de la Syrie et du Liban. p. 9.
7. TEKİN, Mehmet, ed. (2009). Hatay Devleti Millet Meclisi Zabıtları (in Turkish). Ankara: Atatürk Araştırma Merkezi. pp. 12–13. ISBN 9789751622211.
8. TEKİN, Mehmet, ed. (2009). Hatay Devleti Millet Meclisi Zabıtları (in Turkish). Ankara: Atatürk Araştırma Merkezi. p. 46. ISBN 9789751622211.
9. Khoury, Philip (1987). Syria and the French Mandate: the Politics of Arab Nationalism, 1920-1945. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. p. 127.