Rıza Nur
| Rıza Nur | |
|---|---|
Rıza Nur in the 1920s
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| Born |
August 30, 1879 Sinop, Ottoman Empire |
| Died | September 8, 1942 (aged 63) Istanbul, Turkey |
| Resting place | Merkezefendi Cemetery, Istanbul |
| Occupation | Surgeon, politician, writer |
| Nationality | Turkish |
| Education | Medicine |
| Alma mater | Military Medical School |
Rıza Nur (August 30, 1879 in Sinop–September 8, 1942 in Istanbul) was a Turkish surgeon, politician and writer.
After graduating from the Military Medical School in 1901 Rıza Nur went on to work as a surgeon at Gülhane Military Hospital before returning to the Military Medical School as an academic in 1907. Before this an early posting had seen him serve on the border with Bulgaria where his job was to check if imported flour was contaminated with killer germs, after the Sultan had claimed this to be the case. The somewhat foolish nature of the work, as well as the refusal of his superiors to supply Rıza with a microscope and other basic scientific tools, helped to convince him that Abdul Hamid II's rule was backward, corrupt and leading Turkey into severe decline. He entered politics following the adoption of a constitutional monarchy but was imprisoned and later exiled for coming into conflict with the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) administration, remaining a dissenting voice from abroad. Feeling that Turkey was too reliant on Germany but accepting that the country needed a close relationship with a bigger power to prosper he toyed with the idea of a United States mandate in Turkey in the immediate aftermath of World War I.
Returning to Turkey in 1919 he was a founder member of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey and was appointed Minister of National Education in 1920 and Minister of Health and Public Assistance in 1921, as well as serving as the envoy at the 1921 Treaty of Moscow and the Conference of Lausanne. For Kemal Atatürk, Rıza was an important appointment as his presence in government, along with that of Ahmet Ferit, lent weight to Atatürk's claims to being a uniting force, as both men had been opponents of the CUP which provided most government ministers.
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