Selim Sarper
| Selim Rauf Sarper | |
|---|---|
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
|
In office May 28, 1960 – February 16, 1962 |
|
| Prime Minister |
Cemal Gürsel, Emin Fahrettin Özdilek, İsmet İnönü |
| Preceded by | Fatin Rüştü Zorlu |
| Succeeded by | Feridun Cemal Erkin |
| Personal details | |
| Born | June 14, 1899 Constantinople, Ottoman Empire |
| Died | October 11, 1968 (aged 69) Ankara, Turkey |
| Political party | Republican People's Party (CHP) |
| Spouse(s) | Kamuran Sarper |
| Children | daughters: Ülker (Sarper) Kural, Ayşe (Sarper) Vanlı |
| Alma mater |
Humboldt University of Berlin Ankara University, Law School |
| Profession | Diplomat, politician |
Selim Rauf Sarper (June 14, 1899, Constantinople – October 11, 1968, Ankara) was a Turkish diplomat and politician. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs between 1960-1962.
Selim Sarper was born on June 14, 1899 in Constantinople. He spent his youth years in Germany, where he finished the high school in 1918, and attended University of Berlin to study Law. At the age of 24, Turkish Republic was proclaimed in his home country.
Returned home, he studied at Ankara University, Law School. He then served as a teacher of French language in a high school at Adana in 1923 before he worked as a clerk at the Independence Tribunal in the early years of the Republican era. In 1927, he entered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as translator.
In 1928, he was appointed as vice-consul in Odessa, Soviet Union, in 1929 third secretary at the Turkish Embassy in Moscow and two years later he was promoted to the post of second secretary at the same office. His further assignments were, Consul in Komotini, Greece in 1933, Consul in Odessa in 1935, Consul in Berlin, Germany in 1937 and Ambassador in Bucharest, Romania in 1939.
In the 1940s, Sarper served as the Director of the governmental Press and Information Agency. During the World War II years, he was responsible for the administration of the official propaganda and information.
In 1944, Selim Sarper was appointed Turkey's Ambassador to Moscow, an important mission during the last years of World War II and the early years of the Cold War (1947-1991). According to President İsmet İnönü's judgement relating to a conversation between Sarper and Stalin's Minister of Foreign Affairs Molotov on June 7, 1945, Turkey, even remained neutral in the war, might have been under a territorial claim threat from the Soviet Union. Due to this context, Turkey subsequently positioned itself alongside the United States. After the related official documents in the U.S. archives were made available to the public, it became clear that Sarper reported the subject of his conversation to the U.S. Ambassador W. Averell Harriman, even before he notified his government. However, his report to Harriman does not mention any threat by the Soviet Union, and the memoirs of Molotov deny such an allegation.
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