Mümtaz Soysal
Prof. Dr. Mümtaz Soysal | |
|---|---|
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
| In office 27 July 1994 – 28 November 1994 | |
| Prime Minister | Tansu Çiller |
| Preceded by | Hikmet Çetin |
| Succeeded by | Murat Karayalçın |
| Member of the Constituent Assembly as a representative of the CHP | |
| In office 6 January 1961 – 25 October 1961 | |
| Member of the Grand National Assembly | |
| In office 20 October 1991 – 22 March 1999 (resign) | |
| Constituency | Ankara from SHP (1991), Zonguldak from DSP (1995) |
| 1st Chairman of the Independent Republican Party | |
| In office 24 July 2002 – April 2014 | |
| Preceded by | Inaugural holder |
| Succeeded by | Mühibe Müge Gülses |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Osman Mümtaz Soysal 15 September 1929 Zonguldak, Turkey |
| Died | 11 November 2019 (aged 90) Istanbul, Turkey |
| Resting place | Zincirlikuyu Cemetery |
| Political party | Republican People's Party (CHP) Social Democratic Populist Party (SHP) Democratic Left Party (DSP) Independent Republican Party (BCP) |
| Other political affiliations | Yön movement Socialist Cultural Association Amnesty International |
| Spouse(s) |
Sevinç Karasapan Soysal |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater | Galatasaray High School Mekteb-i Mülkiye Ankara University, Law School |
| Occupation | Constitution writing, conflict resolution, foreign policy, human rights, statism, anti-privatisation |
| Profession | Academic, jurist, politician, author |
| Awards | UNESCO Prize for Human Rights Education (1978) |
Osman Mümtaz Soysal (15 September 1929 – 11 November 2019) was a Turkish professor of constitutional law, political scientist, politician, human rights activist, ex-prisoner of conscience, senior advisor, columnist, and author.
Soysal served as the 30th Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1994. He was a Member of Parliament at Constituent Assembly in 1961 and Grand National Assembly from 1991 to 1999.
He actively contributed to the constitutions of Turkey (1961) and the DR Congo (2006). He was constitutional advisor of the President of Northern Cyprus Rauf Denktaş.
He was elected to Amnesty International International Executive Committee in September 1974 as the first Turkish and the first ex-prisoner of conscience member ever. He served as the vice-chairman of Amnesty International from 1976 to 1978. He became the first winner of the UNESCO Prize for Human Rights Education in 1978.
As a hard-line Kemalist statist, Mümtaz Soysal persistently worked against privatisation policies and initiatives of Turkish governments, especially in the 1990s. He founded Center for Development of Public Enterprise in April 1994, and the organisation was converted to a foundation in 1996.
Mümtaz Soysal was member of the Republican People's Party, the Social Democratic Populist Party and the Democratic Left Party. In 2002, he founded the Independent Republican Party with many academics and served as the first chairman of the party from 2002 to 2014.