Celal Bayar, the life of a politician and statesman

Celal Bayar (1883- 1986) was a politician and statesman who lived through absolutism, constitutionalism and the Republican era. He was born in the Ottoman Empire during the reign of Sultan Abdulhamid II and died when Turgut Özal was Prime Minister of Turkey. Although there are valuable academic studies on Bayar, his life remains a subject worthy of further examination. This thesis is conducted as a biographical study accompanied by an appropriate research question. One of the study's aims is to objectively detail the ebb and flow of the life of a politician against the political and economic situation in the country at that time. The subject is Celal Bayar but the background is also carefully examined. At the same time, this thesis' main aim is to examine Celal Bayar's behaviour within the framework of the concepts of idealism and pragmatism and consider which approach he followed throughout his political life.Information obtained from the studies suggests Bayar acted pragmatically during the DP term between 1946 and 1960. For the rest of his life, however, although he sometimes behaved pragmatically there are many occasions in which he evaluated events within the concept of idealism: in the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), Atatürk term, and Yassıada trials for example. Overall this thesis shows us Bayar's political life comprises characteristics of both idealism and pragmatism and he thus cannot be described as either a complete idealist or a total pragmatist. Keywords: Celal Bayar, idealism, pragmatism, biography, Turkey, CUP, Democrat Party