Numan Menemencioğlu was a Turkish statesman and diplomat who witnessed the last period of the Ottoman Empire and the first years of the Turkish Republic, pursuing a long diplomatic career. He played important roles in shaping Turkish foreign policy during the periods of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and İsmet İnönü.

Life and Education Years

Born in 1893, Menemencioğlu belonged to a generation that closely witnessed the dissolution and disintegration process of the Ottoman Empire. At a young age, he witnessed the shocks caused by the Italo-Turkish War and the Balkan Wars. The collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the birth of the Republic formed the main axis of his professional life. He received his education within the framework of the diplomacy and law education understanding of the imperial era. He was raised with Ottoman discipline, tradition, and statesmanship understanding, and became an important representative of the last great generation of diplomats who carried this understanding into the first years of the Turkish Republic.

Diplomatic Career

Starting his duty at the Ottoman Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1914, Menemencioğlu worked in important diplomatic centers such as Vienna, Bern, Paris, Bucharest, Athens, and Beirut. During his time as Consul General in Beirut, he first came into contact with the Hatay issue. He directly followed the issues of the Sanjak of Alexandretta under French mandate rule.

After the proclamation of the Republic, he rapidly rose, being appointed to the positions of Director General of the Political Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Undersecretary, and Secretary General. As one of the figures in the Turkish delegation at the Montreux Straits Conference in 1936, he actively took part in the negotiations for the re-establishment of Turkey's sovereign rights over the Straits.

Montreux and Hatay Issues

In 1936, he played an active role in securing sovereign rights over the Turkish Straits at the Montreux Convention. Regarding the Hatay issue, he defended Turkey's rights both through bilateral diplomacy and before the League of Nations.

Period as Minister of Foreign Affairs

Elected as Istanbul deputy on August 9, 1942, Menemencioğlu was appointed as Minister of Foreign Affairs on August 12, 1942. Thus, for the first time in the history of the Republic of Turkey, a diplomat from the profession became the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

During the years of World War II, he became the architect of the "active neutrality" policy that ensured Turkey's non-participation in the war directly. He participated in the meetings held by President İsmet İnönü with Churchill and Roosevelt in Cairo in November 1943, along with British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden. Despite the pressure from the Allies, he resolutely insisted on Turkey remaining neutral.

^{Winston Churchill, the then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (left), and Numan Menemencioğlu, the then Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey (right) (Picryl)}

Diplomatic Personality and Legacy

Numan Menemencioğlu was a statesman raised with Ottoman discipline, who guided the diplomatic institutionalization of Republican Turkey. French Ambassador René Massigli noted in his memoirs that he was "the sharpest-witted diplomat he had ever known, who assessed events with deep insight." Massigli also stated that if Menemencioğlu had lived in the Ottoman period, he would certainly have become Grand Vizier. During his years as Ambassador in Paris, he wrote a work titled Les Détroits vus de la Méditerranée: aperçus, études, souvenirs.

Death and Memory

He passed away on February 15, 1958. He was remembered by The Times newspaper as "one of the most distinguished and experienced members of the Turkish diplomatic service." He was buried with a state ceremony in Ankara Cebeci Cemetery.