18th government of Turkey

Şemsettin Günaltay

The 18th government of Turkey (16 January 1949 – 22 May 1950) is also referred to as the Günaltay government.

Background

Hasan Saka of the Republican People's Party (CHP), who was the previous prime minister, resigned on 14 September 1949. President İsmet İnönü, upon the suggestion of Hilmi Uran, the secretary general of his party, assigned Şemsettin Günaltay as the new prime minister. Günaltay was a scholar of religion, philosophy and history. A scholar of religion as the prime minister of a party which was known to be the champion of secularism was quite unexpected.

The government

In the list below, the cabinet members who served only a part of the cabinet's lifespan are shown in the column "Notes".

Title	Name	Notes
Prime Minister	Şemsettin Günaltay
Deputy Prime Minister	Nihat Erim
Minister of State	Nurullah Esat Sümer Cemil Sait Barlas	16 January 1949 – 7 June 1949 7 June 1949 – 22 May 1950
Ministry of Justice	Fuat Sirmen
Ministry of National Defense and Navy	Hüsnü Çakır
Ministry of the Interior	Mehmet Emin Erişirgil
Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Necmettin Sadak
Ministry of Finance	İsmail Rüştü Aksal
Ministry of National Education	Tahsin Banguoğlu
Ministry of Public Works	Şevket Adalan
Ministry of Health and Social Security	Kemali Bayazıt
Ministry of Customs and Monopolies	Şerafettin Bürge
Ministry of Economy and Commerce	Cemil Sait Barlas Vedat Dicleli	16 January 1949 – 7 June 1949 7 June 1949 – 22 May 1950
Ministry of Agriculture	Cavit Oral
Ministry of Transport	Kemal Satır
Ministry of Establishments	Münir Birsel	7 June 1949 – 22 May 1950
Ministry of Labour	Şemsettin Sirer

Aftermath

Günaltay resigned after his party lost the general elections held on 14 May 1950. The next government was founded by Adnan Menderes of the Democrat Party.