Born in Istanbul in 1910; Zorlu as a civil servant entered into the foreign ministry in 1932 and remained there untill the end of his life. In his later years, Zorlu married Ms Emel, the daughter of Tevfik Rüştü Aras who was one of the first foreign ministers of the republic.Zorlu had entered into the ministry of foreign affairs as a civil servant and served locally and abroad in different duties. He was a member of the committe that negotiated issues such as Hatay which was a top priority of Ataturk. During the second world war he worked in critical duties within regions that were close to the war.In the year 1950 an important development tookplace which changed his future for good. In 1946, after 4 years of multi-party democracy, the Democratic Party was elected. With the invitation of the president Adnan Menderes, in 1954 Zorlu left the Embassy embarked on his political career. He became a member of parliament from Çanakkale and as a result of the 1954 elections, he served as the deputy of the prime minister and a minister of the state in the cabinet that was formed by Adnan Menderes. Zorlu who had entered had hastilly entered domestic politics, faced difficulties adapting to internal party conflicts and political affairs.In 1957, starting as a civil servant, Zorlu became the foreign minister. During his tenure, Zorlu implemented an active foreign policy and made great efforts in regaining Cyprus which was effectively lost as in 1876 and legally relinquished in 1923. As a result of the Zurich and London agreements; he managed to make the Turkish republic one of the 3 garantors to the Turkish Cypriots of the newly estabilished state of Cyprus.During his tenure, he also worked as a de facto minister of economy and played an important role in securing international credits. The western oriented foreign policy that was established by CHP and continued with DP was criticised as yielding to imperialism by the Turkish media. Zorlu participated in many international conferences and among these the London and Bandung conferences were unforgettable. His efforts led to Turkey's application to the EU.During the years 1957?60, locally and globally, Zorlu was followed by the press with interest. The general public opinion saw Zorlu as a close friend of prime minister Adnan Menderes and a minister that obtained international credits. Besides his work; the Turkish public opinion was also intrigued by Zorlu?s private life. With the effect of foreign policy on internal politics, during 1957, due to internall turmoils of social, economic and political affairs, the country slid towards the military coup May 27. On the 27th of May 1960, as a result of the military coup, the members of DP were arrested and Fatin Rustu Zorlu was transported with a military plane from Ankara?s military academy at midnight to Istanbul where he was sent to the Island of Yasıada along with other DP officials.During the trial, which lasted for 1.5 years, along with the other accused members of DP, Fatin Rüştü Zorlu was subjected to inhumane treatment. Zorlu's fearless defence against the allegations made him a hero amongst his friends and put pressure on the judges. During the trial, Zorlu faced unfair allegations from his cabinet (ministry) friends. In the course of his trial many inaccurate news stories pertaining to corruption and ill-gotten gains were published. Besides these injustices, the government radio broadcast of the Yasıada trial was biased. As a result of the trial; the High Court of Justice, along with FATİN Zorlu Rüştü, convicted 15 members to death. Sadly, following the finance minister Hasan Polatkan?s execution, with MBK?s approval, Fatin Rustu Zorlu was executed in İmralı in the morning of September 16, 1961. |