Sabiha Gökçen

Sabiha Gökçen (March 22, 1913, Bursa—March 22, 2001, Ankara) was the first Turkish female aviator and the first female combat pilot in the world, aged 23. [ [http://www.ctie.monash.edu.au/hargrave/gokcen.html Sabiha Gokcen biography] , Hargrave Pioneers of Aviation] She was one of the eight adopted children of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

Early life

According to Turkish sources and interviews with Sabiha Gökçen, she was the daughter of Mustafa İzzet Bey and Hayriye Hanım who was an ethnic Bosniak. [cite news
url=http://arama.hurriyet.com.tr/arsivnews.aspx?id=204528
accessdate=2008-07-13
title=İşte soyağacı
date=2004-02-23
work=Hürriyet
first=Mutlu
last=Koser] cite news
url=http://www.cnnturk.com/YASAM/DIGER/haber_detay.asp?PID=223&HID=1&haberID=164786
accessdate=2008-07-13
title=Tarihte bugün: 22 mart - 22 Mart, 2006
date=2006-03-22
work=CNN Turk] The journalist Hrant Dink published an article titled "The secret of Sabiha Hatun" in which a former Gaziantep resident, Hripsime Sebilciyan, claimed to be Gökçen's niece, implying Armenian ancestry. [cite news
work=Agos
title=Sabiha Hatun'un Sırrı
first=Hrant
last=Dink
date=2004-02-06] [cite news
url=http://webarsiv.hurriyet.com.tr/2004/02/21/416458.asp
accessdate=2008-07-14
title=Sabiha Gökçen or Hatun Sebilciyan?
work=Hürriyet
date=2004-02-21] [cite news
url=http://arama.hurriyet.com.tr/arsivnews.aspx?id=204257
title=Sabiha Gökçen mi Hatun Sebilciyan mı?
work=Hürriyet
first=Ersin
last=Kalkan
date=2004-02-21
accessdate=2008-07-13
language=Turkish] Official Turkish sources, and the only living adopted daughter of Atatürk, Ülkü Adatepe, have contested this claim. [cite news
url=http://webarsiv.hurriyet.com.tr/2004/02/28/419832.asp
title=Sabiha Gökçen tartışmasında kim ne yazdı
work=Hürriyet
date=2004-02-28
accessdate=2008-07-13
first=Hüseyin
last=Tekin
language=Turkish] [Morgan, Tabitha. " [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3519561.stm Turkish heroine's roots spark row] ", "BBC News", 29 February 2004.] [cite web
url=http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2004/41713.htm
title=2004 Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Turkey
date=2005-02-28
accessdate=2008-07-25
publisher=US State Department
work=Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
author=Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
quote=In February, the Hurriyet newspaper's publication of a report that Sabiha Gokcen--an adopted daughter of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who was the country's first female pilot--was of Armenian descent drew a number of racist public statements. The Turkish General Staff issued a statement criticizing the reports on Gokcen's Armenian ancestry as "a claim that abuses national values and feelings" while the Turkish Air Association called the report "an insult" to Gokcen and to Ataturk.]

During Atatürk's visit to Bursa in 1925, Sabiha, who was only 12 years old, asked for permission to talk with Atatürk and expressed her wish to study in a boarding school. After learning her story and about her miserable living conditions, Atatürk decided to adopt her and asked Sabiha's brother for permission to take her to the Çankaya Presidential Residence in Ankara, where Sabiha would live among Atatürk's other adoptive daughters, Zehra, Afet and Rukiye. Sabiha attended the Çankaya Primary School in Ankara and the "Üsküdar Kız Lisesi" (Üsküdar Girls' College) in Üsküdar, Istanbul.

Just after the introduction of the surname act, Atatürk gave her the family name Gökçen on December 19, 1934. "Gök" means sky in Turkish and Gökçen means 'belonging or relating to the sky'. However, she was not an aviator at the date, and it was only six months later that Sabiha developed a passion for flying.

Career

Atatürk attached great importance to aviation and for that purpose, oversaw the foundation of the Turkish Aeronautical Association in 1925. He took Sabiha along with him to the opening ceremony of "Türkkuşu" ("Turkishbird") "Flight School" on May 5, 1935. During the airshow of gliders and parachutists invited from foreign countries, she got very excited. As Atatürk asked her whether she would also want to become a skydiver, she nodded "yes indeed, I am ready right now". Atatürk instructed Fuat Bulca, the head of the school, to enroll her as the first female trainee. She should have become a skydiver, however she was much more interested in flying, so she received her pilot's licence. Gökçen was sent to Russia, together with seven male students, for an advanced course in glide- and fixed-wing aircraft piloting. However, when she was in Moscow, she learned the news that Zehra had died, and with a collapsed morale, she immediately returned back to Turkey, isolating herself from social activities for some time.

In the beginning of 1936, Atatürk urged her to attend the Air Force Academy to become the first female military pilot of Turkey. She improved her skills by flying bomber and fighter planes at the 1st Aircraft Regiment in Eskişehir Airbase and got experience after participating in the Aegean and Thrace exercises in 1937. In that same year, she took part in the military operation against the Dersim riot and became the world's first female Air Force combat pilot. [http://www.au.af.mil/au/goe/eagle_bios/1996/gokcen_1996.asp Sabiha Gökçen's biography] , USAF Air Command and Staff College]

In 1938, she carried out a five-day flight around the Balkan countries to great acclaim. Later, she was appointed chief trainer of the Türkkuşu Flight School of Turkish Aeronautical Association where she served until 1955 and became a member of the association's executive board. Sabiha Gökçen flew around the world for a period of 28 years until 1964. Her book entitled "A Life Along the Path of Atatürk" was published in 1981 by the Turkish Aeronautical Association to commemorate Atatürk's 100th birthday.

Throughout her career in the Turkish Air Force, Gökçen flew 22 different types of aircraft for more than 8000 hours, 32 hours of which were active combat and bombardment missions. [http://youtube.com/watch?v=m-hv6MfohTs TRT documentary on Sabiha Gökçen] . See 9m30s in for 1996 USAF poster claim.]

Legacy and recognition

The second international airport of Istanbul on the Asian side, Sabiha Gökçen International Airport, is named after her.

She was selected as the only female pilot for the poster of "The 20 Greatest Aviators in History" published by the United States Air Force in 1996.

References

External links

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0C_DraLdXU Atatürk Arşivi - Sabiha Gökçen-1]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFNZpeaikxs Atatürk Arşivi - Sabiha Gökçen-2]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XI7WMjPnTok Atatürk Arşivi - Sabiha Gökçen-3]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyiJrVj2vnA Atatürk Arşivi - Sabiha Gökçen-4]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-hv6MfohTs Atatürk Arşivi - Sabiha Gökçen-5]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NS5yB9FdIzs Atatürk Arşivi - Sabiha Gökçen-6]