Berç Türker Keresteciyan

Berç Keresteciyan (aka Berç Türker Keresteciyan or Berç Keresteciyan Türker) (1870 – 1949) was a Turkish bank executive and politician of Armenian descent.

Early life

He was born 1870 in Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Empire to an Armenian family. His father Mıgırdıç Keresteciyan, manager of customs office of Constantinople, died when he was five years old. His unmarried uncle Bedros Keresteciyan, manager atthe External Communications Office of the Sublime Porte up to 1890 and manager of the Translation Office of the Finance Ministry until his death in 1909, a hyperpolyglot in 10 languages and author of the etymological dictionary of the Turkish language, raised him and influenced much his formation. A specialist in financial and economic affairs, Bedros Keresteciyan taught his nephew also in these fields. Berç attanded first Galatasaray Lycee, a public school in French language, transferred however later to Robert College, an American quasi-missionary private school.

Professional career

After his education at Robert College, Berç Keresteciyan was employed by the Finance Ministry, where he served for two years. Then, his uncle appointed him to the Ottoman Bank, an institution with half European (English and French) and half Ottoman in character and cosmopolitan personnel.

After the raid of August 26, 1896 carried out by the Armenian nationalist committees, Berç Keresteciyan was sent by his European supervisors as precaution to Cairo, Egypt as branch manager along with some other non-Muslim middle level officials. He worked also in the Smyrna branch.

As the Turkish Red Crescent ( _ot. Osmanlı Hilal-i Ahmer Cemiyeti) was re-established for the third and last time in 1911, Berç Keresteciyan was a co-founder, became the only non-Muslim member of the executive committee and later vice chairman of the humanitary institution.

With the outbreak of World War I and the participation of the Ottoman Empire in the war, the Bank's officials of British and French nationality fell in the position of citizens of hostile countries. The Ottomans threatened the Bank with confiscation, and the general manager and his deputy had to leave their posts and the country until the end of the war. The administration was taken over by non-Muslim Ottomans. Berç Keresteciyan was among them. He was deputy general manager and later became general manager of the Bank.

Turkish War of Independence

An anecdote is being told about his contribution to save the life of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, as he informed Atatürk's lawyer about a British plot to sink his ship SS "Bandırma" in the Black Sea, on which Atatürk left Istanbul in 1919 to initiate the Turkish War of Independence.

In 1923, Berç Keresteciyan sent a telegram to Atatürk in his capacity as the honorary president of the Turco-Armenian Friendship Association and a member of the secular council of the ArmenianPatriarchate, confirming the loyalty and the support of his community to the political authority of the government in Ankara.

Following the surname reform on June 21, 1934, Atatürk gave Berç Keresteciyan the family name Türker for his patriotic kindness.

Political career

The British and French executives of the Ottoman Bank returned to their positions after the World War I. The Bank retired Berç Keresteciyan early in 1927 for his contribution to Turkification efforts.

He run as an independent deputy from Afyonkarahisar at the 1935 general elections and became member of the Turkish Grand National Assembly on March 7, 1935 as the only Armenian and one of the four non-Muslims in total. The same day, he became also member of the economic commission of the parliament thanks to his expertise. He repeated his membership of the parliament twice more after the general elections in 1939 and 1943.

During his political career in the parliament, Berç Türker Keresteciyan made significant contributions to issues of general political, economic, social and international developments.

After his retirment in 1947, he lived on Büyükada, Istanbul. Berç Türker Keresteciyan died in 1949.

External links

* [http://digital.sabanciuniv.edu/tezler/etezfulltext/ertansemi.pdf Research on Berç Türker Keresteciyan's life]