| Office | President of Syria |
|---|---|
| Prime minister | Himself |
| Term start | 29 June 1922 |
| Term end | 21 December 1925 |
| Predecessor | Office established; Faisal I (As King of Syria) |
| Successor | François Pierre-Alype (acting) Ahmad Nami |
| Office 1 | Prime Minister of Syria |
| President 1 | Himself |
| Term start 1 | 29 June 1922 |
| Term end 1 | 21 December 1925 |
| Predecessor 1 | Jamil al-Ulshi |
| Successor 1 | Ahmad Nami |
| Birth name | Suphi Bereket |
| Birth date | 1889 |
| Birth place | Antakya, Ottoman Empire |
| Death date | 1939 (aged 49–50) |
| Death place | Antakya, Turkey |
| Party | Independent |
Subhi Bey Barakat al-Khalidi (Arabic: صبحي بك بركات الخالدي; Turkish: Suphi Bereket; 1889–1939) was a Turkish-born Syrian politician who served as the first president of Syria from 1922 until his resignation in 1925. He served during the French Mandate where the French controlled the country. He also served as the fourth prime minister during his tenure as president.
Part of the reason the French supported his candidacy as president of the Syrian Federation was because as neither a native of Damascus nor a very strong Arabic speaker (Turkish was his mother tongue), he did not seem to pose a nationalist threat to French rule.[1]
Initially, he was a partner of Ibrahim Hanano in his revolt. He played a major role in merging the States of Aleppo and Damascus into one state,[citation needed] and he quit the presidency of Syria in 1925 in protest to the French position regarding the fate of the Alawite and Druze States,[citation needed] which France refused to add to Syria because it feared that might endanger the independence of the newly created Lebanon.
Personal life
Barakat was married to Halide; They had three sons (named Rıfat, Halit, and Selahattin) and three daughters (Süheyla Mukbile, Zehra, and Saniye). Süheyla Mukbile married Refik Koraltan's son Oğuzhan Koraltan. Zehra married Turkish diplomat Vahit Melih Halefoğlu. Saniye married to Turkish businessman Fazıl Tüzemen.
See also
References
- ^ Khoury, Philip (1987). Syria and the French Mandate: the Politics of Arab Nationalism, 1920-1945. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. p. 127.