Cahit Talas

Cahit Talas (1917 – 14 October 2006) was a Turkish academic who was the dean of Ankara University's Faculty of Political Science for two terms. He served as the minister of labor between 1960 and 1961. He is known for being the pioneer of social politics in Turkey.

Early life and education Talas was born in Trabzon, Ottoman Empire, in 1917. Following his graduation he was sent by the Ministry of Finance to France to pursue his doctorate studies in 1938, but he could not complete his education due to the outbreak of World War II and had to return to Turkey in 1940.

Talas was named as the minister of labor to the first cabinet of President Cemal Gürsel announced on 28 May 1960. The cabinet was formed immediately after the military coup of 27 May 1960 which ended the rule of Democrat Party. Talas was reappointed to the same post in 1961 to the second cabinet of Cemal Gürsel. Following the 1971 memorandum he was arrested and imprisoned for a while along with other leading academics from Ankara University, including Mümtaz Soysal and Bahri Savcı. Talas retired from university in 1983. He was among the contributors of the Forum magazine.

For Talas the goal of the 1960 coup was to reestablish social justice in order to transform the Turkish society. He was one of the supporters of the right to strike in Turkey and published many articles on this issue in various newspapers. He argued that increasing worker wages has positive effects on industrial development. After the ceremony at the Faculty of Political Sciences and funeral prayers in the Kocatepe Mosque he was buried in the Karşıyaka Cemetery on 17 October.