Mahmut Dikerdem

Mahmut Dikerdem (1916–1993) was a Turkish diplomat, writer and peace activist. He served as ambassador of Turkey in Jordan, Iran, Ghana, and India. He is known for being the founder and president of the Turkish Peace Association which was banned shortly before the military coup in Turkey on 12 September 1980.

Early life and education He was born Mahmut Şerafettin in Istanbul on 6 January 1916. His father, Şerif Bey, was an ethnic Kurd from Palu, Elazığ. Then they settled in Istanbul where they lived in Kadıköy. One of his classmates at the high school was Haldun Taner who was a writer. The reason for his early retirement was the formation of the first National Front coalition government consisting of the Justice Party headed by Süleyman Demirel, the National Salvation Party headed by Necmettin Erbakan and the Nationalist Movement Party led by Alparslan Türkeş. Dikerdem held various posts at the Ministry such as director general of the Middle East and Cyprus Department between 1955 and 1957. His other books included Hariciye Çarkı: Anılar (1989; Turkish: Wheel of Foreign Affairs: Memories), Ortadoğu’da Devrim Yılları (1990; Turkish: Years of Revolution in the Middle East), Direnenler: Barışın Savunmasıdır (1990; Turkish: Those Who Resist: Defense of Peace) and Barış Sosyalizm Yazıları (1991; Turkish: Peace Socialism Writings). Dikerdem was charged of making communist propaganda and of supporting strikes by workers. and was acquitted of all the charges against him in 1991.

Views Dikerdem had a Marxist political stance. Unlike other Turkish Marxists and socialists, he continued to support socialism after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.