Mükerrem Sarol

Mükerrem Sarol (1909 – 8 November 1995) was a Turkish physician and politician. He was one of the founders of the Democrat Party (DP) which ruled Turkey between 1950 and 1960. Kemal Karpat describes him as part of the "rising professionals" within the early DP leadership. Sarol served at the Parliament for three terms during the rule of the DP and was the minister of state from 1954 to 1955 in the cabinet led by Prime Minister Adnan Menderes. Sarol was arrested following the military coup on 27 May 1960 and was imprisoned between 1960 and 1965.

Early life and education His father, Osman Nuri Bey, was a military officer in the Ottoman army and was serving in Tripoli, Ottoman Lebanon, in 1909 when he was born.

He was educated in different cities due to his father's military service. He graduated from the School of Medicine at Darülfünun, precursor of Istanbul University, in 1930.

Career and activities Following his graduation Sarol worked as a surgeon in Yozgat and Aydın. Sarol was in charge of press and political affairs and had to leave his newspaper following his ministerial appointment as a result of the harsh criticisms of the opposition. Sarol was subject to frequent corruption allegations during his tenure which were about the use of the government support for his paper in the form of official advertisements and forced subscriptions. There were other accusations about him in relation to his membership to the Etiler Housing Cooperative in 1954. It was alleged that Sarol had employed extra and unlawful credit from the Turkish Real Estate and Credit Bank for his house, and had been involved in the importation of extra iron for construction of the cooperative to sell it on the black market. Sarol's tenure ended on 12 October 1955.

Arrest and later life Immediately after the military coup on 27 May 1960 Sarol along with other DP politicians was arrested.