Ahmet Ali Çelikten

Ahmet Ali Çelikten[1][2][3] (born İzmirli Alioğlu Ahmed; 1883 – 1969), also known as İzmirli Ahmet Ali (English: Ahmet Ali from Izmir), was a Turkish aviator, of Afro-Turkish ethnicity, regarded as the first black pilot in history.[4][5][6][7][8][9] He was one of the first black males becoming a fighter pilot, receiving his “wings” in 1914. He was one of the few black pilots in World War I, like African American Eugene Jacques Bullard (flying for France), William Robinson Clarke from Jamaica (flying for Britain),[10] Pierre Réjon from Martinique (flying for France)[11] and Domenico Mondelli from Eritrea (flying for Italy), first black pilot ever (he received his license by Fédération Aéronautique Internationale on February 20, 1914).[12] Ahmet's maternal grandmother was born in Bornu (now in Nigeria) and was brought to what is now Turkey as part of the Ottoman slave trade.[8][13]

Ahmet Ali Çelikten
Çelikten with his flight cap, Istanbul , Place. Yeşilköy Airfield - today Istanbul Atatürk Airport.
Birth nameİzmir´li Alioğlu, Ahmed Ali Çelikten
Nickname(s)Arap Ahmet Ali
İzmirli Ahmet Ali, Pilot Code-Call Name - Black Steel Eagle of Izmir, in short Black Eagle
Born1883, Izmir
İzmir, Aydin Vilayet, Ottoman Empire
DiedJune 24th 1969
Izmir, Türkiye
Allegiance Ottoman Empire
 Turkey
Service/branch Ottoman Navy[1]
Ottoman Aviation Squadrons
 Turkish Navy
 Turkish Air Force
Years of serviceOttoman Empire: 1904–1920
Turkey: 1920–1949
RankColonel (Albay)
UnitJune 25th 1914, Istanbul Bahri Teyyare Bölüğü
Battles/warsGallipoli campaign
World War I
Turkish War of Independence
AwardsYellow Navy Medal of the Turkish Navy, "Turkish Independence Medal Nr. 480" awarded in 1924 by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and İsmet İnönü for his heroism in rescuing Türkiye in the war of liberation.
ChildrenMuammer Celikten, Yilmaz Celikten, and Mehmet Ali Şeker (nephew)

Biography

Ahmet was born in 1883 in Izmir (ancient Smyrna), in the Aidin Vilayet of the Ottoman Empire.[14] His mother, Zenciye Emine Hanım, was of Nigerian descent;[15] his father, Ali Bey, was also Afro-Turkish.[16] The family flew from Cairo, Egypt to Crete because Egypt was occupied by the French in the Years 1798-1801, they moved from Crete to Izmir. He aimed to become a sailor and entered the Naval Technical School Haddehâne Mektebi (literally "School of the Blooming Mill") in 1904.[16] In 1908, he graduated from this school as a First Lieutenant (Mülâzım-ı evvel).[16] And then he went to aviation courses in the Naval Flight School (Deniz Tayyare Mektebi), formed on 25 June 1914 at Yeşilköy.[1] He was then a member of the Ottoman Air Force.

During World War I, he married Hatice Hanım (1897–1991) who was a Turkish war immigrant from Preveza.[3]

He became one of the first black military pilots in aviation history on 11 November 1916. On 14 February 1917, Ahmet Ali was made a Captain (Yüzbaşı) and was then sent to Berlin on 18 December 1917 to complete aviation courses.[13] Following the completion of these courses, he was assigned to the Izmir Naval Aircraft Company.[14] His Code Name was "Celik Kara Kartal" - Black Eagle of Steel, derived from his name.

Following the end of World War I, Ahmet Ali became involved in the Turkish War of Independence and supported the Turkish National Movement. He volunteered his services as a pilot at the Konya Military Air Base, in Konya, Turkey.[14] At this time, Turkish Nationalists enacted a plan to steal airplanes from Ottoman warehouses and bring them to Amasra, a port town on the Black Sea.[17] Ahmed was sent to Amasra in 1922 in order to assist with this operation. Pilots utilized these airplanes to monitor the Black Sea and protect their naval operations.[14]

Upon the establishment of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, a division was created to move aviation operations from Konya to Izmir.[14] Ahmet was assigned to this division and continued his service in Izmir. In 1928, he was appointed to the Air Undersecretariat, a division of the Turkish Air Force which operated under the Ministry of National Defense.[14] He was Honored by the "Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Istiklal Madalyasi" (Independence Medal) with the Nr: 480 in 1924 by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk - and Ismet Inönü for his bravery in the Turkish War of Independence.

Ahmet Ali retired in 1949 as Türk Hava Kuvvetleri Albayi (Colonel) the Turkish Air Force. He thereafter devoted his time to his family and led a secluded life. He died on 24 June 1969 in Izmir, Turkey. Ahmet Ali´s grandchildren are widely active in the Aviation Industry in Turkey. They live in Izmir.

Legacy

To quote David Nicolle's book, The Ottoman Army 1904–1918, "Most Ottoman aircrew were recruited from the Turkish heartland ... others came from the Arab provinces of the Ottoman Empire as far south as Yemen, or even from neutral Iran. Captain Ahmet was a mix of Arab-African and Turkish origin and may have been the first 'Black' Air Force pilot in aviation history, having received his 'wings' in 1914-15." The book features a photo of Ahmet in front of a Bleriot XI-2 trainer at the Yeşilköy flying school. The same photo is featured in "Over the Front", Volume 9, No. 3, Fall 1994. Ahmet's "wings" would seem to have been earned prior to Bullard's earning his brevet No. 6259 on 20 July 1917, though Bullard is often cited as history's first black military aviator.[8]

  • Ahmet Ali in flight suit with officers wearing a fez in the background.
    Ahmet Ali in flight suit with officers wearing a fez in the background.
  • Ottoman naval aviators of the Naval Flight School (Deniz Tayyare Mektebi) at Yeşilköy; left to right: pilot Ahmet Ali (Çelikten), Sami (Uçan), İhsan and observer Hüseyin Kâmil (Görgün).
    Ottoman naval aviators of the Naval Flight School (Deniz Tayyare Mektebi) at Yeşilköy; left to right: pilot Ahmet Ali (Çelikten), Sami (Uçan), İhsan and observer Hüseyin Kâmil (Görgün).
  • Ottoman pilots in 1914/1915 next to a Blériot XI-2 monoplane. Ahmet Ali Çelikten can be seen next to the propeller.
    Ottoman pilots in 1914/1915 next to a Blériot XI-2 monoplane. Ahmet Ali Çelikten can be seen next to the propeller.

References
  1. "Türk Deniz Havacılık Tarihi" Archived 5 August 2010 at the Wayback Machine in the official website of the Naval Air Base Command of the Turkish Naval Forces. (in Turkish)
  2. Ajun Kurter, Türk Hava Kuvvetleri Tarihi, Cilt 5, Hava Kuvvetleri Komutanlığı, 2009, p. 299. (in Turkish)
  3. Dünyanın ilk siyahi pilotu: ARAP AHMET -4 "Pilotlarla Dolu Bir Aile" Archived 12 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Posta, 20 March 2011. (in Turkish)
  4. Alabi, Adesanya M. (2020). "The Afro-Turks: a call for study and inclusion". African Research & Documentation. 137 (137): 35–47. doi:10.1017/S0305862X00022433. OCLC 1204211068. ProQuest 2453907415.
  5. "World's First Black Fighter Pilot - Ahmet Ali Celikten". aviationfile.com. 3 December 2020. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  6. Ndubuisi, Victor (5 April 2021). "History/Facts: Meet The World's First Black Pilot (Photos)". AnaedoOnline. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  7. "Ahmet Ali Çelikten (1883-1969) •". 6 December 2015. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  8. "Dünyanın İlk Siyah Pilotu". NTV History Magazine. No. 26. March 2011. p. 28.
  9. Mark Johnson (2014). Caribbean Volunteers at War: The Forgotten Story of the RAF's 'Tuskegee Airmen'. Pen and Sword. p. 42. ISBN 978-1-4738-3487-3.
  10. "Royal Air Force Museum storyvault". Archived from the original on 25 December 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2017.
  11. Une autre histoire
  12. Mauro Valeri, Il generale nero. Domenico Mondelli: bersagliere, aviatore e ardito, Ed. Odradek, Roma, 2015.
  13. DÜNYANIN İLK SİYAH PİLOTU: ARAP AHMET Archived 11 March 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Havervitrin, 8 March 2011. (in Turkish)
  14. Dünyanın ilk siyahi pilotu: ARAP AHMET -1, Posta, 20 March 2011. (in Turkish)
  15. Mark Johnson (2014). Caribbean Volunteers at War: The Forgotten Story of the RAF's 'Tuskegee Airmen'. Pen and Sword. ISBN 978-1-473-8348-73.
  16. Dünyanın ilk siyahi pilotu: ARAP AHMET -2, Posta, 20 March 2011. (in Turkish)
  17. "Amasra'da Deniz Teyyare İstasyonu". Amasra.Net (in Turkish). 29 December 2016. Retrieved 14 August 2020.

Further reading
  • David Nicolle, The Ottoman Army 1914-1918, Osprey, Men-at-Arms Series, 1994.
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