Cahit Aral

Who was Cahit Aral?

Hüseyin Cahit Aral was a Turkish engineer, politician and former government minister.

Cahit Aral was born 1927 in Elazığ to primary school teacher parents Fatma and Hakkı Aral. His was named in honor of the writer and journalist Hüseyin Cahit Yalçın. He graduated from the Istanbul Technical University.

Cahit Aral entered politic after working some years in the industry. He was among the founders of the Motherland Party, which was established after the 1980 Turkish coup d'état. He served as Minister of Industry of Commerce in the cabinet of Turgut Özal.

He is remembered for his message "Don't worry!" while drinking a glass of tea in front of the cameras following the Chernobyl disaster that occurred on April 26, 1986, and downplaying the disaster's possible risk effects on human health caused by radiation release into the environment in Black Sea Region, where Turkey's tea plantations are located. For this reason, he was nicknamed "Bekerel Cahit".

Cahit Aral died of heart failure on November 1, 2011 in Istanbul. He was laid to rest at the Zincirlikuyu Cemetery on November 3, 2011 following a state funeral and the religious funeral service at Levent Mosque.