Ahmet Ali Çelikten Recognized as Turkey’s First Black Military Pilot

Ahmet Ali Çelikten, born in İzmir in 1883 to a family of Nigerian origin, entered the Ottoman naval technical school in 1904 and graduated in 1908 as a senior lieutenant. He joined the Ottoman navy and, due to his aptitude for aviation, began training at the newly founded Deniz Tayyare Mektebi in 1914. In 1916 he earned his pilot’s diploma, becoming the world’s first known black male pilot.

During World War I Çelikten flew on the Gallipoli, Konya and Istanbul fronts. His performance led the state to send him to Germany in 1917 for advanced aviation training. After the war he volunteered for the Turkish National Movement, flying from Amasya to Ankara during the War of Independence and serving at the Konya Air Base. Following the establishment of the Republic, he was appointed flight instructor at the İzmir Air School in 1924 and later held a senior post in the Air Ministry in 1928. For his contributions he received the Independence Medal. He retired as a colonel in 1948 and died in İzmir on 24 June 1969. His son, retired air sergeant Yılmaz Çelikten, described his father as disciplined, humble and deeply devoted to the Turkish nation.