Ahmet Ali Çelikten, widely regarded as the world's first Black military pilot, was an Ottoman and later Turkish aviator who flew combat missions over Çanakkale (Gallipoli) during World War I and later fought in Turkey's War of Independence.
Born in 1883 in İzmir (then part of the Ottoman Empire) to a family of Nigerian descent, Çelikten enrolled at the Haddehane Mektebi (naval technical school) in 1904. He graduated in 1908 as a first lieutenant and joined the Ottoman Navy. In 1914, he began aviation training at the Deniz Tayyare Mektebi (Naval Aviation School) in Yeşilköy, earning his pilot diploma in 1916.
During World War I, Çelikten carried out missions over Çanakkale, Konya, and İstanbul. In 1917, he was sent to Germany for advanced aviation training. After the war, he joined the National Struggle (Kurtuluş Savaşı) led by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, flying from Amasya to Ankara to join the nationalist movement. He served voluntarily at the Konya Military Air Base and was later awarded the Independence Medal (İstiklal Madalyası) for his bravery.
Çelikten earned his pilot diploma, becoming a military pilot.
After the founding of the Republic, Çelikten was appointed as a flight instructor at the İzmir Air School in 1924 and later to the Air Undersecretariat in 1928. He retired with the rank of colonel in 1948 and died in İzmir on 24 June 1969. His son Yılmaz Çelikten, now 91, is a retired air force noncommissioned officer, and his granddaughter Anda Ülkü Çelikten continues to share his legacy.
We hope my father's name will continue to live on in this city.
Associate Professor Halim Gençoğlu of the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa has called for a statue of Çelikten to be erected in İzmir, saying, "A statue of him should definitely be erected in Izmir." Yılmaz Çelikten also recounted that his father shot down a Greek aircraft over İzmir, which enabled him to marry despite rank requirements.