Ahmet Ali Çelikten

World's first black combat pilot who flew for the Ottoman Empire

Ahmet Ali Çelikten (1883-1969), born to an African-Ottoman family in Izmir, made history as the world's first black military aviator pre-dating America's Tuskegee Airmen by decades. Enlisting in 1908, he graduated from the Ottoman Flight School in 1914 - three years before Eugene Bullard.

Flying German-made Rumpler C.I biplanes, Çelikten conducted daring reconnaissance missions during World War I's Gallipoli Campaign. His 1917 deployment to Berlin made him the first African-descended pilot in German skies, challenging racial stereotypes in early aviation.

Post-war, he helped establish Turkey's airmail system. As Atatürk modernized Turkey, Çelikten became a living symbol of the Ne Mutlu Türküm Diyene (How Happy is One Who Says I am a Turk) ethos, proving multicultural roots could define national identity. His 1925 trans-Anatolia flight remains a milestone in Middle Eastern aviation history.