Lieutenant Mehmet Fethi Bey, assigned as engineer, was born in 1887, Istanbul.Upon graduating form Naval Engineering School as Lieutenant, he assumed duties onborad Hamidiye Cruiser as well as various ships. He received training in an aircraft factory in 1912, Bristol. At that time he also studied aviation by his own financial means. He made successful filights when he joined Balkan Wars. After war, national authorities, a Turkish woman and a press member were all flown by Mehmet Fethi Bey for the first time. Upon his commendable flights at war and peace, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant.
He voluntarily joined the team which was planning to fly Istanbul to Alexandria to provide relief because of Balkan Wars, to improve decreasing prestige of Ottoman Empire and demonstrate appreciation for the people living in far distant places. Lieutenant Selim Sadik Bey, entrusted as an assistant observer , and the Lieutenant Fethi Bey began thier flight with a Bleriot XI class aircraft, "Muavenet-i Milliye" following the route from Istanbul to Adapazari, Eskisehir, Afyonkarahisar, Konya, Adana, Aleppo, Humus, Beirut and Damascus on 8 February 1914. On February 27th, after having passed through Golan Hills and approaching Jerusalem, his plane crashed somewhere near Taberiye Lake. They both died and became the first mrtyrs of Turkish Naval Aviation. In memory of those brave men, Monument of Martyrs was established both in Taberiye and Fatih, İstanbul in May and August 1914 respectively. The town “Megri” in Mugla was then renamed as “Fethiye” in memory of the martyr Mehmet Fethi Bey.PTT issues memory blog consisting of 4 stamps and the first day envelope on February 27,2014 in memory of the 100th anniversary of the First Naval Air Pilot Lieutenant Mehmet fethi Bey’s death.
