Rushdi al-Kikhya

Rushdi al-Kikhya
رشدي الكيخيا
Speaker of the Parliament of Syria
In office December 12, 1949 – June 23, 1951
Minister of Interior
In office August 14, 1949 – December 12, 1949
Personal details
Born	1899 (1899) Aleppo, Syria
Died	1987 (aged 87–88) Nicosia, Cyprus
Political party	People's Party, National Bloc
Education	Sorbonne University
Occupation	Politician

Rushdi al-Kikhya (

(MP) (1936, 1943, 1947, 1949 and 1954). Kikhiya also served as minister of interior in 1949.

Career

Rushdi al-Kikhya was born and raised in Aleppo and studied law at the Sorbonne in Paris.

In 1939, Kikhya clashed with the Bloc leadership, however, over their failure to prevent Turkey's annexation of the Sanjak of Alexandretta, territory in northern Syria that had once been part of the Ottoman Empire.^[1]

Kikhya joined Nazem al-Qudsi , also form Aleppo, and campaigned against the election of Shukri al-Quwatli, the National Bloc candidate for the presidency in 1943.^[1] In 1948, Kikhiya founded the People's party with Nazem al-Qudsi and Mustafa Bey Barmada.^[2][3]

Khikhya supported the coup that ousted Husni al-Za'im in August 1949 and allied himself with Syria's new leader, President Hashim al-Atasi. Khikhya became minister of interior in a cabinet headed by Atasi himself that lasted from August to December 1949. Khikhya then became chairman of the Constitutional Assembly that drafted a new constitution for Syria. In September, he became a deputy for Aleppo and was elected speaker of the parliament.^[1]

The leadership of the People's Party including Khikhya pushed to form a union with Iraq, to curb any future Israeli eastward expansion. However, Khikhya withdrew from the political life upon the formation of the United Arab Republic in 1958.^[4]

He died in 1987 in Nicosia, Cyprus, and was buried there.

References