Bediye Tahir Gökmen, also known as “Bedriye Bacı”, was one of the first women in Türkiye to begin flight training at the Vecihi Civil Aviation School, founded in 1932. In 1933, she successfully completed her training and earned her pilot badge. Nicknamed “Gökmen”, meaning “of the sky,” she was first known as the “Bedriye Bacı” of the flight school, and soon after, the public began calling her “Gökmen Bacı.” She achieved great success in aviation, a field she passionately embraced.
She was the only woman among thirteen students at Vecihi Civil Aviation School, which had been established by Vecihi Hürkuş, the pioneer who built Türkiye’s first airplane, founded the first civil aviation school, and became the country’s first chief pilot. Later, a second female student joined the program: Hürkuş’s niece, Eribe Hürkuş.
At the time, Bediye Tahir worked as a clerk in public service and used her earnings to attend flight lessons on weekends. However, her pursuit of aviation drew criticism from her workplace, and she was eventually forced to choose between her career as a civil servant and flying. Refusing to give up aviation, she first faced pay cuts and was later dismissed from her job altogether.
In the 1930s, when women were largely absent from aviation, Bediye Tahir Gökmen demonstrated that flying was a true passion despite all challenges. After earning her pilot badge in 1933, she prepared for an official exam organized by the Ministry of the Air Force in 1934. Unfortunately, the only operational aircraft at Vecihi’s school was damaged, preventing the exam from taking place. As the delegation could not return, her license was never officially recognized, and her pilot rights were not granted. The broader issue was that the school’s diplomas were not given formal equivalence, and financial difficulties led to its closure in 1934.
Despite these setbacks, Gökmen’s courage, perseverance, and achievements made her a symbolic pioneer of Turkish aviation. Although she never received an official license, her place in history as Türkiye’s first female pilot was confirmed in 1942 through Vecihi Hürkuş’s memoirs, “25 Years in the Sky with Vecihi” (later revised as “Memoirs of an Aviator”). Hürkuş wrote: “Our first female pilot, Bedriye, and my daughter Eribe managed to fly solo, continue their practice flights freely, and complete their theoretical lessons.” This statement remains the strongest proof of Gökmen’s pioneering role.
According to Hürkuş’s accounts, Gökmen not only flew but also gave flight training, raising new students. Her words, published on July 29, 1933, in the Cumhuriyet newspaper, reflect her deep passion for aviation:
“There is hardly a night when I don’t dream of flying. To an aviator, every vehicle they board feels like an aircraft, and with every movement, they imagine themselves commanding it. Aviation is so sweet, so attractive, that once a person embraces it, they can never leave it. My ideal in aviation is to be a good pilot, to show that Turkish women will not fall behind other nations in this field, and to work for the revival of aviation in my country.”
Decades later, her legacy was formally honored when the Directorate General of Civil Aviation of Turkey (DGCA) and its Commission for Gender Balance Development awarded her the title of “Türkiye’s First Female Pilot.”
Bediye Tahir Gökmen remains one of the most important pioneers in the history of Turkish aviation.