Ahmet Ali Çelikten, also known as Izmirli Ali Ahmet, was a Turkish aviator of Afro-Turkish descent regarded as the first black pilot in history. He was one of the first black men to become a fighter pilot, receiving his "wings" in 1914. He was one of the few black pilots in World War I, similar to African American Eugene Jacques Bullard, William Robinson Clarke from Jamaica, Pierre Réjon from Martinique and Domenico Mondelli from Eritrea. Ahmet's maternal grandmother was born in Bornu and was brought to what is now Turkey as part of the Ottoman slave trade.
Çelikten with his flight cap, Yeşilköy Airfield - today Istanbul Atatürk Airport, Istanbul.
Ahmet Ali in flight suit with officers wearing a fez in the background.
Ottoman naval aviators of the Naval Flight School (Deniz Tayyare Mektebi) at Yeşilköy; left to right: pilot Ahmet Ali (Çelikten), Sami (Uçan), İhsan and observer Hüseyin Kâmil (Görgün).
Ottoman pilots in 1914/1915 next to a Blériot XI-2 monoplane. Ahmet Ali Çelikten can be seen next to the propeller.
Afro-Turks are Turkish people of African Zanj descent, who trace their origin to the Ottoman slave trade like the Afro-Abkhazians. Afro-Turk population is estimated to be between 5,000 and 20,000 people. Afro-Turks are distinct from African immigrants in Turkey, which number around 1.5 million individuals as of 2017 according to state-owned Anadolu Agency.
Afro-Turks
Afro-Ottoman official Hamatar Aga, 1710
Afro-Ottoman wrestler and his European opponent, 1710
Chief black eunuch in the Imperial Harem in 1912.
