WHO’S WHO IN POLITICS IN TURKEY Sarıdemir Mah. Ragıp Gümüşpala Cad. No: 10 34134 Eminönü/İstanbul Tel: (0212) 522 02 02 - Faks: (0212) 513 54 00 www.tarihvakfi.org.tr - [email protected] © Tarih Vakfı Yayınları, 2019 WHO’S WHO IN POLITICS IN TURKEY PROJECT Project Coordinators İsmet Akça, Barış Alp Özden Editors İsmet Akça, Barış Alp Özden Authors Süreyya Algül, Aslı Aydemir, Gökhan Demir, Ali Yalçın Göymen, Erhan Keleşoğlu, Canan Özbey, Baran Alp Uncu Translation Bilge Güler Proofreading in English Mark David Wyers Book Design Aşkın Yücel Seçkin Cover Design Aşkın Yücel Seçkin Printing Yıkılmazlar Basın Yayın Prom. ve Kağıt San. Tic. Ltd. Şti. Evren Mahallesi, Gülbahar Cd. 62/C, 34212 Bağcılar/İstanbull Tel: (0212) 630 64 73 Registered Publisher: 12102 Registered Printer: 11965 First Edition: İstanbul, 2019 ISBN Who’s Who in Politics in Turkey Project has been carried out with the coordination by the History Foundation and the contribution of Heinrich Böll Foundation Turkey Representation. WHO’S WHO IN POLITICS IN TURKEY —EDITORS İSMET AKÇA - BARIŞ ALP ÖZDEN AUTHORS SÜREYYA ALGÜL - ASLI AYDEMİR - GÖKHAN DEMİR ALİ YALÇIN GÖYMEN - ERHAN KELEŞOĞLU CANAN ÖZBEY - BARAN ALP UNCU TARİH VAKFI YAYINLARI Table of Contents i Foreword 1 Abdi İpekçi 3 Abdülkadir Aksu 6 Abdullah Çatlı 8 Abdullah Gül 11 Abdullah Öcalan 14 Abdüllatif Şener 16 Adnan Menderes 19 Ahmet Altan 21 Ahmet Davutoğlu 24 Ahmet Necdet Sezer 26 Ahmet Şık 28 Ahmet Taner Kışlalı 30 Ahmet Türk 32 Akın Birdal 34 Alaattin Çakıcı 36 Ali Babacan 38 Alparslan Türkeş 41 Arzu Çerkezoğlu 43 Aydın Doğan 45 Ayşe Nur Bahçekapılı 47 Aziz Nesin 49 Bahriye Üçok 51 Bedrettin Dalan 53 Behice Boran 55 Berat Albayrak 57 Berfo Ana (Berfo Kırbayır) 59 Besim Tibuk 60 Beşir Atalay 62 Bülent Arınç 64 Bülent Ecevit 66 Can Dündar 68 Can Paker 69 Canan Arın 71 Cavit Cağlar 73 Cem Boyner 74 Cem Uzan 77 Cemil Çiçek 79 Cengiz Çandar 81 Çevik Bir 83 Deniz Baykal 182 Murat Karayalçın 86 Deniz Gezmiş 184 Musa Anter 89 Devlet Bahçeli 186 Mustafa Kemal Atatürk 91 Doğan Güreş 189 Mustafa Timisi 93 Doğu Perinçek 191 Mümtaz Soysal 95 Duygu Asena 194 Nazım Hikmet Ran 97 Erdal İnönü 196 Nazlı Ilıcak 100 Eren Keskin 198 Necip Fazıl Kısakürek 102 Ertuğrul Kürkçü 200 Necmettin Erbakan 104 Etyen Mahçupyan 203 Nevzat Yalçıntaş 106 Fethullah Gülen 205 Numan Kurtulmuş 109 Figen Yüksekdağ 207 Orhan Doğan 111 Fikri Sönmez 209 Osman Kavala 113 Filiz Kerestecioğlu 211 Oya Baydar 115 Gültan Kışanak 213 Pervin Buldan 117 Hakan Fidan 215 Pınar Selek 119 Hatip Dicle 217 Rahşan Ecevit 121 Hikmet Çetin 219 Rauf Raif Denktaş 123 Hikmet Sami Türk 221 Recep Tayyip Erdoğan 125 Hrant Dink 224 Said Nursi 128 Hüda Kaya 226 Sakıp Sabancı 130 Hülya Gülbahar 228 Sedat Bucak 132 Hüsamettin Cindoruk 230 Sedat Peker 134 İbrahim Kalın 232 Selahattin Demirtaş 136 İhsan Doğramacı 235 Seyit Rıza 138 İlhan Selçuk 237 Sezai Karakoç 140 İlker Başbuğ 239 Sezgin Tanrıkulu 142 İsmail Beşikçi 241 Süleyman Demirel 144 İsmail Cem 244 Süleyman Hasan Soylu 146 İsmail Kahraman 247 Şebnem Korur Fincancı 148 İsmet İnönü 250 Şeyh Said 151 Kemal Derviş 252 Şirin Tekeli 153 Kemal Gürüz 254 Tahir Elçi 155 Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu 256 Tansu Penbe Çiller 157 Kenan Evren 259 Temel Karamollaoğlu 160 Konca Kuriş 261 Tuncay Özkan 162 Leyla Zana 263 Turgut Özal 164 Mehmet Kadir Ağar 266 Türkân Saylan 166 Mehmet Ali Aybar 268 Uğur Mumcu 168 Mehmet Eymür 271 Veli Küçük 170 Melih Gökçek 274 Vural Savaş 172 Meral Akşener 277 Yaşar Büyükanıt 174 Merve Kavakçı 279 Yaşar Kemal 176 Mesut Yılmaz 282 Yekta Güngör Özden 178 Metin Göktepe 285 Yiğit Bulut 180 Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu FOREWORD The political scene in Turkey is quite intense and complex in terms of the events that have occurred and the people who have been involved, and as such Turkey is unique among other countries. Naturally, understanding contempo- rary politics requires a comprehensive knowledge of the actions of political figures from the recent and distant past. As a means of filling that gap in the literature on Turkey, this book offers an easy-to-read, compact, informative, and analytical collection of biographies prepared by experts that offsets the bias inherent to much that is said in social media. In recent times, that need has become even more pressing as regards international public opinion as well as scholars and researchers who are concerned with monitoring politics in Turkey. This book consists of 130 brief biographies about people who have shaped contemporary politics in Turkey and influenced how Turkish politics have un- folded in recent times. The biographic portrayals of each individual are based not just on facts but analytical explorations of the general context of the periods in question as well as the relationships that existed between particular incidents and persons. Surely, it is no easy task to choose who to write about for a country with such a dynamic and intense political environment. In our selection of the people in this book, we chose those who have had a major influence on and marked the political scene in Turkey. Also, we were careful about including people from civil society and not limiting the scope of the work to parliamentary politics. It is a well-known fact that politics in Turkey are overwhelmingly patriarchal in nature, so we sought to offer up a balanced distribution in terms of gender. Another criterion in our selection was the representation of different political movements regardless of their impact on today’s politics. We included some figures who are not part of legal political activities but have been very influential in the political scene and the shaping of the Turkish political agenda. In the course of their research, the authors involved in the creation of this book delved into the archives of magazines and newspapers while also examining memoirs, institutional histories and analyses of the politics of Tur- key. However, since our main aim was to prepare a general guide for readers interested in better understanding the developments that have occurred in the politics of Turkey, we did not break up the text with footnotes or bibliogra- phies, as might be done in a more academic work. The research for Who’s Who in Politics in Turkey was made possible through the support of Turkish History Foundation and the contribution of Heinrich Böll Foundation Turkey Representation. İsmet Akça and Barış Alp Özden i Abdi İpekçi Journalist, writer. Born in Istanbul in 1929, İpekçi graduated from Galatasaray High School in 1948 and continued his education at Istanbul University’s Faculty of Law for a period of time. Between 1943 and 1948, his writings and cartoons were published in the sports magazines Kırmızı Beyaz and Şut. İpekçi began his career as a pro- fessional journalist in 1949 when he started writing for the newspaper Yeni Sabah. He also worked as a sports reporter, page designer and editor for a va- riety of newspapers including Yeni İstanbul and İstanbul Ekspres. In 1954, he started working for the newspaper Milliyet. When Milliyet was acquired by Ali Naci Karacan in 1935, it was renamed Tan. In 1945, as Turkey’s relations with the United States of America were improving in terms of foreign policy, Tan was advocating for the advancement of relations with the Soviet Union. Ulti- mately, Tan was shut down in 1945 after being pilloried with anti-communist slogans, an event which came to be known as the “Tan Incident.” Afterwards, when the newspaper continued being published as Milliyet, Abdi İpekçi first worked as the editor and then the editor in chief, and in 1959 he became an editorial writer. Thanks to the presence of İpekçi, Milliyet became one of the most polit- ically influential newspapers in Turkey. In the 1940s, the newspaper had been close to the Democrat Party but in the 1960s Milliyet started moving closer to the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and published columns penned by Bülent Ecevit. In the 1970s, the newspaper took on a social democrat per- 1 spective. Through his position at Milliyet, Abdi İpekçi sought to establish an approach to journalism and media principles that held to universal standards. He highlighted the importance of reporting and carried out his duties as a journalist in light of people’s right to information. In his writing, he advocated rationalist and reconciliatory policies. During his career, İpekçi was the president of the Journalists’ Union of Turkey (1959) and secretary of the Honorary Press Council (Basın Şeref Di- vanı) (1960). From 1961 to 1970, he hosted open discussion sessions at TRT (the Turkish Radio and Television Association), and he later became a mem- ber of the executive board of the International Press Institute (1964). In 1968, he gave lectures at Istanbul University’s Faculty of Economics at the Institute of Journalism, and in 1972 he became the president of the Turkish Press Institute. Prior to the military coup of 1980, he made calls for democracy as a means of fighting the escalating violence in the country, and he continued defend- ing rights and freedoms, insisting on impartiality. İpekçi was shot and killed by Mehmet Ali Ağca on February 1, 1979 while he was driving his car. Oral Çelik, one of the figures behind the assassination, stayed in prison for only three months, and the arrest warrant for Mehmet Şener, who had also been involved, expired in 1999. After he escaped from prison with the help of accomplices, Ağca attempted to assassinate Pope Jean Paul II in 1981 and he served a sentence of nineteen years of imprisonment in Italy. In 2000, he was moved to a prison in Turkey and released in 2010.