Beşir Atalay
Beşir Atalay (pronounced [beʃiɾ ˈataɫaj]; born 1947) is a Turkish politician who was Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey in the government of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan from 2011 to 2014. Previously he was minister of interior from 28 August 2007 to 14 July 2011.
Beşir Atalay | |
|---|---|
| Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey | |
| In office 14 July 2011 – 29 August 2014 | |
| Prime Minister | Recep Tayyip Erdoğan |
| Serving with | Bülent Arınç Ali Babacan Bekir Bozdağ Emrullah İşler |
| Preceded by | Cemil Çiçek |
| Succeeded by | Numan Kurtulmuş |
| Minister of the Interior | |
| In office 28 August 2007 – 14 July 2011 | |
| Prime Minister | Recep Tayyip Erdoğan |
| Preceded by | Abdülkadir Aksu |
| Succeeded by | İdris Naim Şahin |
| Minister of state | |
| In office 19 November 2002 – 28 August 2007 | |
| Prime Minister | Recep Tayyip Erdoğan |
| Member of the Grand National Assembly | |
| In office 1 November 2015 – 24 June 2018 | |
| Constituency | Van (Nov 2015) |
| In office 14 November 2002 – 7 June 2015 | |
| Constituency | Ankara (II) (2002, 2007) Kırıkkale (2011) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 15 January 1947 Keskin, Turkey |
| Political party | Justice and Development Party (2001 - 2019) |
| Alma mater | Ankara University |
Early years and academic career
Born in Keskin, Kırıkkale Province, he graduated from the Faculty of Law at Ankara University and worked as a lecturer at Atatürk University in Erzurum. He then worked at the State Planning Organization (DPT), Marmara University, and UNESCO's Turkish National Commission. Atalay was the founding rector of the Kırıkkale University until he was removed from office by the Board of Higher Education (YÖK) in the aftermath of the Turkish military memorandum of 1997, on grounds he was involved in activities contrary to the interests of the state.[1]
Political career
In the General Elections of 2002, he was elected a member of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey representing Ankara for the AKP[2] and later he became a minister of state in Erdoğan's first cabinet following President Ahmet Necdet Sezer's veto of a proposal to appoint Atalay as minister of education. Then in August 2007 he was appointed interior minister, one of the few cabinet changes following the re-election of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan that summer, and also following Sezer's retirement from the presidency. In 2009, he was assigned with the task to find a solution to the Turkish Kurdish conflict, a project which lasted until December 2009 and was not supported by the Republican People's Party (CHP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).[3] In 2011, he was named deputy prime minister with the responsibility of human rights and the fight against terrorism and served in the post until 2014. He was re-elected to the Turkish Parliament in the general elections of November 2015, this time representing the province of Van for the AKP,[4] but did not stand as a candidate in 2018.[1]
Personal life
Beşir Atalay is married to Yıldız Atalay and has three children. He is a member of the Community of İskenderpaşa, a Turkish sufistic community of Naqshbandi tariqah.[5]
Notes
- ^ a b (PDF). Heinrich Böll Stiftung. pp. 60–61. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 January 2021. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
- ^ "Ankara Seçim Sonuçları". secim.haberler.com. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
- ^ Yeğen, Mesut (2015). "The Kurdish Peace Process in Turkey: Genesis, Evolution and Prospects" (PDF). www.files.ethz.ch. p. 6–7. (PDF) from the original on 2020-08-18. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
- ^ "Seçim sonuçları 2015 – 1 Kasım Van seçim sonuçları son dakika". www.sozcu.com.tr. from the original on 2017-04-11. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
- ^ Eurasia Review: "The Naqshbandi-Khalidi Order And Political Islam In Turkey – Analysis" Hudson Institute. 5 September 2015
References
- Biyografi.net - Biography of Beşir Atalay