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Abdullah Gül

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Abdullah Gül
11th President of the Republic of Turkey
Incumbent
Assumed office
28 August 2007
Prime MinisterRecep Tayyip Erdoğan
Preceded byAhmet Necdet Sezer
25th Prime Minister of Turkey
In office
18 November 2002 – 14 March 2003
PresidentAhmet Necdet Sezer
Preceded byBülent Ecevit
Succeeded byRecep Tayyip Erdoğan
Personal details
Born (1950-10-10) October 10, 1950 (age 74)
Kayseri, Turkey
Political partyJustice and Development Party
SpouseHayrünnisa Gül
Alma materIstanbul University
Politics of Turkey
Constitution
Legislature
Executive
Judiciary
Elections
Foreign relations
See also
flag Turkey portal

Abdullah Gül (born October 29, 1950) is the 11th President of the Republic of Turkey, having served in that office since 28 August 2007. He previously served for five months as Prime Minister (2002-2003), and as Foreign Minister from 2003 to 2007.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's selection of Gül as a presidential candidate drew strong and highly vocal opposition from ardent supporters of secularism in Turkey. In May 2007, Gül's first bid for presidency was blocked by the Constitutional court in a climate of secularist concern regarding views Gül had expressed during his Welfare Party years, and the fact that his wife wears a hijab, a headscarf, seen by some as a symbol of political Islam.[1] However, following the parliamentary elections in July the same year, which were won by the AKP, he was eventually voted in as on August 28, 2007 and sworn in the same day.

Early life

Born in Kayseri, Gül was brought up in a conservative family environment by his father Ahmet Hamdi, a mechanic, and his mother Adviye. His family has lived in Güllük Camii in Kayseri for about one hundred years.[2]

Education

Gül studied economics at the University of Istanbul and wrote his dissertation there. During his graduate education, he studied for two years in London and Exeter. He pursued an academic career after that and worked at the higher education facilities in Adapazarı, collaborating in the establishment of a department for industrial engineering and teaching management courses of future Sakarya University. Between 1983 and 1991, he worked at the Islamic Development Bank (IDB). In 1991, Gül became a lecturer in international management.

First steps in politics

Gül became acquainted with right-wing politics early during his high school years. During his university education, he became a member of Islamist-nationalist Millî Türk Talebe Birliği (National Turkish Students' Union) in the line of Necip Fazıl's Büyük Doğu (Grand Orient) current.[3]

He was elected a member of the Turkish parliament for Refah Partisi (RP, "the Welfare Party") from Kayseri Province in 1991 and 1995. During these years, he made statements about the political system of Turkey that was designed by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and the Turkish National Movement. These statements caused controversy when his candidacy for the 2007 presidential election was announced by Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan.[4]

In 1999, he kept his seat as a member of Fazilet Partisi (FP, "the Virtue Party") which was afterwards closed by Constitutional Court for its violation of Constitution, successor to Refah Partisi which was also closed by Constitutional Court for its violation of Constitution, especially the principle of secularism. He was among the founders of Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi (AKP), "Justice and Development Party). He was elected once again to represent Kayseri in 2002.

Prime Minister

After the Justice and Development Party (AK) won the most votes in the November 2002 general election, Gül was appointed Prime Minister, as AK Party leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was unable to assume the role due to a ban on his participation in politics. After Gül's government secured legislation allowing Erdoğan's return to politics, the latter took over as Prime Minister on 14 March 2003. Gül was appointed deputy prime minister and foreign minister.

Foreign Minister

After becoming foreign minister in March 2003, Gül became the key player in Turkey's attempts to receive an accession date for the European Union and in its attempts to improve relations with Syria and maintaining its relationship with the Turkic-speaking countries of Central Asia and the Caucasus. On February 6, 2007, Gül flew to the United States to meet with U.S. President George W. Bush and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Abdullah Gül with US National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice while visiting the White House in July 2003

Presidential candidacy

Prime Minister Erdoğan announced on April 24, 2007 that Gül would be the Justice and Development Party candidate in the 2007 presidential election. Previously, there had been speculation that Erdoğan himself would be the party's candidate, which had provoked substantial opposition from secularists.[5][6] When a boycott of opposition parties in Parliament deadlocked the election process, Gül formally withdrew his candidacy on May 6, 2007.

But a few days later, on May 11 when he inquired after the alterations to the Turkish constitution which now allowed the people to elect the president directly rather than a parliamentary vote, Gül announced that he was still intending to run.[7][8]

Following the July 2007 parliamentary election, the AKP renominated Gül as its presidential candidate on August 13; the election was again held as a vote of parliament.[9] On August 14, Gül submitted his candidacy application to parliament and expressed his commitment to secularism at a news conference.[10]

On August 28, 2007, he was elected president in the third round of voting; in the first two rounds, a two-thirds majority of MPs had been required, but in the third round he needed only a simple majority. Gül was sworn in immediately thereafter.[11] The process was a very low-key affair.[12] Gül's swearing-in was not attended by the Chief of the Turkish General Staff and was boycotted by the opposition Republican People's Party; then the hand-over of power at the presidential palace was held behind closed doors. Gül's wife Hayrünnisa, whose wearing of a headscarf is a factor in the opposition to Gül's presidency, was not present.

Gül received messages of congratulation from the US, EU and German authorities while Turkish prime minister Tayyip Erdoğan made a statement saying "a structure doomed to uncertainty has been overcome" (an oblique reference to the deep state theory that Turkey is ruled behind-closed-doors by a secret conspiracy of soldiers and bureaucrats).[13]

Personal life

On August 20 1980, Abdullah Gül married Hayrünnisa Özyurt, his first cousin. When they got married Hayrünnisa Özyurt was 15 years old and Abdullah Gül was 30.[14] The couple have three children, two sons named Mehmet Emre and Ahmet Münir and a daughter named Kübra. He is a dedicated fan of the football club Beşiktaş J.K..[15]

See also

References

  1. ^ Gül'ün adaylığını doğru bulmuyoruz, retrieved 2007-08-29 {{citation}}: |first= has generic name (help); |first= missing |last= (help)
  2. ^ Kurt, Süleyman, "Cumhur" İkinci Kez Köşk Yolunda, retrieved 2007-08-29
  3. ^ Abdullah Gul's Unknown Sides/Exclusive, retrieved 2007-08-31 {{citation}}: |first= missing |last= (help)
  4. ^ Abdullah Gül: The Man Who Would be Turkey's President, retrieved 2007-08-28 {{citation}}: |first= missing |last= (help)
  5. ^ "Turkey's ruling party announces FM Gül as presidential candidate", Xinhua (People's Daily Online), April 24, 2007.
  6. ^ "Turkey 'must have secular leader'", BBC News, April 24, 2007
  7. ^ "Gül: Adaylığımız devam ediyor" (in Turkish). Retrieved 2007-05-11.
  8. ^ "Gül adaylıktan çekildi" (in Turkish). Retrieved 2007-05-11.
  9. ^ "Turkey's ruling party renominates Gül as presidential candidate", Xinhua (People's Daily Online), August 13, 2007.
  10. ^ "Turkey's Gul vows secular agenda", BBC News, August 14, 2007.
  11. ^ "Turkish foreign minister wins presidency, in victory for Islamic-rooted government", Associated Press (International Herald Tribune), August 28, 2007.
  12. ^ Generals Protest Against Gül's Presidency, retrieved 2007-08-30 {{citation}}: |first= missing |last= (help)
  13. ^ Türkiye'nin 11. Cumhurbaşkanı Abdullah Gül, retrieved 2007-08-31 {{citation}}: |first= missing |last= (help)
  14. ^ Dündar, Can, Bir Evlilik Yıldönümü, retrieved 2007-08-29
  15. ^ "Köşk'e üçüncü beşiktaşlı", Haber3, April 24, 2007.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Abdullah Gül.
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Preceded by
Yaşar Yakış
 Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey
2003–2007 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Prime Minister of Turkey
2002–2003 		Succeeded by

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