Ahmet Necdet Sezer

Ahmet Necdet Sezer
10th President of the Republic of Turkey
In office 16 May 2000 – 28 August 2007
Prime Minister	Bülent Ecevit Abdullah Gül Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Preceded by	Süleyman Demirel
Succeeded by	Abdullah Gül
Personal details
Born	September 13, 1941 (1941-09-13) (age 70) Afyonkarahisar, Turkey
Spouse(s)	Semra Sezer
Alma mater	Ankara University

Ahmet Necdet Sezer (pronounced [ähmet̪ ned͡ʒd̪et̪ ˈsezæɾ]; born September 13, 1941 in Afyonkarahisar) was the tenth President of the Republic of Turkey. The Grand National Assembly of Turkey elected Sezer in 2000 after Süleyman Demirel's seven year term expired. He was succeeded by Abdullah Gül. His Family came from Serres.

Early life

After finishing Afyonkarahisar High School in 1958, he graduated from the Ankara University Faculty of Law in 1962 and began his career as a judge in Ankara. Following his military service at the Military Academy, he served first as a judge in Dicle and Yerköy, and later he became a supervisory judge in the High Court of Appeals in Ankara. In 1978 he received LL.M. in civil law from the Faculty of Law in Ankara University.

Chief Justice

On 7 March 1983, Sezer was elected as a member to the High Court of Appeals. As he was a member in the Second Chamber of Law, he was nominated by the plenary assembly of the High Court of Appeals among the three candidates for appointment as member of the Constitutional Court. On 27 September 1988, he was appointed by the President Kenan Evren as a member of the Constitutional Court. On 6 January 1998, Ahmet Necdet Sezer was elected chief justice of the Constitutional Court.

Presidency (2000–2007)

Sezar with Vladimir Putin, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Nursultan Nazarbayev

Sezar and his spouse with Lech Kaczyński and his spouse

He was elected president in May 2000, becoming Turkey's first head of state to come from a judicial background. He was sworn in on May 16, 2000. His term was to expire on May 16, 2007, but because the Grand National Assembly of Turkey failed to elect a new president, he retained the office pro tempore until August 28, 2007 (the Constitution of Turkey states that a President's term of office is extended until a successor is elected).

On February 21, 2001, during a quarrel in a National Security Council meeting, he threw the constitutional code book at the Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit. According to some circles, this falling-out was the main obvious reason for "Black Wednesday", a big economic crisis. Others claimed that the rapid reforms for the accession negotiations with the European Union and strong ties with the International Monetary Fund caused the "Black Wednesday" crisis.^[1]

Sezer was a firm defender of secularism, which was a point of contention between him and the ruling AKP on many issues. On many occasions, he openly stated that the secular regime in Turkey was under threat but never gave any specific reasons.^[2] He believes that Islam doesn't require women to wear headscarves. Sezer went so far as to exclude from official receptions at the Presidential Palace legislators' wives who wore headscarves.^[3]

During his presidency he has pardoned 260 convicted felons, 202 of whom were captured leftist militants.^[4][5][6] This type of pardon can be requested directly by the felon or the legal representative of the felon, but no political or court referral is necessary. Some organizations have used such pardons to criticize Sezer's presidency. On the other hand, Sezer also enacted new harsh laws to punish people who are connected with terrorism.^[7]

References

1. ^ "IMF Stopped Central Bank From Giving Liquidity in 2001, said Erçel". Referans. http://www.referansgazetesi.com/haber.aspx?HBR_KOD=76143&ForArsiv=1. Retrieved 2007-08-30. 
2. ^ "Turk President Says Secular System in Danger". http://news.scotsman.com/latest_international.cfm?id=571112007. Retrieved 2007-08-30 ^{[dead link]}
3. ^ "Turkey's Turmoil". Economist. 1 May 2007. http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9100444. Retrieved 2007-08-30. 
4. ^ "List of Sezer Amnesty Recipients Terror-Based". Dialoghaber. http://www.dialoghaber.com/index.php?mod=article&cat=Turkey&article=15841. Retrieved 2007-09-04. ^{[dead link]}
5. ^ "Group Profile, DHKP/C". http://www.tkb.org/Group.jsp?groupID=38. Retrieved 2007-09-04 
6. ^ "U.S. Warns of Rising Terror Threat to Westerners Throughout Turkey". http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/07/front2454144.2006944446.html. Retrieved 2007-09-04 
7. ^ "Turkish President Signs Controversial Anti-terror Bill Subject to Court Review". http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2006/07/turkish-president-signs-controversial.php. Retrieved 2007-08-30 

External links

• Former presidents: Ahmet Necdet Sezer, Presidency of the Republic of Turkey
• O'Toole, Pam (2000-05-06). "Profile: Ahmet Necdet Sezer". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/738386.stm. Retrieved 2008-08-20. 

Legal offices
Preceded by Yekta Güngör Özden	President of the Constitutional Court of Turkey Jan 6, 1998–May 5, 2000	Succeeded by Mustafa Bumin
Political offices
Preceded by Süleyman Demirel	President of Turkey May 16, 2000–August 28, 2007	Succeeded by Abdullah Gül

Persondata
Name	Sezer, Ahmet Necdet
Alternative names
Short description	10th President of the Republic of Turkey
Date of birth	September 13, 1941
Place of birth	Afyonkarahisar, Turkey
Date of death
Place of death