Mesut Yılmaz

Ahmet Mesut Yılmaz
Prime Minister of Turkey
In office 30 June 1997 – 11 January 1999
President	Süleyman Demirel
Preceded by	Necmettin Erbakan
Succeeded by	Bülent Ecevit
In office 6 March 1996 – 28 June 1996
President	Süleyman Demirel
Preceded by	Tansu Çiller
Succeeded by	Necmettin Erbakan
In office 23 June 1991 – 20 November 1991
President	Turgut Özal
Preceded by	Yıldırım Akbulut
Succeeded by	Süleyman Demirel
Personal details
Born	6 November 1947 (1947-11-06) (age 64) Istanbul, Turkey
Nationality	Turkish
Political party	Anap (Motherland Party)
Spouse(s)	Berna Yılmaz
Alma mater	Ankara University

Ahmet Mesut Yılmaz (Turkish pronunciation: [meˈsut jɯɫˈmaz]; born 6 November 1947 in Istanbul) is the former leader of the Motherland Party (Turkish: Anavatan Partisi, ANAP) and was the Turkish prime minister in the 1990s.

Mesut Yılmaz was a rising star in the Motherland Party of Turgut Özal, representing the Black Sea province of Rize in the parliament and serving as tourism minister in Ozal's cabinet. Upon Özal's election to the presidency in 1989, Yılmaz became the leader of an intraparty opposition to the new Prime Minister, Yıldırım Akbulut.

Yılmaz managed to discharge Akbulut from party leadership and from all executive functions during the biennial party congress in June 1991. Because ANAP had the majority in the parliament he subsequently became Prime Minister of Turkey.

The following years saw a decline in the popularity of the Motherland Party and an acrimonious relationship with Tansu Çiller, leader of the center-right True Path Party (DYP). Yılmaz also made the Motherland Party more business-friendly and Europe-oriented, causing the more conservative, religious wing to switch to the Welfare Party (RP) of Necmettin Erbakan.

His term was marked by the Susurluk scandal, during which he admitted the existence of the JİTEM counter-terrorist Gendarmerie unit.^[1] The scandal led to the resignation of his Interior Minister, Mehmet Ağar (a leader of the True Path Party, DYP), following revelations that Abdullah Çatlı, leader of the far-right Grey Wolves organisation, worked for the state.^[1] Yılmaz' concerns over his own safety, owing to his support of the Susurluk investigation, led to his briefly carrying a gun in self-defense.^[2]

In October 1998, he set off a furor in the Arab world by threatening to "poke out the eyes" of Syria over Hafez al-Assad's alleged support of the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party.^[3]

Yılmaz's last stint as Prime Minister ended in 1999. He continued as a politician, however, serving as a deputy prime minister in a coalition led by Bülent Ecevit from 1999 to 2002. After his failure to win entry into the Grand National Assembly in 2002 elections, Yılmaz retired from politics to pursue a teaching career. After almost 4 years, Yılmaz announced his return to politics in August 2006.

He was charged by the state public prosecutor with corruption during his tenure as prime minister. He was acquitted by the Supreme Court in 2006.

In the 2007 general election he was elected as independent member of parliament from Rize.

Chronology

• Forms Motherland Party in 1983 with former president Turgut Özal
• Elected Deputy of Turkish Grand National Assembly (November 1983)
• Appointed State Minister for Information (December 1983)
• Minister of Culture and Tourism (1986)
• Minister of Foreign Affairs (December 1987)
• Prime Minister (Governments of June - October 1991, March - June 1996, June 1997- January 1999)

References

1. ^ ^{a b} 1998 Report from the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (HRFT), chapter II, "SUSURLUK SCANDAL: Counter-guerilla Affairs", p.39-86 (see p.46)
2. ^ Özkok, Ertuğrul (1998-01-18). "Tabancanın altındaki mavi dosya" (in Turkish). Hürriyet. http://hurarsiv.hurriyet.com.tr/goster/haber.aspx?id=-2927&yazarid=10. Retrieved 2008-12-23. "En üstte bir tabanca duruyordu. 'Güneş hediye etti' dedikten sonra tabancayı uzattı. Avusturya malı, Glock marka bir tabanca. Özelliği çok hafif oluşu. Mesut Bey'in çantasında ilk defa silah taşıdığını görüyorum. Demek ki Susurluk olayı bazı şeyleri değiştirmiş." 
3. ^ "Hopes for Turkey-Syria settlement". BBC News. 1998-10-12. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/191228.stm. Retrieved 2008-10-09. 

External links

• Biography at Motherland Party's website
• Personal Website
• Biography at biyografi.net (Turkish)

Political offices
Preceded by Vahit Melih Halefoğlu	Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey Dec 22, 1987–Feb 20, 1990	Succeeded by Ali Bozer
Preceded by Yıldırım Akbulut	Prime Minister of Turkey Jun 23, 1991–Nov 20, 1991	Succeeded by Süleyman Demirel
Preceded by Tansu Çiller	Prime Minister of Turkey Mar 6, 1996–Jun 28, 1996	Succeeded by Necmettin Erbakan
Preceded by Necmettin Erbakan	Prime Minister of Turkey Jun 30, 1997–Jan 11, 1999	Succeeded by Bülent Ecevit
Preceded by Hüsamettin Özkan Hikmet Uluğbay	Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey Jul 13, 2000–Nov 19, 2002	Succeeded by Mehmet Ali Şahin Ertuğrul Yalçınbayır Abdüllatif Şener
Party political offices
Preceded by Yıldırım Akbulut	Leader of the Motherland Party (ANAP) Jun 15, 1991–Nov 4, 2002	Succeeded by Ali Talip Özdemir

Persondata
Name	Yilmaz, Mesut
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	6 November 1947
Place of birth	Istanbul, Turkey
Date of death
Place of death