Vecdi Gönül

Mehmet Vecdi Gönül
Minister of National Defence of Turkey
In office 18 November 2002 – 6 July 2011
Prime Minister	Abdullah Gül Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Preceded by	Sabahattin Çakmakoğlu
Succeeded by	İsmet Yılmaz
Governor of Izmir
In office 10 February 1984 – 11 January 1988
Preceded by	Hüseyin Öğütçen
Succeeded by	Nevzat Ayaz
Governor of Ankara
In office 15 December 1979 – 27 October 1980
Preceded by	Tekin Alp
Succeeded by	Mustafa Gönül
Personal details
Born	29 November 1939 (1939-11-29) (age 71) Erzincan, Turkey
Nationality	Turkish
Political party	AK Party
Spouse(s)	Sevgi Gönül
Alma mater	Ankara University, University of Southern California
Religion	Islam

Mehmet Vecdi Gönül (pronounced [vedʒdi ˈɟønyl]; born 29 November 1939 in Erzincan) is Minister of Defence of Turkey and Member of Parliament for Kocaeli.^[1]

Biography

Gönül's father, Saffet, was a teacher in Military high schools. His mother's name was Lütfiye. He graduated in political science from Ankara University in 1960 and returned to Erzincan as a civil servant. He completed a master's degree in Public Administration at the University of Southern California and then returned to a career in public administration in Turkey, eventually becoming security chief and then governor of Kocaeli, Ankara (during the 1980 Turkish coup d'état) and Istanbul provinces. In the mid-80s he was governor of Izmir where he is remembered for a large project of road-building and the construction of Adnan Menderes Airport. Gönül eventually became president of the Public Spending Authority (Sayıştay), the country's highest authority on public finance.^[1]

Gönül was elected to the Turkish parliament for Kocaeli on 18 April 1999, and was part of the vanguard of the incumbent AKP. When Tayyip Erdoğan was barred from entering parliament, he became a candidate for party leadership, and later a candidate for the presidency.

He became Minister of National Defence on 19 November 2002,^[1] serving at this post until 6 July 2011.

Vecdi Gönül is married and has 3 children]. He speaks English^[2][3] and Arabic.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Biography, Turkish Ministry of Defence.
2. ^ Biyografi.net (Turkish)
3. ^ Turkish Grand National Assembly bio (Turkish)

Political offices
Preceded by Sabahattin Çakmakoğlu	Minister of National Defence of Turkey November 18, 2002 - July 6, 2011	Succeeded by İsmet Yılmaz

Persondata
Name	Gonul, Vecdi
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	29 November 1939
Place of birth	Erzincan, Turkey
Date of death
Place of death