Tansu Çiller
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Tansu Penbe Çiller
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| In office June 25, 1993 – March 6, 1996 |
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| Preceded by | Süleyman Demirel |
| Succeeded by | Mesut Yılmaz |
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| Born | May 24, 1946 Istanbul, Turkey |
| Political party | DYP |
| Spouse | Özer Uçuran Çiller |
| Alma mater | Robert College |
Tansu Penbe Çiller (pronounced [ˈtɑnsu ˈtʃillɛr] (born October 9, 1946) is an economist and politician in Turkey. She was Turkey's first and so far only female Prime Minister.
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[edit] Early career
She is the daughter of a Turkish governor of Bilecik province during the 1950s. She graduated from the School of Economics at Robert College after finishing the American College for Girls in Istanbul. She received her M.S. from the University of New Hampshire and Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut. She later completed her postdoctoral studies at Yale University. After teaching economics at Franklin and Marshall College, In 1978, she became a lecturer at Bosphorus University in Istanbul and in 1983 she was appointed as professor by the same institution. She also worked in the now-defunct Istanbul Bank as president of the company.
[edit] Politics
After teaching at several universities as a professor, she entered politics in November 1990, joining the conservative True Path Party (DYP). She was first elected to parliament in 1991 as deputy of Istanbul and served as Minister of State in charge of economics in the coalition government of Süleyman Demirel. On June 13, 1993, she became the party's leader and later the Prime Minister of a coalition government. After the withdrawal of the Republican People's Party (CHP) from the coalition in 1995 she attempted to form a minority government, which failed. After that she agreed to form another cabinet with CHP and went for general elections.
Çiller also served as Turkey's Foreign Affairs Minister and the vice prime minister between 1996 and 1997. After the Susurluk scandal, she praised Abdullah Catli, a leader of the ultra-nationalist Grey Wolves killed during the Susurluk car-crash, saying that: "Those who fire bullets or suffer their wounds in the name of this country, this nation, and this state will always be respectfully remembered by us."[1][2]
In 1997, before she could form her forth cabinet as the prime minister, she was removed from power with a post-modern military coup.
The EU-Turkey Customs Union agreement was signed in 1995 and came into effect in 1996, during Çiller's government. Çiller was also Turkey's PM during the Imia/Kardak crisis with neighbouring Greece in 1996.
One of her major achievements was to the Turkish Army from an organization using vintage equipment from the US Army to a modern fighting force capable of defeating the PKK, using hit-and-run tactics. She also convinced the U.S. government to list the PKK as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, which was later followed by the acceptance of the same by the European Union.
She was investigated in the Turkish Parliament on serious corruption accusations following her period in government. Along with another former Prime Minister, Mesut Yılmaz, she was later cleared of all the charges mainly due to technicalities such as statute of limitations and political immunity. End of 1998, the corruption files involving Yılmaz and her were covered up at the commissions of the Parliament with a common action staged by DYP, ANAP and DSP MPs.[3]
Prime Minister Tansu Çiller is a member of the Council of Women World Leaders, an International network of current and former women presidents and prime ministers whose mission is to mobilize the highest-level women leaders globally for collective action on issues of critical importance to women and equitable development.
After her November 2002 election defeat, she retired from political life.
She is married to Özer Uçuran Çiller and they have two sons.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Lucy Komisar, Turkey's terrorists: a CIA legacy lives on, The Progressive, April 1997.
- ^ 1998 Report from the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey, chapter II, "SUSURLUK SCANDAL: Counter-guerilla Affairs", p.39-86 (see note p.39)
- ^ 1998 Report from the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey, p.11
[edit] External links
- Biyografi.net - Biography of Tansu Çiller
- Who is Who - Biographies : Prof. Dr. Tansu Çiller
- Appendix A : Turkey and Former Prime Minister Tansu Çiller in State Department Seeks ‘Viable’ Iranian Candidates, by Sibel Edmonds
| Party political offices | ||
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| Preceded by Süleyman Demirel |
Leader of the True Path Party Jun 14, 1993–Dec 14, 2002 |
Succeeded by Mehmet Ağar |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Süleyman Demirel |
Prime Minister of Turkey Jun 25, 1993–Mar 6, 1996 |
Succeeded by Mesut Yılmaz |
| Preceded by Emre Gönensay |
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey Jun 28, 1996–Jun 20, 1997 |
Succeeded by İsmail Cem |
| Preceded by Nahit Menteşe |
Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey Jun 28, 1996–Jun 20, 1997 |
Succeeded by Bülent Ecevit İsmet Sezgin |
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