Çetin Özaçıkgöz (born 1943) is a Turkish politician and lawyer who currently serves as the leader of the

True Path Party The True Path Party ( tr, Doğru Yol Partisi, DYP) was a centre-right political party in Turkey, active from 1983 to 2007. For most of its history, the party's central figure was Süleyman Demirel, a former Prime Minister of Turkey who previously ...

(DYP) in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

. Özaçıkgöz re-established the DYP in 2007 after the original True Path Party changed its name to

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

(DP).

Early life and career

Özaçıkgöz worked for the ''Yeni Çığır'' magazine in 1964 before becoming the President of the Justice Party (AP) youth wing in

Bolu Province Bolu Province ( tr, ) is a province situated in north-western Turkey. It is located between the capital, Ankara and the largest city in the country, Istanbul. It covers an area of 7,410 km2 and the population is 311,810. The capital city ...

in 1968. Moving to

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

in 1969, he worked at the AP headquarters on electoral matters before becoming the head of public relations at the

Ministry of Public Works This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure. See also * Public works * Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...

in 1970. He served as the head of public relations for a year until 1971, after which he became the President of the AP Youth Wing until 1974. Between 1975 and 1977, he became an advisor on press and parliamentary affairs to the

Ministry of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government ag ...

. In 2000, Özaçıkgöz attended meetings held twice a week at the home of Süleyman Demirel, which focussed on both domestic and international problems faced by Turkey. He also participated in research on political parties, parliaments and local government in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

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and Switzerland and has written two books. Having served as a practicing lawyer between 1990 and 1999, Özaçıkgöz is still a lawyer in Ankara.

Re-establishment of the DYP

In 2007, the DYP renamed itself and became the Democratic Party in a bid to merge with the Motherland Party (ANAP). Özaçıkgöz subsequently re-established the party on 28 May 2007 along with Mahmut Dayangaç and Cihat Yenidoğan. He was re-elected as the leader of the new DYP in the party's first and second ordinary conventions. Özaçıkgöz subsequently contested the 2011 general election and the June 2015 general election, though his party fell well short of the 10%

election threshold The electoral threshold, or election threshold, is the minimum share of the primary vote that a candidate or political party requires to achieve before they become entitled to representation or additional seats in a legislature. This limit can ...

needed to win parliamentary representation on both occasions.

Personal life

Özaçıkgöz is married with two children.

References

External links

Collection of all relevant news items at Haberler.comCollection of all relevant news items at Milliyet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ozacikgoz, Cetin Democrat Party (Turkey, current) politicians 1943 births Living people Politicians from Istanbul Lawyers from Istanbul Leaders of political parties in Turkey