Agah Oktay Güner (born 1937) is a Turkish journalist and politician who held various cabinet posts and served in different parties, including

Nationalist Movement Party The Nationalist Movement Party (alternatively translated as Nationalist Action Party; tr, Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi, MHP) is a Turkish far-right and ultranationalist political party. The group is often described as neo-fascist, and has been ...

, Motherland Party and

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 ...

Early life and education

Güner was born in

Bayburt Bayburt () is a city in northeast Turkey lying on the Çoruh River and is the provincial capital of Bayburt Province. According to the 2021 census the population is determined as around 82,274. Bayburt was once an important center on the ancient ...

in 1937. He graduated from Konya High School. He received a degree in law from

Ankara University Ankara University ( tr, Ankara Üniversitesi) is a public university in Ankara, the capital city of Turkey. It was the first higher education institution founded in Turkey after the formation of the republic in 1923. The university has 40 vocat ...

and obtained his PhD in economics from the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

. His PhD thesis was about economic state enterprises and economic development. During his university studies in Ankara Güner began his political activity in 1954 being a member of the nationalist youth group

Turkish Hearths Turkish Hearths ( tr, Türk Ocakları) is a non-governmental organization (NGO) in Turkey. It was founded in 1912, during the last years of the Ottoman Empire, in a period when almost all non-Turkish elements had their own national committees, an ...

Career and activities

Güner worked at different public institutions. In 1977 he joined the Nationalist Movement Party. He was first elected to the

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

in 1977 and served as the deputy of Konya in the 16th term. In the 41st government he served as the minister of commerce between 21 July 1977 and 5 January 1978. Following the 1980 coup in Turkey he was arrested and sentenced to death. He later was acquitted and released from the prison. He joined the Motherland Party and was elected to the Parliament in 1995 serving as a deputy of Ankara in the 20th term. In the 53rd government he was the minister of culture between 6 March and 28 June 1996. In 1999 he was elected as a deputy from Balıkesir and served in the 21st term of the Parliament. In 2002 he resigned from the Motherland Party and joined the True Path Party. Güner was among the contributors of the newspapers ''

Tercüman ''Tercüman: Halka ve Olaylara'' was a Turkish daily newspaper. It was founded in 1955 by Kemal Ilıcak (1932–1993), and associated with the center-right. The newspaper closed after Ilıcak's death, and the name was acquired by the Çukur ...

'' ve '' Türkiye''. He is one of the writers of '' Yeniçağ'' newspaper.

Views

Güner is among the critics of the language simplification carried out by

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, or Mustafa Kemal Pasha until 1921, and Ghazi Mustafa Kemal from 1921 Surname Law (Turkey), until 1934 ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish Mareşal (Turkey), field marshal, Turkish National Movement, re ...

in 1926. He argued that Turkish youth had problems in understanding the Ottoman texts. After Güner was released from prison he stated "we are in prison, yet our ideology is in government" referring to both his colleagues who were still in the prison and the Turkish government which had been implementing nationalist policies closely similar to those of the National Movement Party. Güner is one of the followers of the

Rifaʽi Rifai (also ''Rufai'', ''Rifaiyya'', ''Rifaiya'', Arabic, الرفاعية) is an eminent Sufi order (tariqa) within Sunni Islam founded by Ahmed ar-Rifai and developed in the Lower Iraq marshlands between Wasit and Basra. The Rifa'iyya had ...

order.

Personal life

Güner is married and has five children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guner, Agah Oktay 20th-century Turkish journalists 21st-century Turkish journalists 1937 births Living people People from Bayburt Ankara University Faculty of Law alumni Members of the 53rd government of Turkey Members of the 16th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 20th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 21st Parliament of Turkey Nationalist Movement Party politicians Motherland Party (Turkey) politicians Ministers of Culture of Turkey Government ministers of Turkey Members of the 41st government of Turkey Deputies of Ankara Deputies of Balıkesir Deputies of Konya Turkish prisoners sentenced to death University of Paris alumni Turkish nationalists