Besim Üstünel (1927 – June 2, 2015) was an academic in economics, politician and former Minister of Finance of Turkey.

Family life and early years

Besim Üstünel was born to Emin Üstünel and his wife Zekiye in

Gaziantep Gaziantep (), previously and still informally called Aintab or Antep (), is a major city and capital of the Gaziantep Province, in the westernmost part of Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia Region and partially in the Mediterranean Region, approximat ...

Southeastern Turkey The Southeastern Anatolia Region ( tr, Güneydoğu Anadolu Bölgesi) is a Geographical regions of Turkey, geographical region of Turkey. The most populous city in the region is Gaziantep. Other examples of big cities are Şanlıurfa, Diyarbakır ...

in 1927. He had four sisters Nermin, Saadet, Sema, Aysen and four brothers Rasim Daşar, Mesut, Gündüz, Erol. After his primary and secondary education in his home city, Üstünel graduated from the School of Economics at

Istanbul University , image = Istanbul_University_logo.svg , image_size = 200px , latin_name = Universitas Istanbulensis , motto = tr, Tarihten Geleceğe Bilim Köprüsü , mottoeng = Science Bridge from Past to the Future , established = 1453 1846 1933 ...

in 1946. After doctorate studies in the same university, he completed his post graduate studies in

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

. He was married to Gülen Üstünel, born Cin.

Career

Besim Üstünel pursued a teaching career, and taught in the

Faculty of Political Science, Ankara University The Faculty of Political Science of the University of Ankara ( tr, Ankara Üniversitesi Siyasal Bilgiler Fakültesi, more simply known as "''SBF''") is the oldest faculty of social science in Turkey, being the successor of the "Mekteb-i Mülkiye" ( ...

. During this period, he served as a visiting professor in the universities of

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

and

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. Üstünel served also in the State planning Organization of Turkey. In 1965, he was appointed deputy secretary general of the

Republican People's Party The Republican People's Party ( tr, Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi, , acronymized as CHP ) is a Kemalist and social-democratic political party in Turkey which currently stands as the main opposition party. It is also the oldest political party ...

(CHP) upon request of the party leader

İsmet İnönü Mustafa İsmet İnönü (; 24 September 1884 – 25 December 1973) was a Turkish army officer and statesman of Kurdish descent, who served as the second President of Turkey from 11 November 1938 to 22 May 1950, and its Prime Minister three tim ...

. However, he did not enter the parliament for active politics. In the 1975 Turkish senate elections, he became a CHP senator serving until the

1980 Turkish coup d'état The 1980 Turkish coup d'état ( tr, 12 Eylül Darbesi), headed by Chief of the General Staff General Kenan Evren, was the third coup d'état in the history of the Republic of Turkey, the previous having been the 1960 coup and the 1971 coup by ...

. Between June 21 and July 21, 1977, he served as the

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

in the

40th government of Turkey The 40th government of Turkey (21 June 1977 – 21 July 1977) was a short term (one month) government that governed Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcont ...

(2nd

Bülent Ecevit Mustafa Bülent Ecevit (; 28 May 1925 – 5 November 2006) was a Turkish politician, statesman, poet, writer, scholar, and journalist, who served as the Prime Minister of Turkey four times between 1974 and 2002. He served as prime minister in ...

government), which failed to receive the

vote of confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

. After the 1980 military coup, he returned to academic studies, and taught in the

Istanbul Technical University Istanbul Technical University ( tr, İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi, commonly referred to as ITU or The Technical University) is an international technical university located in Istanbul, Turkey. It is the world's third-oldest technical university ...

and later at

Marmara University Marmara University ( Turkish: ''Marmara Üniversitesi'') is a public university in Istanbul, Turkey. The university is named after the Sea of Marmara and was founded as a university in 1982. However, it was created in 1883 under the name of ''H ...

and

Galatasaray University Galatasaray University ( tr, Galatasaray Üniversitesi, french: Université Galatasaray) is a Turkish university established in İstanbul, Turkey in 1992, following an agreement signed in the presence of President François Mitterrand of France ...

.Haber Gazetesi
/ref> In 1986 he served in

Seijo University is a private university in Seijo, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Japan. It is operated by the Seijo Gakuen institute. Seijo University has its origins in Seijo Gakuen (成城学園), which was founded in 1917 by Dr. Masataro Sawayanagi, a former Ministe ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

as a visiting professor. He also served as the speaker of Turkish delegation in

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold European Convention on Human Rights, human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. ...

between 1980-1981.Gaziantep news

Death

Üstünel died in Istanbul Florence Nightingale Hospital on June 2, 2015. Following the religious ceremony at

Teşvikiye Mosque The Teşvikiye Mosque is a neo-baroque structure located in the Teşvikiye neighbourhood of Şişli district in Istanbul, Turkey. History The mosque was originally commissioned in 1794 by Sultan Selim III, but most of the current mosque that st ...

, he was interred in Ulus Cemetery on June 4, 2015.

Works

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ustunel, Besim 1927 births People from Gaziantep Istanbul University alumni Alumni of the London School of Economics Turkish economists Academic staff of Ankara University Academic staff of Istanbul Technical University Academic staff of Marmara University Academic staff of Galatasaray University Republican People's Party (Turkey) politicians Members of the Senate of the Republic (Turkey) Ministers of Finance of Turkey Council of Europe people 2015 deaths Members of the 40th government of Turkey