Cem Boyner (born September 23, 1955) is a Turkish businessman in the textile industry, owner of department stores, and was a short-time politician.

Early life and education

Cem Boyner was born on September 3, 1955 in Istanbul to Osman Boyner, a textile industrialist from

Tosya Tosya ( ota, طوسيه), previously called Theodosia (Greek: Θεοδοσία) or Doceia (Greek: Δοκεία) under the Byzantine Empire, is a town and district of Kastamonu Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey. According to the 2000 census ...

. After graduating from

Robert College The American Robert College of Istanbul ( tr, İstanbul Özel Amerikan Robert Lisesi or ), often shortened to Robert, or RC, is a Selective school, highly selective, Independent school, independent, mixed-sex education, co-educational Secondary ...

, he studied at

Boğaziçi University Boğaziçi University ( tr, Boğaziçi Üniversitesi), also known as Bosphorus University, is a major research university in Istanbul, Turkey. Its main campus is located on the European side of the Bosphorus, Bosphorus strait. It has six facult ...

and earned a

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in Business Administration.

Career

In 1978, he was appointed the chairman of the board of the family-owned textile company Altınyıldız and of the Boyner department stores. Currently, he is the CEO of Boyner Holding. He served as chairman of

Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

(TÜSİAD), the top business association of Turkey, in the 1989-1990 term. In a recent interview for the Creating Emerging Markets project at the

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

, he describes how he introduced the Advantage Card, which revolutionized the way retail was being conducted in Turkey. Cem Boyner got interested in politics in 1990s. He founded a liberal-leaning political party, the New Democracy Movement ( tr, Yeni Demokrasi Hareketi, YDH), and was elected its leader. The party participated in the 1995 general elections. The YDH was not able to enter 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 ...

, by gaining only 0.48% of the total votes. In 1996, he quit politics due to the poor outcome at the elections.

Family life

Cem Boyner was previously married to Bilgün Sazak, the daughter of the assassinated politician

Gün Sazak Gün Sazak (26 March 1932 – 27 May 1980) was a Turkish nationalist politician and former government minister of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). He was assassinated by the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front after his police gua ...

. From this marriage, he had three daughters, Emine (b. March 16, 1989), and the twins Elif and Ayşe (b. March 6, 1985). Cem Boyner made his second marriage with Ümit Boyner, with whom he had a son, Murat (b. February 14, 1996).

Hobbies

After leaving politics, Cem Boyner developed an interest in

underwater photography Underwater photography is the process of taking photographs while under water. It is usually done while scuba diving, but can be done while diving on surface supply, snorkeling, swimming, from a submersible or remotely operated underwater veh ...

. He exhibited his photographs taken under water while touring around the world. He collected his safari photographs, taken in Africa and exhibited in 2005, in a book titled ''Yakındaki Uzak Uzaktaki Yakın'' (The Near Distant / The Distant Near). He is also an amateur kickboxing practitioner.

Books

*''Demokrasinin İçyüzü'' (1975) *''Yakındaki Uzak Uzaktaki Yakın''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boyner, Cem 1955 births Businesspeople from Istanbul Robert College alumni Boğaziçi University alumni Leaders of political parties in Turkey Living people Turkish business executives Turkish political party founders 20th-century Turkish businesspeople 21st-century Turkish businesspeople 20th-century Turkish politicians