Erdoğan Toprak (born 10 December 1959) is a

Turkish 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 ...

politician and businessman from 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), who has served as the Member of Parliament for İstanbul's third electoral district since 2011. Having served as the MP for the same district between 1995 and 2002 as a member of the Democratic Left Party (DSP), he served as the Minister of State responsible for Youth and Sports in the

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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 ...

, before losing his seat at the 2002 general election. Re-elected as an MP in the 2011 general election and again in June 2015, Toprak currently serves as the Deputy Leader of the CHP since 25 December 2010. He was offered, but declined, a ministerial position by Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu during the formation of an interim election government in August 2015.

Early life and career

Erdoğan Toprak was born in 1959 in the Zeytinli village of Adana. He graduated from Anadolu University Faculty of Social Sciences before beginning his career in 1983 as a freelance businessman. He was a member of the Turkish Young Businessmen Association (TÜGİAD) and was a founding member of the

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul, Turkey, located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and Şişli, on the west by Kağıthane and Şişli, on the south by Beyoğlu, and ...

Young Businessmen Association, for which he served on the Executive Board. He was a member of the Durable Consumption Group Executive Board for the İstanbul Chamber of Commerce.

Sports

Since 1988, Toprak served as the manager of the Bahçelievler Sports Club for three terms, as the

Beşiktaş J.K. Beşiktaş Jimnastik Kulübü (), also known simply as Beşiktaş (), is a Turkish sports club founded in 1903 that is based in the Beşiktaş district of Istanbul. The club's football team is one of the Big Three in Turkey and one of the most ...

gymnastics deputy manager and as the Vice President of Bakırköyspor.

Politics

Early parliamentary career

Toprak entered active politics in 1992, becoming a Member of Parliament for İstanbul's third electoral district in the 1995 general election. He was re-elected as an MP in the 1999 general election. During his term in Parliament, he served on the Interior Commission and on the presidential council of the State Owned Enterprises (KİT) Commission. He also served as the President of research-investigation commissions and became the President of the Turkey- India Interparliamentary Friendship Group, the Vice President of the Turkey- United Kingdom Interparliamentary Friendship Group and was a member of numerous other friendship groups. He chaired several parliamentary studies into problems faced by the country during the late 1990s. These included works on regional retirement homes, mobile education in the south-east of Turkey as well as an alternative development project for the region.

Minister of State

On 24 August 2002, Toprak replaced Fikret Ünlü as the Minister of State responsible for Youth and Sports in the

led by DSP leader

. He was known for the support he gave to volleyball, basketball, athletics,

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and boxing. He was also praised for enhancing facilities for disabled athletes. Following his tenure as minister, he was given the 'Sportsman of the Year' award by numerous media corporations. He lost his seat and his government position in the 2002 general election, in which the DSP failed to surpass the 10% election threshold and was left with no representation in Parliament.

Republican People's Party

Joining the

(CHP), Toprak became the Deputy Leader responsible for publicity, press and propaganda, administrative and financial affairs, in charge of employers' unions and professional associations on 25 December 2010. He was elected as an MP for İstanbul's third electoral district in the 2011 general election and was re-elected in the June 2015 general election. He founded the Business Dialogue and Solidarity Unit (İDDB) in order to maintain strong links between the CHP and the business sector. He was appointed and remains as the chief advisor to the CHP's leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. Toprak was one of the five CHP politicians who were offered ministerial positions by

Justice and Development Party Justice and Development Party may refer to several political parties, the best-known ones being: * Justice and Development Party (Morocco) * Justice and Development Party (Turkey) Justice and Development Party may also refer to: * Justice and Dev ...

leader Ahmet Davutoğlu in August 2015. Davutoğlu had been tasked by President

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician serving as the List of presidents of Turkey, 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as prime minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as Lis ...

to form an interim election government after coalition negotiations proved unsuccessful and resulted in Erdoğan calling an early election. Since the CHP had 131 MPs during the formation of the interim government, the party was entitled to 5 ministries in the cabinet, though Kılıçdaroğlu announced that the CHP would not take part and give up their five ministries to

independent politicians An independent or non-partisan politician is a politician not affiliated with any political party or bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent. Some politicians have political views th ...

. Toprak subsequently declined Davutoğlu's offer, as did the four other CHP MPs that had been offered ministerial positions.

References

External links

MP profile on the Grand National Assembly websiteCollection of all relevant news items at Haberler.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Toprak, Erdogan 1959 births People from Adana Deputies of Istanbul Anadolu University alumni Living people Republican People's Party (Turkey) politicians Democratic Left Party (Turkey) politicians Members of the 25th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 24th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 20th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 21st Parliament of Turkey Members of the 57th government of Turkey Members of the 27th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 28th Parliament of Turkey