Koray Aydın (born 5 December 1955) is a
Turkish politician who has served as the
Deputy Speaker of the Grand National Assembly since 9 July 2015. He previously served as the
Minister of Public Works and Housing during the
57th government of Turkey
The 57th government of Turkey (28 May 1999 – 18 November 2002) was a coalition government led by Bülent Ecevit of Democratic Left Party (DSP).
Background
The number of seats gained by the most successful party in the elections held on 18 A ...
led by Prime Minister
Bülent Ecevit. As a politician from the
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 bee ...
(MHP), he served as the party's General Secretary. He served as a
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
for
Trabzon
Trabzon (; Ancient Greek: Tραπεζοῦς (''Trapezous''), Ophitic Pontic Greek: Τραπεζούντα (''Trapezounta''); Georgian: ტრაპიზონი (''Trapizoni'')), historically known as Trebizond in English, is a city on the B ...
from 1991 to 1995, as an MP for
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 ...
from 1999 to 2002 and again from Trabzon from 2011 to November 2015.
He lost his seat in the
November 2015 general election. In 2017, he left the MHP and joined the
Good Party
The Good Party ( Turkish: ''İyi Parti'') is a nationalist, national conservative, Kemalist, and liberal democrat political party in Turkey, established on 25 October 2017 by its current leader Meral Akşener. Their fraternal party is the liber ...
, founded by
Meral Akşener
Meral Akşener (née Gürer, ; born 18 July 1956) is a Turkish politician, teacher, historian and academic. She served as Minister of the Interior and was a vice-speaker of the Grand National Assembly. She also founded and is leader of the Good ...
.
Early life and career
Koray Aydın was born on 5 December 1955 in
Trabzon
Trabzon (; Ancient Greek: Tραπεζοῦς (''Trapezous''), Ophitic Pontic Greek: Τραπεζούντα (''Trapezounta''); Georgian: ტრაპიზონი (''Trapizoni'')), historically known as Trebizond in English, is a city on the B ...
. Due to his father's job as a state official, he completed his primary and secondary education in different parts of
Anatolia
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...
before graduating from
Karadeniz Technical University
Karadeniz Technical University ( tr, Karadeniz Teknik Üniversitesi or KTÜ) is a public research university in Trabzon, in the Black Sea Region of Turkey. Established in 1955, it is the fourth oldest university in Turkey. Karadeniz Technical U ...
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in 1978. He is married with three children.
Political career
Nationalist movement
Aydın became involved in politics at a young age, first becoming a member of the Executive Board of the
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 bee ...
(MHP) Trabzon Youth Wing. He later became the President of the Trabzon Youth Wing. He was actively involved in campaigning efforts during the
1977 general election.
After the political bans imposed in the
1980 Turkish coup d'état were lifted, Aydın was involved in the establishment of the Conservative Party. The Conservatives later renamed themselves and became the Nationalist Workers Party (MÇP), with Aydın being elected as an MÇP MP for Trabzon in the
1991 general election. Aydın was also a member of the MÇP Central Executive Committee, served as the party's deputy accountant and also later deputy secretary general. As an MP, he served on the Parliamentary Commission on Planning and the Budget. With the MÇP being renamed and becoming the
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 bee ...
, Aydın was unable to retain his seat in the
1995 general election after the MHP fell below 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. He became the MHP's General Secretary in 1995.
Minister of Public Works and Housing
Aydın became the
Minister of Public Works and Housing in the
triple coalition government formed by the
Democratic Left Party (DSP), the
Motherland Party (ANAP) and the MHP. As Minister, Aydın dealt with the aftermath of the
1999 İzmit earthquake and the
1999 Düzce earthquake, with several new housing developments being built for victims left homeless after the earthquakes. He left his position as Minister on 5 September 2001 and lost his seat in the
2002 as the MHP once again fell below the 10% election threshold and lost all its parliamentary representation.
Parliamentary investigations began into Aydın's tenure as Minister in 2005, with Aydın being accused of crimes including illegally acquiring assets, jobbery and
bid rigging
Bid rigging is a fraudulent scheme in procurement auctions resulting in non-competitive bids and can be performed by corrupt officials, by firms in an orchestrated act of collusion, or between officials and firms. This form of collusion is illegal ...
. With a total of 45 different cases filed against him, prosecutors pushed for a 216 years and 6 months jail sentence. The claims were declared to be unfounded and all charges were subsequently dropped in 2007. Aydın expressed his wish to continue in politics.
MHP leadership bid
Aydın was re-elected as an MP from Trabzon at the
2011 general election. During the 10th MHP Ordinary Congress held on 4 November 2012, Aydın put his name forward to run for the party leadership against incumbent
Devlet Bahçeli
Devlet Bahçeli (born 1 January 1948) is a Turkish politician, economist, former deputy prime minister, and current chairman of the far-right, ultranationalist Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).
An academic in economics from Gazi University, B ...
. Bahçeli was re-elected as leader with 725 votes out of 1,214 delegates, with Aydın coming second with 441 votes. Although Aydın failed to win, his significant vote share and its proximity to Bahçeli's votes was seen as a sign of a strengthening inner-party opposition to Bahçeli's leadership.
Deputy Speaker
Aydın was re-elected as an MP in the
June 2015 general election and was selected as the MHP's candidate to become one of the four
Deputy Speakers of the Grand National Assembly, along with the
Justice and Development Party's nominee
Naci Bostancı
Mehmet Naci Bostancı (born 2 August 1957) is a Turkish politician and academic who currently serves as the Deputy Speaker of the Grand National Assembly along with Şafak Pavey, Koray Aydın and Yurdusev Özsökmenler as of 9 July 2015. He wa ...
, the
Republican People's Party's nominee
Şafak Pavey
Şafak Pavey (née Önal; born 10 July 1976) is a Turkish diplomat, columnist and politician. She is a member of the Turkish Grand National Assembly from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) representing Istanbul Province. She is ...
and the
Peoples' Democratic Party's nominee
Yurdusev Özsökmenler
Yurdusev Özsökmenler (born 1 January 1952) is a Turkish politician who served as the Deputy Speaker of the Grand National Assembly from 9 July to 1 November 2015. She was elected as a Member of Parliament for the electoral district of Van in t ...
. Aydın took office on 9 July 2015. His selection as the MHP's Deputy Speaker was criticised since many commentators were expecting the MHP to re-nominate
Meral Akşener
Meral Akşener (née Gürer, ; born 18 July 1956) is a Turkish politician, teacher, historian and academic. She served as Minister of the Interior and was a vice-speaker of the Grand National Assembly. She also founded and is leader of the Good ...
, who had served as the MHP's Deputy Speaker for the previous two parliaments.
See also
*
Alparslan Türkeş
*
57th government of Turkey
The 57th government of Turkey (28 May 1999 – 18 November 2002) was a coalition government led by Bülent Ecevit of Democratic Left Party (DSP).
Background
The number of seats gained by the most successful party in the elections held on 18 A ...
References
External links
Profile at the Parliament website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aydin, Koray
Living people
1955 births
People from Trabzon
Members of the 24th Parliament of Turkey
Members of the 25th Parliament of Turkey
Deputy Speakers of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey
Members of the 20th Parliament of Turkey
Members of the 57th government of Turkey
Nationalist Movement Party politicians
Ministers of Public Works of Turkey
Deputies of Ankara
Deputies of Trabzon
Karadeniz Technical University alumni
Good Party politicians