Kutbettin Arzu (1 April 1955 – 30 August 2023) was a Turkish politician who served as the Minister of Food, Agriculture and Livestock in the interim election government formed by Prime Minister

Ahmet Davutoğlu Ahmet Davutoğlu (; born 26 February 1959) is a Turkish academic, politician and former diplomat who served as the 26th Prime Minister of Turkey and Leader of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) from 2014 to 2016. He previously served as ...

between 28 August and 17 November 2015. He was a Justice and Development Party (AKP) politician, having 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 the electoral district of

Diyarbakır Diyarbakır (; ; ; ) is the largest Kurdish-majority city in Turkey. It is the administrative center of Diyarbakır Province. Situated around a high plateau by the banks of the Tigris river on which stands the historic Diyarbakır Fortress, ...

between 2007 and 2011. He was the AKP's mayoral candidate for

in the 2009 local elections, but lost to the pro-Kurdish

Democratic Society Party The Democratic Society Party ( tr, Demokratik Toplum Partisi, DTP, Kurdish: ''Partiya Civaka Demokratîk'', PCD) was a Kurdish nationalist political party in Turkey. The party considered itself social-democratic and had observer status in the So ...

(DTP).

Early life and career

Kutbettin Arzu was born on 1 April 1955 in the village of Bahteri,

. He graduated from the Department of Architecture at the

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 Architecture and Engineering. He obtained his

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in the same university and department. He worked as the Chief Architect at the 15th Regional Directorate of Construction Works, later forming his own Engineering-Architecture company. He was appointed an honorary lecturer at Dicle University Faculty of Architecture and Engineering and served as the President of the Diyarbakır Chamber of Architects. Arzu also served as a Diyarbakir Red Crescent Society member, Culture and Solidarity Foundation member, Aceveda Foundation Regional Advisory Council member, Diyarbakir Chamber of Commerce Board member and later President, TOBB Trade and Industry Chamber Council Member and as the Diyarbakır Organized Industrial Zone Entrepreneur Committee Vice Chairman.

Politics

Parliamentary career

Arzu joined the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and became a

for the electoral district of

between 2007 and 2011, elected in the 2007 general election. In 2011, he was appointed the Deputy Minister of Agriculture. He was the AKP's mayoral candidate for

in the 2009 local elections, but lost to the pro-Kurdish

(DTP).

Minister of Food, Agriculture and Livestock

After the June 2015 general election resulted in a

hung parliament A hung parliament is a term used in legislatures primarily under the Westminster system to describe a situation in which no single political party or pre-existing coalition (also known as an alliance or bloc) has an absolute majority of legisla ...

, unsuccessful coalition negotiations raised speculation over whether President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan would call an early election in the event that AKP leader

was unable to form a government within the given constitutional time of 45 days. As required by the 114th article of the Constitution of Turkey, the calling of a snap general election by the President necessitates the forming of an interim election government, in which all parties represented in Parliament are given a certain number of ministers according to how many MPs they have. If a party refused to send ministers to the interim cabinet, then independents must take their place. Erdoğan called a new general election for November 2015 in late August, with Davutoğlu being tasked with the formation of the interim government. With the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and 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) refusing to send ministers to the cabinet, the 8 ministries that the two parties were entitled to were vacated for independents. As a result, Arzu was appointed Minister of Food, Agriculture and Livestock as an independent politician, resigning his AKP membership in order to participate.

Appointment controversy

Although Arzu was technically required to be independent of any political party due to his civil service position and his role in the interim election government, he had previously served as a Justice and Development Party (AKP) MP from 2007 to 2011 and Deputy Minister of Agriculture from 2011 to 2015, only resigning his party membership so that he could participate in the election government as an independent. His close affiliation to the AKP despite supposedly being an independent resulted in opposition media outlets branding him, as well as numerous other 'independent' cabinet ministers close to the AKP, as 'partisan independents'.

Death

Kutbettin Arzun died on 30 August 2023, at the age of 68.

References

External links

MP profile on the Grand National Assembly websiteCollection of all relevant news items at Haberler.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arzu, Kutbettin 1955 births 2023 deaths People from Diyarbakır Justice and Development Party (Turkey) politicians Turkish architects Deputies of Diyarbakır Members of the 23rd Parliament of Turkey Members of the 63rd government of Turkey Ministers of Agriculture and Forestry of Turkey Karadeniz Technical University alumni Turkish Kurdish politicians