Sabahattin Çakmakoğlu (born 25 November 1930) 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 ...

bureaucrat and politician who served as the

Minister of National Defense A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

from 1999 to 2002. He was 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 been ...

presidential candidate for the

2007 presidential election This electoral calendar 2007 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2007 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states and their dependent territories. Referendums are included, although they are not elections. By-elections are not i ...

, which he lost to the

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 ...

candidate

Abdullah Gül Abdullah Gül (; ; born 29 October 1950) is a Turkish politician who served as the 11th President of Turkey, in office from 2007 to 2014. He previously served for four months as Prime Minister from 2002 to 2003, and concurrently served as both ...

. 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 of ...

for the

electoral district An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...

Kayseri Kayseri (; el, Καισάρεια) is a large Industrialisation, industrialised List of cities in Turkey, city in Central Anatolia, Turkey, and the capital of Kayseri Province, Kayseri province. The Kayseri Metropolitan Municipality area is comp ...

from 1999 to 2002 and again from 2007 to 2011. Beginning his career as a

bureaucrat A bureaucrat is a member of a bureaucracy and can compose the administration of any organization of any size, although the term usually connotes someone within an institution of government. The term ''bureaucrat'' derives from "bureaucracy", ...

, Çakmakoğlu served as the

Kaymakam Kaymakam, also known by many other romanizations, was a title used by various officials of the Ottoman Empire, including acting grand viziers, governors of provincial sanjaks, and administrators of district kazas. The title has been retained an ...

(sub-Governor) of numerous districts before being appointed the Deputy

Governor of Ankara The Governor of Ankara ( Turkish: ''Ankara Valiliği'') is the bureaucratic state official responsible for both national government and state affairs in the Province of Ankara. Similar to the Governors of the 80 other Provinces of Turkey, the Go ...

. Serving as Deputy Governor for three years, Çakmakoğlu then served as the 28th Governor of Gümüşhane from 1972 to 1975, as the 28th Governor of Isparta from 1975 to 1978, as the 27th Governor of Edirne from February to August 1978, as the 27th Governor of Gaziantep from 1979 to 1980 and finally as the 31st Governor of Mersin from 1984 to 1988. In 1991, he was appointed as the non-partisan

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

due to the constitutional requirement for the partisan Interior minister to vacate his or her office three months before a general election and hand it over to the Undersecretary of the Interior Ministry. Çakmakoğlu served as the Interior Minister until a new government was formed after the 1991 general election.

Early life and career

Sabahattin Çakmakoğlu was born on 25 November 1930 in İncesu,

. Having received his primary and secondary education in Kayseri, he graduated from

Ankara University Ankara University ( tr, Ankara Üniversitesi) is a public university in Ankara, the capital city of Turkey. It was the first higher education institution founded in Turkey after the formation of the republic in 1923. The university has 40 vocat ...

Faculty of Political Science in 1953. He became a Civilian Administrative Officer and a candidate to become a

(a district governor, roughly translated as a 'sub-governor'). During his time as a Kaymakam candidate, he also graduated from the Ankara University Faculty of Law.

Bureaucratic career

Kaymakam

Çakmakoğlu spent 12 years serving as a Kaymakam in the districts of

Kozaklı Kozaklı, formerly Hamamorta, is a town and district of Nevşehir Province in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey. According to 2010 census, population of the district is 15,519 of which 7,011 live in the town of Kozaklı. The district covers ...

Nevşehir Province Nevşehir Province ( tr, , from the Persian compound نو شهر ''Now-shahr'' meaning "new city") is a province in central Turkey with its capital in Nevşehir. Its adjacent provinces are Kırşehir to the northwest, Aksaray to the southwest, ...

Gülşehir Gülşehir, formerly Aravissos and Arapsun, ancient Zoropassos (Ancient Greek: ''Ζωρόπασος''), is a town and district of Nevşehir Province in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey, in the vicinity of the Fairy Chimney valley of Göreme. A ...

in Nevşehir Province,

Ürgüp Ürgüp ( el, Προκόπιο ''Prokópio,'' or Cappadocian Greek: ''Prokópi'', ota, Burgut Kalesi) is a town and district of Nevşehir Province in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey. It is located in the historical region of Cappadocia, an ...

in Nevşehir Province,

Çıldır Çıldır ( hy, Հիւսիսեան, Husenian; meaning "North"; ka, ჩრდილი, Chrdili; meaning "Shadow") is a district of Ardahan Province of Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cu ...

Ardahan Province Ardahan Province ( tr, , ku, Parêzgeha Erdêxanê, ) is a province in the north-east of Turkey, bordering Georgia and Armenia. The provincial capital is the city of Ardahan. Demographics With 94,932 inhabitants in 2021, Ardahan was the third ...

Bayburt Bayburt () is a city in northeast Turkey lying on the Çoruh River and is the provincial capital of Bayburt Province. According to the 2021 census the population is determined as around 82,274. Bayburt was once an important center on the ancient ...

Gümüşhane Province Gümüşhane Province ( tr, Gümüşhane ili ) is a province in northern Turkey, bordering Bayburt to the east, Trabzon to the north, Giresun and Erzincan to the west. It covers an area of 6,575 km2 and has a population of 129,618 in 2010. Th ...

and Ereğli in

Konya Province Konya Province ( tr, ), in southwest Central Anatolia, is the largest province of Turkey. The Province, provincial Capital (political), capital is the city of Konya. Its traffic code is 42. The Kızılören solar power plant in Konya will be ...

. In 1989, the district of Bayburt became a Province in its own right.

Governor

Çakmakoğlu spent three years serving as the Deputy

before being appointed as the 28th Governor of Gümüşhane from 1972 to 1975, as the 28th Governor of Isparta from 1975 to 1978, as the 27th Governor of Edirne from February to August 1978, as the 27th Governor of Gaziantep from 1979 to 1980 and finally as the 31st Governor of Mersin from 1984 to 1988.

Undersecretary

Between the years 1988 and 1992, Çakmakoğlu served in the General Directorate of Security, as the Undersecretary to the

Prime Minister of Turkey The prime minister of the Republic of Turkey (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Başbakanı'') was the head of government of the Republic of Turkey from 1920 to 2018, who led a political coalition in the Grand National Assembly of ...

and as the Undersecretary to the

. In 1991, he was elected as a member of the Council of Higher Education (YÖK) from the Cabinet office contingency. In 1992, after retirement, he served as the chief advisor to the

President of Turkey The president of Turkey, officially the president of the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Cumhurbaşkanı), is the head of state and head of government of Turkey. The president directs the executive branch of the government of Tu ...

, at the time

Turgut Özal Halil Turgut Özal (; 13 October 192717 April 1993) was a Turkish politician, who served as the 8th President of Turkey from 1989 to 1993. He previously served as the 26th Prime Minister of Turkey from 1983 to 1989 as the leader of the Mothe ...

Minister of the Interior

With the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

requiring that the serving partisan Ministers of the Interior, of

Transport Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land (rail and road), water, cable, pipeline, an ...

and of

Justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

should vacate their position to their respective Undersecretaries at least three months before a general election, Çakmakoğlu took over from

Mustafa Kalemli Mustafa Kalemli (born March 26, 1943) is a Turkish physician and politician, who served as government minister and Speaker of the Turkish Grand National Assembly. Early life and career Mustafa Kalemli was born in Tavşanlı, Kütahya Province, ...

as Minister of the Interior on 30 August 1991, three months before the 1991 general election. He remained as Minister until a new government was formed, being succeeded by

İsmet Sezgin İsmet Sezgin (6 January 1928 – 7 December 2016) was a Turkish politician who served as the Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey and Minister of National Defense from 1997 to 1999, as the Speaker of the Grand National Assembly in 1995, as the Minist ...

when the

coalition government A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...

between the

True Path Party The True Path Party ( tr, Doğru Yol Partisi, DYP) was a centre-right political party in Turkey, active from 1983 to 2007. For most of its history, the party's central figure was Süleyman Demirel, a former Prime Minister of Turkey who previously ...

and the Social Democratic Populist Party (SHP) on 21 November 1991.

Political career

Çakmakoğlu first entered politics in 1992 by joining the Motherland Party (ANAP), but left the party to join the

(MHP) in 1995. He served as an advisor to MHP leader

Alparslan Türkeş Alparslan Türkeş (; 25 November 1917 – 4 April 1997) was a Turkish politician, who was the founder and president of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and the Grey Wolves ''(Ülkü Ocakları)''. He represented the far-right of the Turkish ...

until his death in 1997. On 23 November 1997, Çakmakoğlu was elected to the MHP party council and later became a Deputy Leader of the MHP. He was elected to Parliament as an MHP MP from

in the 1999 general election.

Minister of National Defense

Following the 1999 general election, the Democratic Left Party (DSP), the Nationalist Movement Party and the Motherland Party formed a triple coalition government. Çakmakoğlu was subsequently appointed as the

. He served in the position until 18 November 2002. He lost his seat in the 2002 general election due to the MHP falling 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 ...

necessary to win parliamentary representation.

Presidential candidacy

The MHP managed to win parliamentary representation once again in the 2007 general election, with Çakmakoğlu again returning as an MP for Kayseri. He became a Deputy Leader of the MHP for a second time shortly after. The general election had been called early due to the parliamentary deadlock caused during the

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pre ...

earlier that year. With the parliamentary process to elect a successor to President

Ahmet Necdet Sezer Ahmet Necdet Sezer (; born 13 September 1941) is a Turkish statesman and judge who served as the tenth president of Turkey from 2000 to 2007. Previously he was president of the Constitutional Court of Turkey from 1998 to 2002. The Grand Nationa ...

resuming after the general election, the MHP put forward Çakmakoğlu as their presidential candidate. He won 70 votes in the first round, 71 in the second and 70 in the final round, losing to the

candidate

. Çakmakoğlu stepped down as an MP at the 2011 general election.

Personal life

Çakmakoğlu is married with two children. He has a secondary school named after him in his hometown of İncesu,

, namely ''Vali Sabahattin Çakmakoğlu Ortaokulu'' (Governor Sabahattin Çakmakoğlu Secondary School). A secondary school with the same name exists in

Mersin Province Mersin Province ( tr, ), formerly İçel Province ( tr, ), is a province in southern Turkey, on the Mediterranean coast between Antalya and Adana. The provincial capital and the biggest city in the province is Mersin, which is composed of fo ...

, where Çakmakoğlu served as Governor between 1984 and 1988.

References

External links

Biography on the Parliament websiteCollection of all relevant news items at Haberler.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cakmakoglu, Sabahattin Nationalist Movement Party politicians Living people 1930 births Ankara University Faculty of Political Sciences alumni People from İncesu, Kayseri Ministers of National Defence of Turkey Members of the 21st Parliament of Turkey Members of the 23rd Parliament of Turkey Ministers of the Interior of Turkey Turkish civil servants Deputies of Kayseri Kaymakams