Mehmet Sadettin Bilgiç (23 December 1920 20 September 2012), also known by his nickname as Koca Reis, was a Turkish politician and surgeon who served as the 26th minister of Transport and Infrastructure from 3 April 1967 to 1 August 1969, and the 30th

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 21 July 1977 to 18 October 1977.

Early life

Bilgiç was born in

Şarkikaraağaç Şarkikaraağaç is a town and district of Isparta Province in the Mediterranean region of Anatolia (Asian Turkey). It is the site of Ancient city and bishopric Hadrianopolis in Pisidia, which remains a Latin Catholic titular see. ''Şarki'' means ...

, Turkey. He received his

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

ing in Isparta. He obtained his graduation from Kayseri's high school in 1939. He graduated in medicine from the Istanbul University in 1947 and subsequently worked as a general medical practitioner at various locations until 1957. Bilgiç became as general assistant surgeon at Ankara Numune Hospital in 1957 surgeon in April 1961.

Political career

He entered in the political race in 1962 when he became deputy and represented

Isparta Province Isparta Province ( tr, ) is a province in southwestern Turkey. Its adjacent provinces are Afyon to the northwest, Burdur to the southwest, Antalya to the south, and Konya to the east. It has an area of 8,993 km2 and a population of 448,298 ...

as Justice Party's candidate in the

1961 Turkish general election General elections were held in Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a ...

. He was later appointed as deputy chairman of the party in April 1964 until November 1964. He was elected as a deputy of

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

in the 1965 general election and subsequently was elected as

minister of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...

on 3 April 1967. Bilgiç was re-elected as deputy of Istanbul in the 1969 general election, however, he was removed from the Justice Party along with his colleagues in June 1970. Following his removal from the party, he founded

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

in 1970 and was elected deputy of Istanbul in the 1973 general election as a candidate of his own party. He left the party in 1975 and rejoined the Justice Party in 1976. He became deputy chairman of the Justice Party following his return. In the 1977 general election, he was re-elected as deputy of Istanbul. He was elected as the

in the

4th government of Turkey The 4th government of Turkey (3 March 1925 – 1 November 1927) was a government in the history of Turkey. It is also called ''the third İnönü government''. Background The government was formed after the previous government led by Fethi Oky ...

, however he resigned from the post on 18 October 1977. He became was banned from politics for 10 years under the 1982 Constitution. He was forced to live in the Çanakkale Front, Zincirbozan where he spent 4 months from June 1983 to September. Bilgiç returned to politics in 1988 and was appointed to the general administrative board of 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 ...

general and served at this position until 1990. He left his

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

political life after the failure of the Justice Party in the

Grand National Assembly of Turkey The Grand National Assembly of Turkey ( tr, ), usually referred to simply as the TBMM or Parliament ( tr, or ''Parlamento''), is the unicameral Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by the Turkish Const ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bilgiç, Mehmet Sadettin 1920 births 2012 deaths People from Isparta Province Ministers of Transport and Infrastructure of Turkey Ministers of National Defence of Turkey Istanbul University Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine alumni Justice Party (Turkey) politicians Democratic Party (Turkey, 1970) politicians