İsmail Kahraman (born 7 December 1940) 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 from 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 ...

(AKP) who served as the 27th

Speaker of the Grand National Assembly This article lists the speakers of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. The name of the parliament of the Republic of Turkey, originally and currently the Grand National Assembly of Turkey ( tr, Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi) since its est ...

from 22 November 2015 to 7 July 2018. He has been the

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 İstanbul's first electoral district since 1 November 2015, having previously served as an MP for İstanbul between 1995 and 2002. He also served as Minister of Culture from 1996 to 1997 in the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

of Necmettin Erbakan as a member of the Islamist Welfare Party.

Early life and career

İsmail Kahraman was born in

Rize Rize (Greek language, Greek: ρίζα, Laz language, Laz: რიზინი, Georgian language, Georgian: რიზე, , Ottoman Turkish: ريزه) is the capital city of Rize Province in the eastern part of the Black Sea Region of Turkey. Rize ...

in 1940 and graduated from

İstanbul University , image = Istanbul_University_logo.svg , image_size = 200px , latin_name = Universitas Istanbulensis , motto = tr, Tarihten Geleceğe Bilim Köprüsü , mottoeng = Science Bridge from Past to the Future , established = 1453 1846 1933 ...

Faculty of Law. During his youth, he was the president of the Student's Community and of the National Turkish Students' Union. He was a founding member and a chairman of the board of trustees of the Unity Foundation and the Voluntary Foundation of Turkey. In the private sector, he worked as the chairman of the board of directors of numerous companies and became the Undersecretary of the

Ministry of Labour The Ministry of Labour ('' UK''), or Labor ('' US''), also known as the Department of Labour, or Labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, training, a ...

. He was one of the founding members of the

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University ( tr, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Üniversitesi) is a state university founded on 17 March 2006 in Rize, Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ...

development foundation and is still the chairman of the board of trustees.

Political career

Minister of Culture

İsmail Kahraman was first elected as a

for İstanbul in the 1995 general election as a member of the Welfare Party. The Welfare Party leader Necmettin Erbakan formed a

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 ...

with the True Path Party in June 1996, with Kahraman becoming the Minister of Culture. The government fell in June 1997 after the military memorandum on 28 February. He was re-elected as an MP in the 1999 general election as part of the RP's successor

Virtue Party Virtue Party ( tr, Fazilet Partisi, FP) was an Islamist political party established on 17 December 1997 in Turkey. It was found unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court and then banned on 22 June 2001 for violating the secularist articles of ...

(FP), but lost his seat in the 2002 general election.

Speaker of the Grand National Assembly

Kahraman re-entered politics and was elected as a

for İstanbul's first electoral district from the

(AKP) in the November 2015 general election. He was subsequently announced as the AKP's candidate for

in the November 2015 Parliamentary Speaker election. He was elected speaker in the third round, winning 316 votes and becoming the 27th Speaker of the Grand National Assembly.

Political views

On 13 February 2015, Kahraman attended a career's day at a girls' school in Rize. In his speech, he argued that students should avoid turning to fashion and instead be faithful and devout. He argued that students should follow the example of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's mother, Tenzile Erdoğan. As Speaker of Parliament, one of Kahraman's duties is to pen the new draft constitution for Turkey, which since the founding of the republic after the collapse of Islamic

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

has been based on the ideas of

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, or Mustafa Kemal Pasha until 1921, and Ghazi Mustafa Kemal from 1921 Surname Law (Turkey), until 1934 ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish Mareşal (Turkey), field marshal, Turkish National Movement, re ...

—Turkish nationalism and Western-style secularism, or separation of the state and religion. On 25 April 2016, Kahraman told a conference of Islamic scholars and writers in Istanbul that "

secularism Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on Secularity, secular, Naturalism (philosophy), naturalistic considerations. Secularism is most commonly defined as the Separation of church and state, separation of relig ...

would not have a place in a new constitution," as Turkey was "a Muslim country and so we should have a religious constitution". His call was met with "opposition condemnation and a brief street protest" dispersed with tear gas by riot police. Kahraman later stated these were "personal views" and that the new constitution "should guarantee religious freedoms".

Personal life

He is married and has four children.

References

External links

MP profile on the Grand National Assembly websiteCollection of all relevant news items at Haberler.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kahraman, Ismail 1940 births People from Rize Istanbul University alumni Istanbul University Faculty of Law alumni Members of the 20th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 21st Parliament of Turkey Members of the 26th Parliament of Turkey Justice and Development Party (Turkey) politicians Welfare Party politicians Virtue Party politicians Ministers of Culture of Turkey Turkish Islamists Turkish anti-communists Deputies of Istanbul Living people Speakers of the Parliament of Turkey Recipients of Hilal-i-Pakistan