Fikri Işık MP (born 13 September 1965) is a Turkish politician who served as the last

Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey The Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey is the abolished official deputy of the head of government of Turkey. Conventionally all of the junior partners in a coalition get one deputy, and they are ranked according to the size of their respective par ...

from 2017 to 2018. Previously, he served as Minister of Science, Industry and Technology from 2013 to 2016 and

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 2016 to 2017. He is 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 ...

representing the

Kocaeli Province Kocaeli Province ( tr, Kocaeli ili, ) is a province of Turkey and one of only three not to have the same official name as its capital, İzmit, which is thus also sometimes called Kocaeli. The province is the successor of the Ottoman-era Sanjak ...

on behalf of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), since 2007. Before politics, Işık was an educator.

Early life

Fikri Işık was born on 13 September 1965 to Tevfik and Mecbure Işık in the village of Babacan in Şiran district of

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. T ...

, Turkey. He studied Mathematics Education at the Middle East Technical University in

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 ...

Career

Profession

Işık worked as a mathematics and English language teacher in private schools at

İzmit İzmit () is a district and the central district of Kocaeli province, Turkey. It is located at the Gulf of İzmit in the Sea of Marmara, about east of Istanbul, on the northwestern part of Anatolia. As of the last 31/12/2019 estimation, the ...

and

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 ...

. He served also as manager in the food industry.

Politics

Fikri Işık entered politics on 20 October 2001 through his founding membership of the Justice and Development Party's

organization. He was elected its chairman on 22 June 2003, serving four years at this post. In 2007, he left his chair at the regional level to run for a seat in the parliament. Işık was elected into 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 ...

in the 2007 general election as an MP from Kocaeli Province. He was re-elected a second time into the parliament in the 2011 general election. Between 2007 and 2013, he was responsible in the party headquarters for the coordination of the part's regional organizations in 47 provinces across the country. On 31 January 2013, Işık became chairman of the parliamentary National Education, Youth and Sports Commission. On 26 December 2013, Fikri Işık assumed office as the Minister of Science, Industry and Technology, succeeding Nihat Ergün during Erdoğan's cabinet reshuffle with ten new names that was announced the day before, on 25 December, following the

2013 corruption scandal in Turkey The 2013 corruption scandal in Turkey or 17-25 December Corruption and Bribery Operation was a criminal investigation that involved several key people in the Turkish government. All of the 52 people detained on 17 December were connected in va ...

Personal life

Fikri Işık is married and has four children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Isik, Fikri 1965 births People from Şiran Middle East Technical University alumni Turkish schoolteachers Justice and Development Party (Turkey) politicians Deputies of Kocaeli Government ministers of Turkey Living people Members of the 26th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 25th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 24th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 23rd Parliament of Turkey Members of the 63rd government of Turkey Members of the 64th government of Turkey Members of the 65th government of Turkey Ministers of National Defence of Turkey Ministers of Science Industry and Technology of Turkey