Lütfi Elvan (born 12 March 1962) is a Turkish politician. Elvan has served as the Minister of Finance and Treasury of Turkey from November 2020 to December 2021. He previously served as the Minister of Transport, Maritime and Communication from 2013 to 2015. He has 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 ...

Karaman Karaman, historically known as Laranda (Greek: Λάρανδα), is a city in south central Turkey, located in Central Anatolia, north of the Taurus Mountains, about south of Konya. It is the capital district of the Karaman Province. According t ...

from 2007 to June 2015, for

Antalya Antalya () is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, fifth-most populous city in Turkey as well as the capital of Antalya Province. Located on Anatolia's southwest coast bordered by the Taurus Mountains, Antalya is the largest Turkish cit ...

from June to November 2015 and for

Mersin Mersin (), also known as İçel, is a large city and a port on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast of southern Turkey. It is the provincial capital of Mersin Province, Mersin (İçel) Province. It is made up of four municipalities and dis ...

since November 2015. He is a member of 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 ...

(AK Parti).

Early life

Lütfi Elvan was born to A. Nuri Elvan and his wife Samiye at

Ermenek Ermenek is a town and district of Karaman Province in the Mediterranean region of Turkey. As ancient Germanicopolis (in Isauria; has namesakes), a former bishopric, it remains a Latin Catholic titular see. The district forms the core of the plate ...

town in

Karaman Province Karaman Province ( tr, ) is a province of south-central Turkey. It has an area of . A 2010 estimate puts the population at 232,633 people. According to the 2000 census, the population was 243,210. The population density is 27.54 people/km. The ...

on 12 March 1962. He studied mining engineering at

Istanbul Technical University Istanbul Technical University ( tr, İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi, commonly referred to as ITU or The Technical University) is an international technical university located in Istanbul, Turkey. It is the world's third-oldest technical university ...

graduating in 1983. Elvan received a scholarship from the state-owned mining company Etibank for further study abroad. He continued his education earning a master's degree in the fields of mining engineering and

operations research Operations research ( en-GB, operational research) (U.S. Air Force Specialty Code: Operations Analysis), often shortened to the initialism OR, is a discipline that deals with the development and application of analytical methods to improve deci ...

with a thesis on "Determination of Optimal Production Systems in short-term Mining Production Planning" at

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

, England in 1986. In 1995, he received a further master's degree in economics at

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 mas ...

, US.

Professional career

Elvan began his professional career in 1987 as an engineer working in the operations research department at Etibank. There, he was instrumental in implementing computer-aided mining applications. In 1989, he moved to

State Planning Organization State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

(DPT), and worked until 1996 as specialist. Appointed Head of Department for Regions with Development Priorities in 1996, he served at this post until 2002. He was promoted to Deputy Undersecretary of DPT in November 2002. In July 2007, he resigned from his post to enter politics.

Political career

He joined the ruling

(Akparty), and 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 Consti ...

in the 2007 general election as an MP from

. He became one of the party leader's head advisors. In the parliament, Elvan was appointed Head of the Hungary-Turkey Interparliamentary Group. Elvan was re-elected into the parliament in the 2011 general election. He served as the chairman of the parliamentary Budget and Planning Commission. On 26 December 2013, Elvan assumed office as the Minister of Transport, Maritime and Communication, succeeding Binali Yıldırım 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 var ...

Minister of Finance and Treasury

He assumed as Minister of Finance and Treasury in November 2020 as the successor of Erdogans son in-law

Berat Albayrak Berat Albayrak ( born 21 February 1978) is a Turkish businessman and former politician, and the son-in-law of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. He is a former CEO of Çalık Holding. He was a member of parliament from Istanbul in the 25th ...

. His tenure was marked with the fall of the

Turkish lira The lira ( tr, Türk lirası; sign: ₺; ISO 4217 code: TRY; abbreviation: TL) is the official currency of Turkey and Northern Cyprus. One lira is divided into one hundred ''kuruş''. History Ottoman lira (1844–1923) The lira, along with t ...

and an ailing

Turkish economy Turkey has an emerging market economy, as defined by the International Monetary Fund. The country is a founding member of the OECD (1961) and the G-20 major economies (1999). Since 1995, Turkey is a party to the European Union–Turkey Custom ...

which he wanted to defend with a stable currency exchange rate and a low

inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reductio ...

. He didn't applaud Erdogans financial policy of low interest rates, resigned from his post on the 2 December 2021 and was succeeded by

Nureddin Nebati Nureddin Nebati (born 1 January 1964; Şanlıurfa, Viranşehir), is a Turkish politician who served as the Minister of Finance and Treasury of Turkey from 2021 to 2023. He has previously served in the Grand National Assembly as a member of Justi ...

Personal life

Elvan is married and has two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elvan, Lutfi 1962 births People from Ermenek Istanbul Technical University alumni Turkish mining engineers Turkish civil servants Alumni of the University of Leeds University of Delaware alumni Justice and Development Party (Turkey) politicians Deputies of Karaman Ministers of Transport and Communications of Turkey Living people Members of the 25th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 24th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 23rd Parliament of Turkey Members of the 26th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 64th government of Turkey Members of the 65th government of Turkey Deputy Prime Ministers of Turkey