Süleyman Soylu (; born 21 November 1969) is a Turkish politician. He is a deputy chairman of the Justice and Development Party who currently serves as the

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 ...

since 31 August 2016. He previously served as the Minister of Labour and Social Security from November 2015 to August 2016. He is a former leader of the Democrat Party (DP). Soylu was appointed as the Interior Minister after the surprise resignation of

Efkan Ala Efkan Ala (born 21 February 1965) is a Turkish politician and former civil servant who served as the Minister of the Interior from November 2015 to August 2016;. He previously held the same post from 2013 to June 2015 despite not being a member ...

, with Soylu commenting that his appointment 'came as a surprise' to him as well. Soylu was known for his divisive style, often accusing the opposition of "siding with terrorists" and imposing restrictive measures on opposition-controlled municipalities. His re-appointment as Interior Minister after Erdoğan's election victory in 2018 was protested by opposition parties, whose MPs turned their backs as Soylu took the oath of office in Parliament. He removed large numbers of Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) mayors and officials from their offices due to alleged affiliation with the

Kurdistan Workers' Party The Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK is a Kurdish militant political organization and armed guerrilla movement, which historically operated throughout Kurdistan, but is now primarily based in the mountainous Kurdish-majority regions of sout ...

(PKK), replacing ousted mayors with Ankara-appointed trustees. While these actions have received positive responses from some nationalist politicians, opposition parties and human rights groups have condemned the removals.

Early life and business career

Süleyman Soylu was born in

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 ...

on 21 November 1969. He graduated from Istanbul University Faculty of Management. He started business career in

Istanbul Stock Exchange The Borsa İstanbul (abbreviated as BIST) is the sole exchange entity of Turkey combining the former Istanbul Stock Exchange (ISE) ( tr, İstanbul Menkul Kıymetler Borsası, IMKB), the Istanbul Gold Exchange ( tr, İstanbul Altın Borsası, İA ...

in 1990. In 1996 he established the insurance company "Engin Insurance and Mediation Services". In January 2021 he and his son Levent Soylu founded "Esigortan Insurance Agency Services", a new insurance company.

Political career

Democrat Party

He started politics at Democrat Party (DP)

Youth Branch in 1987. He took the positions of member of board of directorates, and chairman of the organization at youth branch of Democrat Party

. In 1995, he was elected to the board of directorates in

Gaziosmanpaşa Gaziosmanpaşa (; old name: ''Taşlıtarla'') is a developing working class municipality (belediye) and district of Istanbul, Turkey, on its European side. With a population of 400,000 plus, it is one of the most populous districts. In 2009 Gazios ...

branch, and with the congress held on 17 July 1995, he was elected as the chairman of the district at the age of 25. On 18 April 1999, he announced his candidacy for the mayor of

municipality which is district of Istanbul. He became DP

Chairman on 29 April 1999 which made him the youngest chairman in the Turkey at that time. He resigned from the presidency, which lasted 3.5 years, to run for the elections to become a Member of the

Parliament 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 2002. Süleyman Soylu was elected for party leadership with the 4th Extraordinary Congress of Democrat Party on 6 January 2008. After being reelected for the leadership at the 9th Statutory Congress on 15 November 2008, he led his party for 29 March 2009 local elections. On 16 May 2009, at the congress, which took place according to his will, his party leadership ended. Afterwards, he participated in many conferences and panels upon invitations coming from various universities and civil societies all over the country. Süleyman Soylu realized the vital importance of the change of constitution package, which was opened for referendum of 12 September 2010 for the transition and democratization of Turkey, organized a series of seminars with the title of “Democracy meetings”, and together with his friends by travelling all around

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 small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

, shared grounds for voting “yes”. Following these activities, he was expelled from his party.

Justice and Development Party

Soylu was invited to be an AKP politician by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, then AKP Chairman and

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

. Soylu joined the AKP on 5 September 2012. On 30 September 2012, with the 4th Statutory General Congress of AKP, he was elected for the Central Board of Executives, and became Deputy Chairman responsible for R&D Department. He served as 'Minister of Labour and Social Security' in the

third Davutoğlu Cabinet The Third Davutoğlu Cabinet is the 64th government of the Republic of Turkey. The government came into effect after the Justice and Development Party (AKP), led by Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, won a parliamentary majority of 84 in the Nov ...

(24 November 2015 – 24 May 2016) and in the

Yıldırım Cabinet The Yıldırım Cabinet was the 65th government of the Republic of Turkey, which was declared on 24 May 2016. The cabinet was inaugurated on 29 May 2016, by the approval of the Grand National Assembly Great National Assembly or Grand National Ass ...

until 31 August 2016. Then, PM Yıldırım surprisingly appointed him

after he had sacked

Resignation from the Ministry

On 10 April 2020, the Turkish government announced that a 48-hour curfew would be imposed in 31 cities due to the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identifie ...

. It was announced approximately 2 or 3 hours before the start of the curfew and caused panic buying. On 12 April 2020, Soylu announced his resignation, saying he was responsible for the chaos. However, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan rejected his resignation request. Before Erdoğan's rejection of the resignation, the hashtag "We don't accept the resignation,” #İstifayıKabulEtmiyoruz, quickly became a top trend on Twitter following the resignation of Soylu, a ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) favourite among supporters.

Conflict of Sedat Peker & Suleyman Soylu

In 2021, crime leader

Sedat Peker Reis Sedat Peker (; born 26 June 1971) is a Turkish mafia boss and whistle-blower who has made various allegations about Turkish politicians and numerous government engagements in illegal activities through his own YouTube channel. He has describe ...

claimed that cocaine trafficking from Colombia to Turkey involved interior minister Süleyman Soylu and the son of former prime minister Binali Yıldırım. Süleyman Soylu was also blamed for providing thousands of guns to some Islamic extremist groups with

SADAT Sadat ( ar, سادات) is a suffix, which is given to families believed to be descendants of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad. In Iran, after the revolution, it is mandatory to mention "Seyed" or "Sadat" in the names of or whose descent from Muham ...

during

2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt On 15 July 2016, a faction within the Turkish Armed Forces, organized as the Peace at Home Council, attempted a coup d'état against state institutions, including the government and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. They attempted to seize cont ...

. Peker also invited the public prosecutor to search for details to sue him.

Removal of HDP officials

As Interior Minister, Soylu has replaced at least 45 out of 65 mayors from municipalities won by the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) in the 2019 local elections with Ankara-appointed trustees over alleged affiliation with the

(PKK). At least 21 of these mayors were jailed. Later in February 2021, Soylu had more than 700 HDP district and provincial chairpersons arrested. These actions received positive responses from some nationalist politicians including

Devlet Bahçeli Devlet Bahçeli (born 1 January 1948) is a Turkish politician, economist, former deputy prime minister, and current chairman of the far-right, ultranationalist Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). An academic in economics from Gazi University, B ...

of 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 bee ...

(MHP), but inspired condemnation from members of the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and human rights groups, with

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

describing charges leveled against HDP officials as "trumped up" and "politically motivated". After Istanbul mayor

Ekrem İmamoğlu Ekrem İmamoğlu (; born 4 June 1970) is a Turkish businessman, real estate developer, and politician serving as the 32nd Mayor of Istanbul. He was first elected with 4.1 million votes and won with a margin of 13,000 votes against his AKP opponen ...

visited some of the jailed mayors, Soylu defended the arrests by saying "they’ve never denied, to this day, having a connection to the PKK", and threatened to "ruin" İmamoğlu if he continued "busying imselfwith other affairs".

Korkmaz controversy

He used a business jet owned by Sezgin Baran Korkmaz airline

Borajet Borajet ( tr, Borajet Havayolları) was a privately owned Turkish airline based in Yeşilköy, Bakırköy, Istanbul operating domestic and international services. It suspended operations on 24 April 2017. History Early years The airline was fo ...

during the Constitutional Referendum in 2017. This was reported after he was accused of having warned Korkmaz to leave Turkey before he was apprehended.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Soylu, Suleyman Living people 1969 births Politicians from Istanbul Istanbul University alumni Leaders of political parties in Turkey Justice and Development Party (Turkey) politicians Members of the 25th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 64th government of Turkey Members of the 65th government of Turkey Members of the 26th Parliament of Turkey Ministers of Labour and Social Security of Turkey Ministers of the Interior of Turkey People sanctioned under the Magnitsky Act Members of the 66th government of Turkey Turkish nationalists