Yıldırım Akbulut (; 2 September 1935 – 14 April 2021) was a Turkish politician, who was a leader of the Motherland Party (ANAP), the

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 is ...

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 ...

, and twice the

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...

of 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 Cons ...

. A lawyer by profession, Akbulut was one of the founding members of the Motherland Party in 1983. Entering Parliament in the 1983 general election, he became 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 ...

under Prime Minister and ANAP leader

Turgut Özal Halil Turgut Özal (; 13 October 192717 April 1993) was a Turkish politician, who served as the 8th President of Turkey from 1989 to 1993. He previously served as the 26th Prime Minister of Turkey from 1983 to 1989 as the leader of the Mothe ...

in 1984. Serving until 1987, Akbulut was then fielded as his party's candidate for Parliamentary speaker, which he won and subsequently served until 1989. In 1989, Özal contested the

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The p ...

and was elected the 8th President of Turkey. Özal chose Akbulut as his successor as Prime Minister, leading him to be elected ANAP leader and taking office as the 20th Prime Minister of Turkey. He was widely regarded as a 'puppet' of President Özal, who was accused despite his ceremonial and impartial position of calling the shots for the government. He was defeated in the 1991 ANAP leadership primaries by

Mesut Yılmaz Ahmet Mesut Yılmaz () (6 November 1947 – 30 October 2020) was a Turkish politician. He was the leader of the Motherland Party ( tr, Anavatan Partisi, ANAP) from 1991 to 2002, and served three times as Prime Minister of Turkey. His first two p ...

and subsequently left office. In 1999, he was elected for a second time as Speaker of Parliament. To this date in

Turkish politics The politics of Turkey take place in the framework of a constitutional republic and presidential system, with various levels and branches of power. Turkey's political system is based on a separation of powers. Executive (government), Executive ...

, 'Yıldırım Akbulut' has become synonymous with 'political puppet', denoting a politician stationed in high office but actually only serving on behalf of another, more powerful superior. When serving Prime Minister

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician serving as the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as prime minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to ...

was elected President in 2014, the media ran speculation about who would be Erdoğan's 'Yıldırım Akbulut' (replacement prime minister on Erdoğan's behalf).

Biography

Akbulut was born in

Erzincan Erzincan (; ku, Erzîngan), historically Yerznka ( hy, Երզնկա), is the capital of Erzincan Province in Eastern Turkey. Nearby cities include Erzurum, Sivas, Tunceli, Bingöl, Elazığ, Malatya, Gümüşhane, Bayburt, and Giresun. The ...

, Turkey as the son of a postman. After finishing high school, he was educated in Law at

Istanbul 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 ...

. Following his graduation, he worked as a freelance lawyer. Upon entering the political arena, Akbulut was elected to the parliament from the

province. He served as Minister of Interior in the cabinet of

. He was then elected Speaker of the Parliament serving between December 24, 1987 and November 9, 1989. After the election of Turgut Özal as the President of Turkey, Akbulut became

from November 9, 1989 forming the 47th government of Turkey. On June 15, 1991 he lost Anavatan Party primaries to Mesut Yilmaz, ending his tenure in office. In 1992, with the order of Ozal, Akbulut resigned from the party, however, he returned shortly afterwards. On May 20, 1999, Yıldırım Akbulut was elected for the second time Speaker of the Grand National Assembly that lasted until September 30, 2000. He was married and had three children. Akbulut died at the age of 85 in Ankara on 14 April 2021. He was interred at the

Turkish State Cemetery The Turkish State Cemetery ( tr, Devlet Mezarlığı) is a national and military cemetery in Ankara, Turkey, containing the graves of the presidents of Turkey and the high-ranked, close companions-in-arms of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Akbulut, Yildirim 1935 births 2021 deaths 20th-century prime ministers of Turkey People from Erzincan Motherland Party (Turkey) politicians Istanbul University alumni Istanbul University Faculty of Law alumni Deputies of Erzincan Leaders of political parties in Turkey Prime Ministers of Turkey Grand Crosses of the Order of the Star of Romania Speakers of the Parliament of Turkey Ministers of the Interior of Turkey Members of the 21st Parliament of Turkey Members of the 45th government of Turkey Members of the 47th government of Turkey Burials at Turkish State Cemetery Deputy Speakers of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey