Abdülkadir Aksu ( ; ; born 1944,

Diyarbakır Diyarbakır is the largest Kurdish-majority city in Turkey. It is the administrative center of Diyarbakır Province. Situated around a high plateau by the banks of the Tigris river on which stands the historic Diyarbakır Fortress, it is ...

) is a Turkish

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

from Diyarbakır. According to some sources, he is

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish language ** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) **Central Kurdish (Sorani) **Southern Kurdish ** Laki Kurdish *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern ...

; according to Üzeyir Tekin, he is of partial Albanian and Kurdish origin; and according to Hasan Celal Güzel, a friend of Aksu family, he is of Turkish (Turkmen) origin. He is a member of the

Community of İskenderpaşa İskenderpaşa Jamia or The Community of İskenderpaşa () is a branch of Naqshbandiyya-Khalidiyya Ṭarīqah ''(List of Sufi orders, Sufi Order)'' in Turkey. History The Jamia of İskenderpaşa was first established by :tr:Mehmed Zahid Kotku, Meh ...

, a Turkish sufistic community of

Naqshbandi Naqshbandi (Persian: نقشبندیه) is a major Sufi order within Sunni Islam, named after its 14th-century founder, Baha' al-Din Naqshband. Practitioners, known as Naqshbandis, trace their spiritual lineage (silsila) directly to the Prophet ...

tariqah A ''tariqa'' () is a religious order of Sufism, or specifically a concept for the mystical teaching and spiritual practices of such an order with the aim of seeking , which translates as "ultimate truth". A tariqa has a (guide) who plays the r ...

Early life and education

He attended high school in Diyarbakır and in 1968 he graduated with a degree in political sciences from the

Ankara University Ankara University () is a public university, public research university in Ankara, the capital of Turkey. It was the first higher education institution founded in Turkey after the History of the Republic of Turkey, formation of the Turkish republ ...

. During his time at the university he became a member of in the Free Thought Club which was as a counterweight to the Socialist Thought Club. The Free Thought Club was to be influential in politics as several members of its executive board became ministers in the Turkish Government. Aksu also founded the Diyarbakır Association in Ankara, aimed as an organization to connect the people of Diyarbakır.

Professional career

Since his graduation, he entered the public administration and was assigned as a

Kaymakam Kaymakam, also known by #Names, many other romanizations, was a title used by various officials of the Ottoman Empire, including acting grand viziers, governors of provincial sanjaks, and administrators of district kazas. The title has been reta ...

in a variety of districts. In 1985, while being the Kaymakam of

Gaziantep Gaziantep, historically Aintab and still informally called Antep, is a major city in south-central Turkey. It is the capital of the Gaziantep Province, in the westernmost part of Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia Region and partially in the Medi ...

, he was bequested with the award of the Bureaucrat of the Year.

Political career

He was elected a member of the

Grand National Assembly of Turkey The Grand National Assembly of Turkey ( ), usually referred to simply as the GNAT or TBMM, also referred to as , in Turkish, is the Unicameralism, unicameral Turkey, Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by ...

, representing Diyarbakir for the Motherland Party (ANAP) in 1987. He became the Minister of the Interior in 1989 in the Government of Turgut Özal which he stayed also through the Government of Yilidirm Akbulut. During his membership in the ANAP, he was a prominent advocate of Özals conciliatory policies dubbed as the "Politics of Four Inclinations". He was again elected to parliament for Diyarbakır in the parliamentary election of 1995. He then left the Motherland Party, and joined the

Welfare Party The Welfare Party (, RP) was an Islamist political party in Turkey. It was founded by Ali Türkmen, Ahmet Tekdal, and Necmettin Erbakan in Ankara in 1983 as heir to two earlier parties, National Order Party (MNP) and National Salvation Party ...

(RP), for which he served as a member of the administrative board. After the ban of the RP in 1998, he became a member of the

Virtue Party Virtue Party (, 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 the Constitution. A ...

which was a predecessor of the Justice and Development Party (AKP). For the AKP, he served as the Interior Minister from 2002 to 2007 and became its party vice-chair in replacement of Dengir Mir Mehmet Firat in 2008. In May 2019 he was assigned the post of the chair of the state-owned Vakifbank.

Personal life

He is married and is the father of two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aksu, Abdulkadir 1944 births Living people People from Diyarbakır Government ministers of Turkey Virtue Party politicians Motherland Party (Turkey) politicians Justice and Development Party (Turkey) politicians Ministers of the interior of Turkey Ankara University Faculty of Political Sciences alumni Deputies of Istanbul Deputies of Diyarbakır Members of the 24th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 23rd Parliament of Turkey Members of the 22nd Parliament of Turkey Members of the 21st Parliament of Turkey Members of the 20th Parliament of Turkey Naqshbandi order