Güneş Taner (born 14 November 1949) is a Turkish politician and former government minister.

Early life

Güneş Taner was born in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

to Cengiz Tahir Taner and his wife Süheyla on 14 November 1949. He was educated in civil engineering at Yıldız Technical University, and literature at Faculty of Letters in

Istanbul University Istanbul University, also known as University of Istanbul (), is a Public university, public research university located in Istanbul, Turkey. Founded by Mehmed II on May 30, 1453, a day after Fall of Constantinople, the conquest of Constantinop ...

. He received a master's degree in Industrial administration from State University of New York Polytechnic Institute. He has an honorary doctor title awarded by Plekhanov Russian University of Economics. Taner was an executive at

Citibank Citibank, N.A. ("N. A." stands for "National bank (United States), National Association"; stylized as citibank) is the primary U.S. banking subsidiary of Citigroup, a financial services multinational corporation, multinational corporation. Ci ...

Politics career

He served as politics advisor to the prime minister, and was among the founders of the Motherland Party (, ANAP). He was elected to the parliament four times in

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

and

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

general elections representing Istanbul Province. In 1990, Taner was appointed placeholder for the post of Minister of National Defense in the Yıldırım Akbulut cabinet, and was in office for a short term from 19 to 28 October. In the cabinet of Mesut Yılmaz, he served as Minister of State responsible for Economy between 30 June 1997 and 25 November 1998.

Türkbank scandal and trial

Turkey's first private bank, the Türk Ticaret Banksaı, aka Türkbank, went under control of the Treasury in May 1994 following its weakening as a result of the Turkish financial crisis, which blew up in January the same year. The bank's majority stake were taken over by the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund of Turkey (, TMSF) for sale in a public tender. Self-made businessman Korkmaz Yiğit won the tender offering US$600 million. However, a recording tape containing a private conversation of him with the mob boss

Alaattin Çakıcı Aladdin (, commonly ) (various spellings and transliterations) is a male given name which means "nobility of faith" or "nobility of creed/religion". It is one of a large class of names ending with ad-Din. The name may refer to: Given name *Ala al ...

about the tender became public, and caused a scandal. The scandal spread over to the politics when Yiğit gave in his testimony details about his connections with Prime Minister

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

and Minister responsible for Economy Güneş Taner relating to the tender. Yiğit claimed that "Yılmaz and Taner encouraged him to buy Türkbank, and offered him loans from other state banks to ensure that his bid was the highest". The tender was annulled, Çakıcı and Yiğit were arrested. The coalition cabinet led by Yılmaz fell down by a

motion of no confidence A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fi ...

on 11 January 1999. A parliamentary investigative report, which accused Yılmaz and Güneş for conspiring to rig bids on tender, became obsolete due to nearing general election in 1999. After the general election in 2002, a new parliamentary investigation committee confirmed the accusations against both the politicians, and proposed to send them to the

Constitutional Court of Turkey The Constitutional Court of Turkey ( Turkish: ''Anayasa Mahkemesi'', sometimes abbreviated as ''AYM'') is the highest legal body for constitutional review in Turkey. It "examines the constitutionality, in respect of both form and substance, of law ...

() for trial. The supreme court concluded on 23 June 2006 that Yılmaz and Taner are guilty of bid rigging as per Turkish Penal Code's Article 765 Section 205. However, the sentences were reprieved in accordance with applicable laws.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Taner, Gunes 1949 births Living people Politicians from Istanbul Yıldız Technical University alumni Istanbul University alumni SUNY Polytechnic Institute alumni Motherland Party (Turkey) politicians Deputies of Istanbul Ministers of national defence of Turkey Ministers of economic affairs of Turkey Turkish politicians convicted of corruption Members of the 21st Parliament of Turkey Members of the 20th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 47th government of Turkey Members of the 55th government of Turkey Ministers of state of Turkey