Hüseyin Çelik (born 5 March 1959 in Gürpınar,

Van A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. There is some variation in the scope of the word across the different English-speaking countries. The smallest vans, microvans, are used for transporting either goods or ...

) is a Turkish former Minister of National Education of

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

and member of parliament for

for 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 ...

(AKP).

Background

Çelik was the first advisor of

Recep Tayyip Erdogan Recep is a Turkish name deriving from the Arabic name Rajab. It may refer to: People Surname * Aziz Recep (born 1992), German-Greek footballer * Sibel Recep (born 1987), Swedish pop singer Given name * Recep Adanır (1929–2017), Turkish fo ...

and later became the minister of culture and tourism. After that, he became the Minister of National Education. He was the spokesperson of the Turkish Parliament and AKP. Also, in the past, Çelik graduated in Turkish language and literature from

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 ...

in 1983 and went on to a career as an academic at Van Yüzüncü Yıl Üniversitesi, eventually becoming assistant professor in 1997. From 1988-1991 he studied towards a master's degree in politics at the

School of Oriental and African Studies The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS University of London; ) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury area ...

in the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. His focus was on the late-

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

writer and thinker

Ali Suavi Ali Suavi (; 8 December 1839 – 20 May 1878) was an Ottoman Turks, Ottoman Turk political activist, journalist, educator, theologian and reformer. He was exiled to Kastamonu because of his writings against List of sultans of the Ottoman Empir ...

Writer

During the 1990s he wrote a column on Ottoman era politics and other issues for the nationalist-leaning social and political science journal ''Türkiye Günlüğü''. He has published 15 books on politics, culture, history etc. has also edited and annotated an edition of the work "Şinasi" by Ottoman writer Ziyad Ebuzziya.

Political career

He was elected to parliament for Van as a member of

Tansu Çiller Tansu Çiller (; born 24 May 1946) is a Turkish academic, economist, and politician who served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Turkey from 1993 to 1996. She was Turkey's first and only female prime minister. As the leader of the True Path Party ...

's DYP in 1999, moving to the newly founded AK Party in 2001. He was elected parliamentary chief and then following the AK Party's election victory in 2002, he became Minister of Culture and then Minister of Education. During his brief tenure as Minister of Culture he is remembered for immediately sacking the entire Board for the Protection of Culture and Nature (). Regional bodies set up to monitor archaeology and other research throughout the country, led by architect and champion of Anatolia's cultural heritage Oktay Ekinci, one of those dismissed. Çelik was then accused of taking this action under pressure from AK Party MP for

Muğla Muğla () is a city in southwestern Turkey. The city is the center of the district of Menteşe, Muğla, Menteşe and Muğla Province, which stretches along Turkey's Aegean Sea, Aegean coast. Muğla's center is situated inland at an altitude of ...

Hasan Özyer in order to enable the Muğla coastline to be developed for mass-market tourism.

Minister of Education (2003 - 2009)

As Minister of Education as well as curriculum reform and all the day-to-day running of the school system, Çelik has had to deal with a number of issues including: * pressure from the European Union to re-open the Greek Orthodox

Halki seminary The Halki seminary, formally the Theological School of Halki ( and ), was founded on 1 October 1844 on the island of Halki ( Turkish: Heybeliada), the second-largest of the Princes' Islands in the Sea of Marmara. It was the main school of theo ...

school in Istanbul. * pressure from graduates and parents, the majority of them AK Party voters, to change the rules that currently limit graduates of the conservative Imam Hatip schools to studying only religious studies at university. * a number of clashes with the Higher Education Board over issues ranging from the Imam Hatip issue to the appointment and dismissal of individual university rectors.

Personal life

Çelik is of Turkish descent on his father's side and of

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 ...

descent on his mother's side.Yaklaşık 5-6 milyon Türk-Kürt evliliği var
Sabah, 2010 He is married to Şahsenem Çelik and they have three children; Ali Ekrem, Enes, and Büşra Vuslat.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Celik, Huseyin 1959 births Living people Government ministers of Turkey Alumni of SOAS University of London Istanbul University alumni People from Van, Turkey Justice and Development Party (Turkey) politicians Ministers of national education of Turkey Ministers of culture of Turkey Turkish Kurdish politicians Turkish Arab people 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 Turkish people of Arab descent Members of the 60th government of Turkey