Koray Aydın (born 5 December 1955) is a Turkish politician who has been serving as the

Deputy Speaker of the Grand National Assembly The Deputy Speaker(s) of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi Başkanvekilleri'') serve on the Speakers Council (Turkish: ''Başkanlık Divanı'') in the Grand National Assembly of Turk ...

since 9 July 2015. He previously served as the Minister of Public Works and Housing during the 57th government of Turkey led by Prime Minister

Bülent Ecevit Mustafa Bülent Ecevit (; 28 May 1925 – 5 November 2006) was a Turkish politician, statesman, poet, writer, scholar, and journalist. He served as the Prime Minister of Turkey four times between 1974 and 2002. He served as prime minister in 197 ...

. As a politician from the

Nationalist Movement Party The Nationalist Movement Party, or alternatively translated as Nationalist Action Party (, MHP), is a Turkish Far-right politics, far-right, ultranationalism, ultranationalist Political parties in Turkey, political party. The group is often de ...

(MHP), he served as the party's General Secretary. He served as a Member of Parliament for

Trabzon Trabzon, historically known as Trebizond, is a city on the Black Sea coast of northeastern Turkey and the capital of Trabzon Province. The city was founded in 756 BC as "Trapezous" by colonists from Miletus. It was added into the Achaemenid E ...

from 1991 to 1995, as an MP for

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

from 1999 to 2002 and again from Trabzon from 2011 to November 2015. He lost his seat in the November 2015 general election. In 2017, he left the MHP and joined the

Good Party The Good Party (Turkish language, Turkish: ''İYİ Parti'') is a Turkish nationalism, nationalist, Kemalism, Kemalist and Conservatism, conservative List of political parties in Turkey, political party in Turkey, established on 25 October 2017 b ...

, founded by

Meral Akşener Meral Akşener (née Gürer, ; born 18 July 1956) is a Turkish politician, teacher, historian and academic who is the founder of the Good Party (İYİ Party). Akşener first entered parliament as a deputy of the True Path Party (DYP) in the 19 ...

. He left the

in 2024.

Early life and career

Koray Aydın was born on 5 December 1955 in

. Due to his father's job as a state official, he completed his primary and secondary education in different parts of

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

before graduating from

Karadeniz Technical University Karadeniz Technical University ( or KTÜ) is a public research university located in Trabzon, in the Black Sea Region of Turkey. Established in 1955, it is the fourth oldest university in the country. As a public institution, it operates under ...

Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in 1978. He is married with three children.

Political career

Nationalist movement

Aydın became involved in politics at a young age, first becoming a member of the Executive Board of the

(MHP) Trabzon Youth Wing. He later became the President of the Trabzon Youth Wing. He was actively involved in campaigning efforts during the 1977 general election. After the political bans imposed in the

1980 Turkish coup d'état The 1980 Turkish coup d'état (), headed by Chief of the General Staff General Kenan Evren, was the third coup d'état in the history of the Republic of Turkey, the previous having been the 1960 coup and the 1971 coup by memorandum. During ...

were lifted, Aydın was involved in the establishment of the Conservative Party. The Conservatives later renamed themselves and became the Nationalist Workers Party (MÇP), with Aydın being elected as an MÇP MP for Trabzon in the 1991 general election. Aydın was also a member of the MÇP Central Executive Committee, served as the party's deputy accountant and also later deputy secretary general. As an MP, he served on the Parliamentary Commission on Planning and the Budget. With the MÇP being renamed and becoming the

, Aydın was unable to retain his seat in the 1995 general election after the MHP fell below the 10%

election threshold The electoral threshold, or election threshold, is the minimum share of votes that a candidate or political party requires before they become entitled to representation or additional seats in a legislature. This limit can operate in various w ...

needed to win parliamentary representation. He became the MHP's General Secretary in 1995.

Minister of Public Works and Housing

Aydın became the Minister of Public Works and Housing in the triple coalition government formed by the Democratic Left Party (DSP), the Motherland Party (ANAP) and the MHP. As Minister, Aydın dealt with the aftermath of the

1999 İzmit earthquake An earthquake of moment magnitude 7.6 struck Kocaeli Province, Turkey on 17 August 1999. According to official figures, at least 18,373 people died and 48,901 people were injured during the earthquake, and 5,840 people were missing. At least 15 ...

and the

1999 Düzce earthquake The 1999 Düzce earthquake occurred on 12 November at with a moment magnitude of 7.2 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (''Violent''), causing damage and at least 845 fatalities in Düzce, Turkey. The epicenter was approximately to the eas ...

, with several new housing developments being built for victims left homeless after the earthquakes. He left his position as Minister on 5 September 2001 and lost his seat in the

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

as the MHP once again fell below the 10% election threshold and lost all its parliamentary representation. Parliamentary investigations began into Aydın's tenure as Minister in 2005, with Aydın being accused of crimes including illegally acquiring assets, jobbery and

bid rigging Bid rigging is a fraudulent scheme in a procurement action which enables companies to submit non-competitive bids. It can be performed by corrupt officials, by firms in an orchestrated act of collusion, or by officials and firms acting together. ...

. With a total of 45 different cases filed against him, prosecutors pushed for a 216 years and 6 months jail sentence. The claims were declared to be unfounded and all charges were subsequently dropped in 2007. Aydın expressed his wish to continue in politics.

MHP leadership bid

Aydın was re-elected as an MP from Trabzon at the 2011 general election. During the 10th MHP Ordinary Congress held on 4 November 2012, Aydın put his name forward to run for the party leadership against incumbent

Devlet Bahçeli Devlet Bahçeli (born 1 January 1948) is a Turkish people, Turkish politician, economist, former Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey, deputy prime minister, and current chairman of the Far-right politics, far-right, Ultranationalism, ultranationa ...

. Bahçeli was re-elected as leader with 725 votes out of 1,214 delegates, with Aydın coming second with 441 votes. Although Aydın failed to win, his significant vote share and its proximity to Bahçeli's votes was seen as a sign of a strengthening inner-party opposition to Bahçeli's leadership.

Deputy Speaker

Aydın was re-elected as an MP in the June 2015 general election and was selected as the MHP's candidate to become one of the four Deputy Speakers of the Grand National Assembly, along with the Justice and Development Party's nominee

Naci Bostancı Mehmet Naci Bostancı (born 2 August 1957) is a Turkish politician and academic who currently serves as the Deputy Speaker of the Grand National Assembly along with Şafak Pavey, Koray Aydın and Yurdusev Özsökmenler as of 9 July 2015. He was ...

, the

Republican People's Party The Republican People's Party (RPP; , CHP ) is a Kemalism, Kemalist and Social democracy, social democratic political party in Turkey. It is the oldest List of political parties in Turkey, political party in Turkey, founded by Mustafa Kemal ...

's nominee

Şafak Pavey Şafak Pavey (born 10 July 1976) is a Turkish diplomat, columnist and politician. She was a member of the Turkish Grand National Assembly from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) representing Istanbul Province. She is the first di ...

and the Peoples' Democratic Party's nominee

Yurdusev Özsökmenler Yurdusev Özsökmenler (born 1 January 1952) is a Turkish politician who served as the Deputy Speaker of the Grand National Assembly from 9 July to 1 November 2015. She was elected as a Member of Parliament for the electoral district of Van in ...

. Aydın took office on 9 July 2015. His selection as the MHP's Deputy Speaker was criticised since many commentators were expecting the MHP to re-nominate

, who had served as the MHP's Deputy Speaker for the previous two parliaments.

References

External links

Profile at the Parliament website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aydin, Koray Living people 1955 births Politicians from Trabzon Members of the 24th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 25th Parliament of Turkey Deputy speakers of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey Members of the 20th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 57th government of Turkey Nationalist Movement Party politicians Ministers of public works of Turkey Deputies of Ankara Deputies of Trabzon Karadeniz Technical University alumni Good Party politicians Members of the 27th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 28th Parliament of Turkey