Korkut Özal (29 May 1929 – 2 November 2016) was a Turkish engineer and politician. He was the brother of Turkish President

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 ...

and . His cause of death in 2016 are respiratory and circulatory failure.

Academic career

Korkut Özal studied at the Faculty of Civil Engineering at

Istanbul Technical University Istanbul Technical University ( tr, İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi, commonly referred to as ITU or The Technical University) is an international technical university located in Istanbul, Turkey. It is the world's third-oldest technical universit ...

. He then completed his postgraduate studies in the United States between 1956 and 1957. He became a teacher at the

Middle East Technical University Middle East Technical University (commonly referred to as METU; in Turkish, ''Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi'', ODTÜ) is a public technical university located in Ankara, Turkey. The university emphasizes research and education in engineering a ...

after returning to Turkey. In 1965, he was awarded a professorship and became a lecturer at the State Academy of Architecture and Engineering.

Early political career

Özal entered politics through the National Salvation Party; he was elected as the party's deputy for

Erzurum Erzurum (; ) is a List of cities in Turkey, city in eastern Anatolia, Turkey. It is the largest city and capital of Erzurum Province and is 1,900 meters (6,233 feet) above sea level. Erzurum had a population of 367,250 in 2010. The city uses t ...

in the 1973 and 1977 elections. In 1974, he worked as the Minister of Food, Agriculture, and Livestock in the CHP-MSP coalition government, and later in the First Nationalist Front Government established in 1975. He served as the Interior Minister Second Nationalist Front cabinet in 1977 for six months. Shortly after the

1980 Turkish coup d'état The 1980 Turkish coup d'état ( tr, 12 Eylül Darbesi), 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 ...

Korkut Özal suffered a traffic accident on September 25, 1980, and withdrew from politics.

Later political life

His brother,

, served as president until his death in 1993, after which Korkut Özal re-entered politics through the Motherland Party and was elected as an Istanbul deputy in 1995. He chaired the Turkish Parliament’s Home Affairs Commission and the Turkish Parliamentary Group of the

OSCE The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, prom ...

. He was critical of many of the policies of the Anasol-D government and resigned from the Motherland Party on August 13, 1997. He joined the newly established

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

and was elected president of the party at the Democratic Party Congress on 28 September 1997. On March 22, 2001, he left the chairmanship of the Democratic Party. Korkut Özal died on November 2, 2016, at his home in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

. He was buried in the family plot in the Topkapi cemetery.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ozal, Korkut 1929 births 2016 deaths Ministers of the Interior of Turkey 20th-century Turkish engineers Burials at Topkapı Cemetery