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
The prime minister of Turkey, officially the prime minister of the Republic of Turkey (), was the head of government of the Turkey, Republic of Turkey from 1920 to 2018, who led a political coalition in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, Tu ...
. His first two prime-ministerial terms lasted just months (in 1991 and 1996), while the third ran from June 1997 to January 1999. The first was brought to an end by defeat in the
1991 elections, the latter two by the breakdown of Yılmaz' coalition governments.
Career
Of
Hamsheni origin, Mesut Yılmaz was a rising star in the Motherland Party of
Turgut Özal, representing the
Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...
province of
Rize
Rize (; ; ; ka, რიზე}; ) is a coastal city in the eastern part of the Black Sea Region of Turkey. It is the seat of Rize Province and Rize District.[parliament
In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...]
and serving in Özal's cabinet. He was State Minister for Information (December 1983), then Minister of Culture and Tourism (1986), and Minister of Foreign Affairs (December 1987 to February 1990). Upon Özal's
election to the presidency in 1989, Yılmaz became the leader of an intraparty opposition to the new prime minister,
Yıldırım Akbulut.
Prime minister
In June 1991, Yılmaz managed to discharge
Yıldırım Akbulut from the party leadership and from all executive functions during the
biennial party congress. Because ANAP had the majority in the
parliament
In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
he subsequently became
Prime Minister of Turkey
The prime minister of Turkey, officially the prime minister of the Republic of Turkey (), was the head of government of the Turkey, Republic of Turkey from 1920 to 2018, who led a political coalition in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, Tu ...
in the
48th government of Turkey. However, in October ANAP came in second in the
1991 general election to
Süleyman Demirel
Sami Süleyman Gündoğdu Demirel (; 1 November 1924 – 17 June 2015) was a Turkish people, Turkish politician, engineer, and statesman who served as the List of Presidents of Turkey, 9th President of Turkey from 1993 to 2000. He previously serv ...
's
True Path Party (DYP), and the DYP formed a coalition with the
Social Democratic Populist Party (
49th government of Turkey).
The following years saw a decline in the popularity of the Motherland Party and an acrimonious relationship with
Tansu Çiller, leader of the center-right
True Path Party (DYP). Yılmaz also made the Motherland Party more business-friendly and Europe-oriented, causing the more conservative, religious wing to switch to the
Welfare Party (RP) of
Necmettin Erbakan
Necmettin Erbakan (29 October 1926 – 27 February 2011) was a Turkish politician and political theorist who served as the 23rd prime minister of Turkey from 1996 to 1997. He was pressured by the military to step down as prime minister and was la ...
. In the December
1995 general election ANAP again came second, this time to the Welfare Party. After lengthy coalition negotiations Yılmaz formed a coalition with the DYP in March 1996 (
53rd government of Turkey), but this lasted less than four months, falling to a censure motion led by the Welfare Party. President Demirel invited Erbakan to form a government, which he did, in coalition with the DYP.
Erbakan's term was marked by the
Susurluk scandal
The Susurluk scandal () or Susurluk accident (), was a 1996 political scandal in Turkey that exposed a close relationship between the Turkish government, the ultra-nationalistic paramilitary Grey Wolves (organization), Grey Wolves organization an ...
, during the investigation of which Yılmaz admitted the existence of the
JİTEM
Jandarma İstihbarat ve Terörle Mücadele or Jandarma İstihbarat Teşkilatı (abbr. ''JİTEM'' or ''JİT''; English: "Gendarmerie Intelligence and Counter-Terrorism" or "Gendarmerie Intelligence Organization") is the intelligence department of ...
counter-terrorist Gendarmerie unit.
[ The scandal led to the resignation of Erbakan's ]Interior Minister
An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a Cabinet (government), cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and iden ...
, Mehmet Ağar (a leader of the True Path Party, DYP), following revelations that Abdullah Çatlı, leader of the far-right Grey Wolves organisation, worked for the state.[ Yılmaz' concerns over his own safety, owing to his support of the Susurluk investigation, led to him briefly carrying a gun in self-defense.]
Yılmaz formed a government for the third time in June 1997, after the Welfare Party had resigned from government following the February 1997 military memorandum. DYP and others expected to form a government under Tansu Çiller, but President Süleyman Demirel
Sami Süleyman Gündoğdu Demirel (; 1 November 1924 – 17 June 2015) was a Turkish people, Turkish politician, engineer, and statesman who served as the List of Presidents of Turkey, 9th President of Turkey from 1993 to 2000. He previously serv ...
asked Yılmaz to form the new government. Yılmaz created an ANAP- Democratic Left Party- Democrat Turkey Party coalition which lasted until January 1999. Yılmaz' final term was marked by fallout from the investigations into the Susurluk scandal
The Susurluk scandal () or Susurluk accident (), was a 1996 political scandal in Turkey that exposed a close relationship between the Turkish government, the ultra-nationalistic paramilitary Grey Wolves (organization), Grey Wolves organization an ...
, and further revelations of connections between politicians, police and mafia. When the attempt to privatize the Türk Ticaret Bankası to Korkmaz Yiğit blew up in October 1998 over allegations
In law, an allegation is a claim of an unproven fact by a party in a pleading, charge, or defense. Until they can be proved, allegations remain merely assertions.
Types of allegations Marital allegations
There are also marital allegations: m ...
of the involvement of mafia 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 ...
, Yılmaz' coalition did not last much longer.
In October 1998, Yılmaz set off a furor in the Arab world
The Arab world ( '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, comprises a large group of countries, mainly located in West Asia and North Africa. While the majority of people in ...
by threatening to "poke out the eyes" of Syria
Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
over Hafez al-Assad
Hafez al-Assad (6 October 193010 June 2000) was a Syrian politician and military officer who was the president of Syria from 1971 until Death and state funeral of Hafez al-Assad, his death in 2000. He was previously the Prime Minister of Syria ...
's alleged support of the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party
The Kurdistan Workers' Party, or the PKK, isDespite the PKK's 12th Congress announcing plans for total organisational dissolution, the PKK has not yet been dissolved de facto or de jure. a Kurds, Kurdish militant political organization and armed ...
.
Later career
Yılmaz continued as a politician, however, serving as a deputy prime minister in a coalition led by 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 ...
from 1999 to 2002. After his failure to win entry into the Grand National Assembly in 2002 elections, Yılmaz retired from politics to pursue a teaching career. A few days before the match between Fenerbahçe and Malatyaspor, the then-Prime Minister, Yılmaz, was a guest on a TV channel with Can Ataklı. During their conversation, Yılmaz made a statement: "By Allah's permission, we will make Galatasaray the champion this year too." Prior to the Malatyaspor match at Fenerbahçe's closed stands, a huge banner was unfurled, reading "We'll see you at the ballot box, Mesut Bey."
He was charged by the state public prosecutor with corruption during his tenure as prime minister relating to the privatization of Turkish Trade Bank. In 2006, the Supreme Court suspended the case for five years, so that the charges would be dropped if no similar charges arose in that period. Yılmaz announced that he would return to politics.
In the 2007 general election, he was elected as independent member of parliament from Rize. He died from complications of lung cancer
Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...
in 30 October 2020 and was buried at Kanlıca Cemetery two days later.
Personal life
He was married to Berna Yılmaz. The couple became parents to two sons, Hasan Yılmaz and Yavuz Yılmaz, the latter of which was found shot dead in his apartment in Beykoz
Beykoz () is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Istanbul Province, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 310 km2, and its population is 247,875 (2022). It lies at the northern end of the Bosphorus on the Anatolian side. The name i ...
, Istanbul in December 2017. His son's death was reported as a probable suicide by Turkish police. Mesut Yılmaz's own licensed Smith & Wesson
Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. (S&W) is an American Firearms manufacturer, firearm manufacturer headquartered in Maryville, Tennessee, United States.
Smith & Wesson was founded by Horace Smith (inventor), Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson as the ...
gun was found beside his son's body.
References
External links
Biography at Motherland Party's website
Personal Website
Biography at biyografi.net (Turkish)
THE AWAKENING OF THE CONVERTED ARMENIANS:Notes of an Investigative Journalist 1980-2011 ''Hamo Moskofian'' / Mesut Yılmaz, “Hamshen Armenians
PDF
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yilmaz, Mesut
1947 births
2020 deaths
People from Çayeli
Centre-right politics in Turkey
Deputies of Rize
20th-century prime ministers of Turkey
Politicians from Istanbul
Istanbul High School alumni
Ankara University Faculty of Political Sciences alumni
University of Cologne alumni
Motherland Party (Turkey) politicians
Ministers of foreign affairs of Turkey
Deputy prime ministers of Turkey
Leaders of political parties in Turkey
Ministers of culture and tourism of Turkey
Leaders of the opposition (Turkey)
Turkish liberals
Turkish secularists
Turkish people of Hemshin descent
Turkish politicians convicted of corruption
Members of the 23rd Parliament of Turkey
Members of the 21st Parliament of Turkey
Members of the 20th Parliament of Turkey
Members of the 45th government of Turkey
Members of the 46th government of Turkey
Members of the 47th government of Turkey
Members of the 48th government of Turkey
Members of the 53rd government of Turkey
Members of the 55th government of Turkey
Members of the 57th government of Turkey
Ministers of state of Turkey
Heads of government who were later imprisoned
Deaths from lung cancer in Turkey
Burials at Kanlıca Cemetery