Seyfi Öztürk (1927–2002) was a Turkish lawyer and politician who held several cabinet posts in the 1960s and 1970s. He was a long-term member of 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 ...

first for the

Republican Villagers Nation Party The Republican Villagers Nation Party (, CKMP), alternatively translated Republican Peasants' Nation Party, was a political party in Turkey. Fusions The party was founded after the fusion of two smaller nationalist parties. One of these partie ...

and then for the Justice Party.

Early life and education

He was born in Eskişehir in 1927. He graduated from

Ankara University Ankara University () is a public university, public research university in Ankara, the capital of Turkey. It was the first higher education institution founded in Turkey after the History of the Republic of Turkey, formation of the Turkish republ ...

obtaining a degree in law.

Career and activities

Following his graduation Öztürk worked as a lawyer. His political career began after the

military coup A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

in 1960. He was a member of the

Constituent Assembly of Turkey The Constituent Assembly of Turkey (), also called the Chamber of Deputies, existed from 6 January 1961 to 24 October 1961. It was established by the military rule of 1960 Turkish coup d'état. About half of the members were appointed by the milita ...

in 1961 representing the Republican Villagers Nation Party. He was elected as a deputy from Eskişehir for five terms between 1961 and 1980. He became one of the members of the general administrative board of the Republican Villagers Nation Party in August 1965. Öztürk was named as the minister of village affairs in 1965 to the

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

led by Prime Minister

Suat Hayri Ürgüplü Ali Suat Hayri Ürgüplü (13 August 1903 – 26 December 1981) was a Turkish politician who served a brief term as Prime Minister of Turkey in 1965. He was also the last Prime Minister to be born outside the territory of present-day Turkey, be ...

. While serving as minister Öztürk resigned from the Republican Villagers Nation Party and joined the Justice Party. The reason for his resignation was his opposition to

Alparslan Türkeş Alparslan Türkeş (; 25 November 1917 – 4 April 1997) was a Turkish politician, who was the founder and president of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and the Grey Wolves ''(Ülkü Ocakları)''. He ran the Grey Wolves training camps from ...

, a former military officer who was one of the leading figures of the 1960 military coup, since Türkeş was elected as the chairman of the Republican Villagers Nation Party. In addition, Öztürk and Hasan Dinçer,

minister of defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

and a member of the Republican Villagers Nation Party, were forced to resign from their ministerial posts due to the opposition of Türkeş. Mustafa Kepir succeeded Öztürk as minister of village affairs. Öztürk was the minister of transportation to the first cabinet of

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 ...

between 1965 and 1967. He later served as the minister of state in the same cabinet between 1967 and 1969. He was the minister of labour in the second cabinet led by Demirel between 3 November 1969 and 6 March 1970. Öztürk held the same post in the third cabinet of Demirel from 1970 and 1971. During his term as minister of labour Öztürk visited

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

in August 1970 to discuss the status of illegal Turkish migrants in the country. He informed the West German authorities about the pathways used by them stating that they mostly entered to the country from

East Berlin East Berlin (; ) was the partially recognised capital city, capital of East Germany (GDR) from 1949 to 1990. From 1945, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet occupation sector of Berlin. The American, British, and French se ...

. Öztürk was appointed minister of state to the

coalition government A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...

led by again Süleyman Demirel on 31 March 1975. Öztürk was again appointed minister of state on 21 July 1977 when a new

was formed by Demirel. Öztürk joined the

True Path Party The True Path Party (, DYP) was a centre-right political party in Turkey, active from 1983 to 2007. For most of its history, the party's central figure was Süleyman Demirel, a former Prime Minister of Turkey who previously led the Justice Part ...

in 1983 after the closure of the Justice Party in 1980.

Death

Öztürk died in İstanbul on 5 November 2002 and was buried in his hometown, Eskişehir, next day.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ozturk, Seyfi 20th-century Turkish lawyers 1927 births 2002 deaths Justice Party (Turkey) politicians People from Eskişehir Members of the 12th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 13th Parliament of Turkey Deputies of Eskişehir Ankara University Faculty of Law alumni Transport ministers of Turkey Members of the 31st government of Turkey Members of the 30th government of Turkey Ministers of state of Turkey Ministers of labour and social security of Turkey Democrat Party (Turkey, current) politicians Republican Villagers Nation Party politicians Members of the Constituent Assembly of Turkey Members of the 29th government of Turkey Members of the 32nd government of Turkey Members of the 39th government of Turkey Members of the 41st government of Turkey