Abdullah Gul

Abdullah Gül (2011)

Abdullah Gül (born October 29, 1950 in Kayseri ) is a Turkish politician . He was Prime Minister of Turkey from November 2002 to March 2003 and the eleventh President of the Republic from August 2007 to August 2014 . His official residence was the Çankaya Palace .

Gül ran for president in April and May 2007 as a candidate for the ruling AKP party after being proposed by party leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan . This candidacy sparked a domestic political crisis in Turkey and led to new elections. Following the elections, on August 28, 2007, Gül was elected President of Turkey by the Grand National Assembly of Turkey in the third ballot. His term ended on August 28, 2014; On August 10, 2014, the 2014 presidential election in Turkey took place, in which Erdoğan was elected as the new president.

Life

Abdullah Gül studied economics at the University of Istanbul and wrote his dissertation there. During his PhD studies, he stayed in London and Exeter for two years . He then worked at the University of Sakarya in the establishment of the Department of Industrial Engineering and taught management seminars. In 1980 he married his then 15-year-old cousin Hayrünnisa Özyurt, together they have a daughter and two sons.

From 1983 to 1991 Gül was the leading manager of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) in Saudi Arabia . In 1991 he became a lecturer in international management.

In the same year he was elected as a representative of the Islamic Welfare Party ( Refah Partisi , RP) in the early elections and moved into parliament. From 1991 to 1995 Gül was a member of the planning and budget commission of the Turkish parliament. In 1995 he was re-elected and was a member of the Commission for Foreign Affairs until 2001. In 1992, Abdullah Gül became a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, which awarded him the “Pro Merito” in 2001 for his efforts, and he was also made an honorary member. In the 54th Turkish government he was minister of state and acted as government spokesman.

After the RP was banned, Gül was elected to parliament for the third time in 1999 as a member of the successor to the Virtue Party (FP). On May 14, 2000 he narrowly lost the election as chairman of the FP. After the FP was banned, Gül took on an important position in the leadership of a political movement ("innovation movement", Turkish Yenilikçi Hareket ), which in August 2001 was absorbed into the AKP she founded. As one of the founding members, he was responsible for legal and political affairs, which is likely to have been the reason why he was elected vice-president of the new party.

On November 3, 2002, Gül was re-elected as a member of parliament for Kayseri. Two weeks later he was tasked with forming the 58th government. He took over the office of prime minister and formed the cabinet, which should act as a transitional government. The aim was to make the party president of the AKP, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan , prime minister in the eastern Anatolian province of Siirt by changing the law as soon as possible . On March 14, 2003, Erdoğan took over the office of Prime Minister and appointed Abdullah Gül as his deputy and foreign minister. Abdullah Gül caused controversy during his time as foreign minister when he sent a circular to his country's diplomatic missions to support the Islamic community of Millî Görüş as best they could. Millî Görüş, founded by Necmettin Erbakan , has been under observation by the German intelligence services for years .

Gül was President of Turkey from August 28, 2007 to August 2014.

He is fluent in English and Arabic .

Abdullah Gül is seen as an opponent of the presidential system that his successor Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is striving for.

2007 presidential election

In spring 2007, Abdullah Gül ran for the office of President. A boycott of the vote followed by a visit to the constitutional court prevented Gül's election as president. In addition, the General Staff tried on election night by publishing a declaration to influence the election and what happened. As a result, the government announced parliamentary elections. In connection with the presidential elections, there were mass demonstrations across Turkey for a secular Turkey .

After the clear victory in the early parliamentary elections , the AKP decided on August 13th to nominate Gül again for the office of president. In the first ballot on August 20, 2007, Gül failed because of the two-thirds majority required in the first two ballots. He received 341 votes, one vote more than his party has mandates. 367 votes would have been required for the election. A second ballot took place on August 24, in which, as expected, Gül again missed a two-thirds majority with 337 votes. In the third ballot, which took place on August 28, 339 votes from members of the Turkish parliament were enough to elect Gül as president. The Turkish constitution stipulates an absolute majority in the third ballot, which requires at least 276 votes. A few hours before the third ballot, the Turkish military leadership had warned of political attacks on the secular state. The Chief of Staff yaşar büyükanıt explained that the Turkish armed forces are determined to defend democracy and the separation of state and religion.

Awards

General

Saudi Arabia : King Abdulaziz Order (2007) by King Abdullah ibn Abd al-Aziz

United Kingdom : Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Civil Division of the Order of the Bath (GCB) (May 14, 2008) by Queen Elizabeth II in Ankara

Portugal : Order of Infante Dom Henrique (GColIH) (May 12, 2009) by President Aníbal Cavaco Silva in Ankara

Albania : highest state order (May 9, 2008)

Italy : Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (Grand Cross with Grand Order Chain) (November 16, 2009) by President Giorgio Napolitano

Kuwait : High Order of State (December 21, 2009)

Cameroon : State Order (March 16, 2010) by President Paul Biya in Yaoundé

United Kingdom : Chatham House Prize (March 19, 2010)

Pakistan : Nishan-e-Pakistan (March 31, 2010) by Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari

Hungary : The Grand Cross with Collane of the Hungarian Order of Merit (November 15, 2011) by the Hungarian President Pál Schmitt

Netherlands Netherlands : The Grand Cross of the Order of the Dutch Lion (April 17, 2012) by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands

Sweden : The Royal Order of the Seraphine (March 11, 2013) awarded by the Swedish King Carl XVI. Gustaf

Turkmenistan : The Order of the State (May 30, 2013) awarded by the Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow

Norway : The Grand Cross of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav (November 5, 2013) awarded by the Norwegian King Harald V.

Luxembourg : The Grand Cross of the Order of the Golden Lion of the House of Nassau (November 19, 2013) awarded by the Luxembourg Grand Duke Henri von Nassau-Weilburg

Honorary doctorates

Romania Romania : Honorary Doctorate from the Christian Dimitrie Cantemir University (March 2, 2008)
Bangladesh Bangladesh : Honorary Doctorate from the University of Dhaka (February 7, 2009)
India India : Amity University Honorary Doctorate in International Relations (February 8, 2010)
Russia Russia : Honorary Doctorate from Kazan State University (February 12, 2009)
China People's Republic People's Republic of China : Honorary Doctorate from Xinjiang University (June 28, 2009)
Pakistan Pakistan : Honorary doctorate from Quaid-i-Azam University in the field of international relations (March 31, 2010) by the President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari
Turkey Turkey : Honorary doctorate from Erciyes Üniversitesi (October 12, 2009)
Kazakhstan Kazakhstan : Honorary Doctorate from Ahmed Yesevi University (May 24, 2010)
Korea South South Korea : Honorary Doctorate from Hankuk Foreign Language University (June 15, 2010)
Indonesia Indonesia : Honorary Doctorate from the University of Indonesia in Political Science (April 6, 2011)
Turkmenistan Turkmenistan : Honorary Doctorate from the Turkmen State Institute for Economics and Administration (May 30, 2013)