Abdullah Gül
11th President of the Republic of Turkey
Incumbent
Assumed office 28 August 2007
Prime Minister	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Preceded by	Ahmet Necdet Sezer
Prime Minister of Turkey
In office 18 November 2002 – 14 March 2003
President	Ahmet Necdet Sezer
Preceded by	Bülent Ecevit
Succeeded by	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey
In office 28 March 2003 – 28 August 2007
Prime Minister	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Preceded by	Mehmet Ali Şahin
Succeeded by	Cemil Çiçek
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 14 March 2003 – 28 August 2007
Prime Minister	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Preceded by	Yaşar Yakış
Succeeded by	Ali Babacan
Personal details
Born	(1950-10-29) 29 October 1950 (age 61) Kayseri, Turkey
Other political affiliations	Welfare (1991–1997) Virtue (1997–2001) Justice and Development (2001–2007)
Spouse(s)	Hayrünnisa Gül (m. 1980)
Children	Ahmet Münir, Kübra, Mehmet Emre
Alma mater	Istanbul University University of Exeter
Religion	Sunni Islam
Signature
Website	tccb.gov.tr

Abdullah Gül (Turkish: [abduɫˈɫɑh ˈɟyl]; born 29 October 1950) is the 11th and current President of the Republic of Turkey, serving in that office since 28 August 2007. He previously served for four months as Prime Minister from 2002-03, and as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2003-07.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's nomination of Gül as a presidential candidate drew strong and highly vocal opposition from ardent supporters of secularism in Turkey. In May 2007, Gül's first bid for presidency was blocked by the Constitutional Court,^[1] due to concern over views Gül expressed during his Welfare Party years, and the fact that his wife, Hayrünnisa, wears a headscarf.^[2] However, following the parliamentary elections in July of the same year, which were won by the Justice and Development Party with 46.6% of the popular vote, he was eventually elected President on 28 August 2007 and was sworn in the same day, becoming the first openly devout Muslim President in the modern history of Turkey.^[3][4]

Early life[link]

President Gül was born in Kayseri, a city in central Anatolia. His father is Ahmed Hamdi Gül, a retired air force mechanic, and his mother is Adviye Gül (née Satoğlu). His family has lived in the Güllük district of Kayseri for about a century.^[5][6] His ancestry/ethnicity according to a Çankaya Presidential Residence statement is "Turkish Muslim." Gül was also called with the name Cumhur (which means 'people') by his family.^[7]

Education[link]

Gül studied Economics at the Istanbul University. During his graduate education, he studied for two years in London and Exeter in the United Kingdom. He pursued an academic career after that and worked at the higher education facilities in Adapazarı, collaborating in the establishment of the Department for Industrial Engineering and teaching Management courses at the ITU Sakarya Engineering Faculty, which later became the Sakarya University in 1992. He received a Ph.D. degree from the Istanbul University in 1983. He is also conferred to an Honorary Ph.D. degree from Amity University, NOIDA -India on February 8, 2009, and an LL.D. degree from University of Dhaka on February 13, 2010.^[8] Between 1983 and 1991, he worked at the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. In 1991, he became a lecturer in International Management.

Entry into politics[link]

Gül became acquainted with right-wing politics early during his high school years. During his university education, he became a member of the Islamist-nationalist Millî Türk Talebe Birliği (National Turkish Students' Union) in the line of Necip Fazıl's Büyük Doğu (Grand Orient) current.^[9]

He was elected a member of the Turkish parliament for the Refah Partisi (RP, "the Welfare Party") from Kayseri Province in 1991 and 1995. During these years, he made statements about the political system of Turkey that was designed by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and the Turkish National Movement, which included "This is the end of the republican period" and "The secular system has failed and we definitely want to change it".^[10] These statements caused controversy when his candidacy for the 2007 presidential election was announced by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.^[11]

In 1999, he kept his seat as a member of the Fazilet Partisi (FP, "the Virtue Party") which was subsequently outlawed by the Constitutional Court for its violation of the Constitution. Its predecessor, the Refah Partisi, was also outlawed by the Constitutional Court for its violation of the Constitution, especially the principle of secularism. By this time, Gül had apparently moderated his views and was reportedly considered to be part of the Virtue Party's reformist faction. As such, he was among the founders of the Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi (Justice and Development Party), a party which billed itself as a moderate conservative party in the European tradition. He was elected once again to represent Kayseri in 2002.^{[citation needed]}

AKP career[link]

Prime Minister[link]

After the Justice and Development Party (AKP) won the most votes in the November 2002 general election, Gül was appointed Prime Minister, as AK Party leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was unable to assume the role due to a ban on his participation in politics. After Gül's government secured legislation allowing Erdoğan's return to politics, the latter took over as prime minister on 14 March 2003. Gül was appointed deputy prime minister and foreign minister.

Foreign minister[link]

After becoming foreign minister in March 2003, Gül became the key player in Turkey's attempts to receive an accession date for the European Union and in its attempts to improve relations with Syria and maintaining its relationship with the Turkic-speaking countries of Central Asia and the Caucasus. On February 6, 2007, Gül flew to the United States to meet with U.S. President George W. Bush and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.^{[citation needed]}

Presidency[link]

Gül with Barack Obama on Obama's first visit to Ankara.

Turkish president Abdullah Gül and Russian president Dmitry Medvedev in Russia,13 February 2009.

Prime Minister Erdoğan announced on 24 April 2007 that Gül would be the Justice and Development Party candidate in the 2007 presidential election. Previously, there had been speculation that Erdoğan himself would be the party's candidate, which had provoked substantial opposition from secularists.^[12][13] When a boycott of opposition parties in Parliament deadlocked the election process, Gül formally withdrew his candidacy on 6 May 2007. If elected he would be the first president to have been involved with Islamist parties.

But a few days later, on 11 May 2007 when he inquired after the alterations to the Turkish constitution which now allowed the people to elect the president directly rather than a parliamentary vote, Gül announced that he was still intending to run.^[14][15]

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and President Abdullah Gul during a welcoming ceremony at the Presidential Palace of Cankaya in Ankara, Turkey.

Gül and Argentina President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner at the Cankaya presidential palace in Ankara, Turkey, 20 January 2011.

Following the July 2007 parliamentary election, the AK Party renominated Gül as its presidential candidate on August 13; the election was again held as a vote of parliament.^[16] On 14 August, Gül submitted his candidacy application to parliament and expressed his commitment to secularism at a news conference.^[17]

On 28 August 2007, he was elected president in the third round of voting; in the first two rounds, a two-thirds majority of MPs had been required, but in the third round he needed only a simple majority. Gül was sworn in immediately thereafter.^[18] The process was a very low-key affair.^[19] Gül's swearing-in was not attended by the Chief of the Turkish General Staff and was boycotted by the opposition Republican People's Party; then the hand-over of power at the presidential palace was held behind closed doors. Gül's wife was not present. This approach continued; the traditional evening reception hosted by the new president at the presidential palace for the country's highest authorities was announced for 11:30 in the morning and wives were not invited.^[20]

His presidency has been described as a "new era in Turkish politics", for being the first devout Muslim president of Turkey.^[21]

Gül received messages of congratulation from the US, EU and German authorities while Turkish prime minister Tayyip Erdoğan made a statement saying "a structure doomed to uncertainty has been overcome" (an oblique reference to the deep state theory that Turkey is ruled behind-closed-doors by a secret conspiracy of soldiers and bureaucrats).^[22]

In September 2008 he became the first Turkish leader to visit Armenia, sparking a major debate in Turkey.^[23]

Personal life[link]

On August 20, 1980, Abdullah Gül married Hayrünnisa Özyurt who also originates from Kayseri.^[24][25] The couple have three children. He is a fan of the football club Beşiktaş J.K. of Istanbul.^[26]

Full Style[link]

1950–1983 Abdullah Gül

1983–1991 Dr. Abdullah Gül

1991–1996 Associate Professor Doctor Abdullah Gül, MP

1996–2002 Associate Professor Doctor Abdullah Gül, Minister of State of the Republic of Turkey

2002–2003 His Excellency Associate Professor Doctor Abdullah Gül, 58th Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey

2003–2007 His Excellency Associate Professor Doctor Abdullah Gül, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey

2007-Current His Excellency Associate Professor Doctor Abdullah Gül, 11th President of the Republic of Turkey.^[27]

Decorations and awards[link]

•  United Kingdom: Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Civil Division of the Order of the Bath (GCB; 14 May 2008)
•  Saudi Arabia: Collar of Abdulaziz al Saud (2007)
•  Portugal: Grand Collar of the Order of Infante D. Henrique (GColIH; 12 May 2009)
•  Pakistan: Nishan-e-Pakistan (NPk)^[28]
•  Italy: Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
•  Kuwait: Collar of the Order of Mubarak the Great
•  Cameroon: National Decoration
•  Qatar: Necklace of Independence
•  Netherlands: Grand Cross of the Order of the Netherlands Lion (April 2012) ^[29]
• President Abdullah Gül has been voted the winner of the Chatham House Prize 2010 (19 March 2010) ^[30]

See also[link]

• Çankaya Köşkü The Presidency of the Republic of Turkey

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Abdullah Gül

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Abdullah Gül

• Presidency of the Republic of Turkey
• Abdullah Gül on Twitter

v t e Presidents of the Republic of Turkey (List) Mustafa Kemal Atatürk İsmet İnönü Celâl Bayar Cemal Gürsel Cevdet Sunay Fahri Korutürk Kenan Evren Turgut Özal Süleyman Demirel Ahmet Necdet Sezer Abdullah Gül

v t e Foreign Ministers of Turkey Bekir Sami Kunduh Ahmet Muhtar Mollaoğlu Yusuf Kemal Tengirşenk İsmet İnönü Şükrü Kaya Tevfik Rüştü Aras Şükrü Saracoğlu Numan Menemencioğlu Hasan Saka Necmettin Sadak Mehmet Fuat Köprülü Adnan Menderes Fatin Rüştü Zorlu Ethem Menderes Selim Sarper Feridun Cemal Erkin Hasan Esat Işık İhsan Sabri Çağlayangil Osman Olcay Haluk Bayülken Turan Güneş Metin Esenbel Gündüz Ökçün Hayrettin Erkmen Ertuğrul Ekrem Ceyhun İlter Türkmen Vahit Melih Halefoğlu Mesut Yılmaz Ali Bozer Ahmet Kurtcebe Alptemoçin Safa Giray Hikmet Çetin Mümtaz Soysal Murat Karayalçın Erdal İnönü Coşkun Kırca Deniz Baykal Emre Gönensay Tansu Çiller İsmail Cem Şükrü Sina Gürel Yaşar Yakış Abdullah Gül Ali Babacan Ahmet Davutoğlu

v t e Cabinet of Prime Minister Abdullah Gül (2002–2003) Cabinet Deputy Prime Ministers Mehmet Ali Şahin • Abdüllatif Şener • Ertuğrul Yalçınbayır Minister of State Mehmet Aydın • Beşir Atalay • Ali Babacan • Kürşad Tüzmen Minister of Justice Cemil Çiçek Minister of National Defense Mehmet Vecdi Gönül Minister of the Interior Abdülkadir Aksu Minister of Foreign Affairs Yaşar Yakış Minister of Finance Kemal Unakıtan Minister of National Education Erkan Mumcu Minister of Public Works and Settlement Zeki Ergezen Minister of Health Recep Akdağ Minister of Transport and Communication Binali Yıldırım Minister of Agriculture Sami Güçlü Minister of Labour and Social Security Murat Başesgioğlu Minister of Industry and Commerce Ali Coşkun Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Mehmet Hilmi Güler Minister of Culture Hüseyin Çelik Minister of Tourism Güldal Akşit Minister of Environment İmdat Sütlüoğlu Minister of Forestry Osman Pepe

v t e First cabinet of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (2003–2007) Cabinet Deputy Prime Ministers Abdullah Gül (2003–2007) Mehmet Ali Şahin (2003–2007) Abdüllatif Şener (2003–2007) Minister of State Ali Babacan (2003–2007) Güldal Akşit (2003-2005) • Nimet Çubukçu (2005–2007) Mehmet Aydın (2003–2007) Kürşad Tüzmen (2003–2007) Beşir Atalay (2003–2007) Minister of Justice Cemil Çiçek (2003–2007) • Fahri Kasırga (2007) Minister of National Defense Mehmet Vecdi Gönül (2003–2007) Minister of the Interior Abdülkadir Aksu (2003–2007) • Osman Güneş (2007) Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdullah Gül (2003–2007) Minister of Finance Kemal Unakıtan (2003–2007) Minister of National Education Hüseyin Çelik (2003–2007) Minister of Public Works and Settlement Zeki Ergezen (2003-2007) • Faruk Nafız Özak (2005–2007) Minister of Health Recep Akdağ (2003–2007) Minister of Transport and Communication Binali Yıldırım (2003–2007) • İsmet Yılmaz (2007) Minister of Agriculture Sami Güçlü (2003–2005) • Mehmet Mehdi Eker (2005–2007) Minister of Labour and Social Security Murat Başesgioğlu (2003–2007) Minister of Industry and Commerce Ali Coşkun (2003–2007) Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Mehmet Hilmi Güler (2003–2007) Minister of Culture and Tourism Erkan Mumcu (2003–2005) • Atilla Koç (2005–2007) Minister of Environment and Forestry Osman Pepe (2003–2007)

Hayrünnisa Gül
First Lady of Turkey
Incumbent
Assumed office August 28, 2007
Preceded by	Semra Sezer
Personal details
Born	Hayrünnisa Özyurt (1965-08-18) August 18, 1965 (age 46) Istanbul
Nationality	Turkish
Spouse(s)	Abdullah Gül (m. 1980)
Children	Ahmed Münir, Mehmed Emre and Kübra
Religion	Islam

Hayrünnisa Gül (pronounced [ˌhajɾyˈnisa ˈɟyl]; née Özyurt, born August 18, 1965 in İstanbul)^[1] is the current First Lady of Turkey.^[2] She married Abdullah Gül, the current President of Turkey, on August 20, 1980.^[3] They have two sons (Ahmed Münir, Mehmed Emre) and one daughter (Kübra).^[4]

First lady of Turkey[link]

As First Lady of Turkey Madame Gül has initiated many social reforms through projects aimed at addressing issues such as education, health and women's rights.^[5]

On October 7, 2010, Madame Gül became the first First Lady to address the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on issues faced by children and women. ^[6]

Madame Gul has also spoken out against the imposition of head scarf upon young females who cannot make judgement for themselves.

Full Style[link]

Her Excellency^[7] Hayrünnisa Gül, First Lady of Turkey, Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown (Netherlands)

Decorations and awards[link]

• The Netherlands - Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown (Netherlands) ^[8]

Other notable awardees of this decoration have been Diana, Princess of Wales. It is a Dutch State decoration given at the sole discretion of the Dutch monarch and not subject to ministerial responsibility or influence for "foreigners who have rendered special service to the Dutch King or his House"

References[link]

v t e First Ladies of Turkey Latife Uşşaki · Mevhibe İnönü · Reşide Bayar · Melahat Gürsel · Atıfet Sunay · Emel Korutürk · Sekine Evren · Semra Özal · Nazmiye Demirel · Semra Sezer · Hayrünnisa Gül

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