General Mehmet Yaşar Büyükanıt (b. 1 September 1940) was the 25th Chief of the Turkish General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces, from 28 August 2006 to 28 August 2008.

General Yaşar Büyükanıt was born in Istanbul, Turkey on 1 September 1940. He joined the Erzincan Military High School in 1959. He graduated from the Turkish Military Academy in 1961 as an infantry officer. After graduating from the Infantry School in 1963, he served in different units of the Turkish Army as a Platoon and Commando Company Commander until 1970.

Following his graduation from the Army Staff College in 1972, he served as the Chief of Operations at the 6th Infantry Division, as an instructor at the Army Staff College, as the Chief of the Intelligence Division Basic Intelligence Branch Forces and Systems Section at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in Mons, Belgium, as the Section and then Branch Chief of the General-Admiral Branch at the Turkish General Staff (TGS) Headquarters, as the Commander of Kuleli Military High School and of the Presidential Guard Regiment.

Hüseyin Çelik (born 5 March 1959 in Gürpınar, Van) is a former Minister of National Education of Turkey and member of parliament for Van for the ruling Justice and Development Party.

Çelik graduated in Turkish language and literature from Istanbul University in 1983 and went on to a career as an academic at Van Yüzüncü Yıl Üniversitesi, eventually becoming assistant professor in 1997. From 1988-1991 he studied towards a Masters Degree in politics at the School of Oriental and African Studies in the University of London. His focus was on the late-Ottoman Empire writer and thinker Ali Suavi.

During the 1990s he wrote a column on Ottoman era politics and other issues for the nationalist-leaning social and political science journal Türkiye Günlüğü. He has published 15 books on politics, culture, history etc. has also edited and annotated an edition of the work "Şinasi" by Ottoman writer Ziyad Ebuzziya.

He was elected to parliament for Van as a member of Suleyman Demirel's DYP in 1999, moving to the newly-founded AK Party in 2001. He was elected parliamentary chief and then following the AK Party's election victory in 2003, he became Minister of Culture and then Minister of Education.