Tansu Çiller
Tansu Penbe Çiller, Her Excellency Prof. Dr. (pronounced [ˈtansu ˈtʃiller] (born May 24 1946) is an economist and politician in Turkey. She was Turkey's first female Prime Minister from 1993 to 1995 and the third woman leader of a Muslim country, following Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan's PM (first elected 1988) and Bangladesh's Khaleda Zia (first elected 1991). Unlike these women, she did not belong to a political family. Between 1996 and 1997 she served as Foreign Minister. [1]
Biography
She is a daughter of a governor.
Education
Çiller attended and graduated from the School of Economics at Robert College after finishing the American College for Girls in Istanbul. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut and completed later on her postdoctoral studies at Yale University. In 1978, she became a lecturer and in 1983 a professor. She went back to Turkey and worked in Istanbul Bank as president of the company.
Politics
After teaching at several universities as a professor, she entered politics in November 1990, joining the True Path Party. She was first elected to parliament in 1991 as deputy of Istanbul and served as Minister of State in charge of economics in the coalition government of Süleyman Demirel. On June 13, 1993, she became the party's leader and later the Prime Minister of a coalition government. The withdrawal of the Republican People's Party from the coalition in 1996 brought down her government. Çiller also served as Turkey's [Foreign Affairs Minister]] between 1996 and 1997.
The EU-Turkey Customs Union agreement was signed in 1995 and came into effect in 1996, during Çiller's government. Çiller was also Turkey's PM during the Imia/Kardak crisis with neighbouring Greece in 1996.
One of her major achievements was to transform the Turkish Army from an organization using WW-II vintage equipment of the US Army to a modern fighting force that can win against terrorist organizations like PKK using hit-and-run tactics. She also convinced the US Government to list the PKK as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, which was later followed by the acceptance of the same by the European Union.
She was investigated in the Turkish Parliament on serious corruption accusations following her period in government. Along with another former Prime Minister, Mesut Yılmaz, she was later cleared of all the charges mainly due to technicalities such as statute of limitations and political immunity.
After her November 2002 election defeat, she retired from political life.
Policies
Her ambition is to see Turkey join the European Union as a modern, prosperous
Family
She is married to Özer Çiller and they have two children.
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Çiller, Tansu. 1995. "Secularism is an Indispensable Principle for Turkey." Middle East Quarterly. 2: 2. June. Retrieved September 10, 2008.
- Gulotta, Charles. 1998. Extraordinary women in politics. Extraordinary people. New York: Children's Press.ISBN 9780516206103
- Heper, Metin, and Sabri Sayari. 2002. Political leaders and democracy in Turkey. Lanham, Md: Lexington Books.ISBN 9780739103524
- Kaylan, Muammer. 2005. The Kemalists: Islamic revival and the fate of secular Turkey. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books.ISBN 9781591022824
- Keddie, Nikki R. 2007. Women in the Middle East: past and present. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. ISBN9780691128634
- Liswood, Laura A. 1995. Women world leaders: fifteen great politicians tell their stories. London: Pandora. ISBN 9780044409045
External Links
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