Bedrettin Dalan (born 18 July 1941) is a

Turkish Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...

engineer, former politician and the first mayor of Greater

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

. He is the founder of ''İSTEK Vakfı'', a foundation for education and culture, and

Yeditepe University Yeditepe University () is a private non-profit university situated in Istanbul, Turkey. Established by the Istanbul Education and Culture Foundation ('', İSTEK Vakfı'') in 1996, Yeditepe University now claims to be the largest of the 74 priva ...

in Istanbul. He was charged in the

Ergenekon trials The Ergenekon trials or the Ergenekon conspiracy, were a series of high-profile trials which took place in 2008–2016 in Turkey in which 275 people, including military officers, journalists and opposition lawmakers, all alleged members of Erge ...

, and was the subject of an

Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL (abbreviated as ICPO–INTERPOL), commonly known as Interpol ( , ; stylized in allcaps), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and crime cont ...

red notice An Interpol notice is an international alert circulated by Interpol to communicate information about crimes, criminals, and threats by police in a member state (or an authorised international entity) to their counterparts around the world. The in ...

. In late 2011 Germany declined a request to extradite Dalan. Prosecutors claimed that Dalan was the organization's "number three", and was one of the architects of the 1997 post-modern coup.

Background

Bedrettin Dalan was born in 1941 in

Eskişehir Eskişehir ( , ; from 'old' and 'city') is a city in northwestern Turkey and the capital of the Eskişehir Province. The urban population of the city is 821 315 (Odunpazari + Tebebasi), with a metropolitan population of 921 630. The city is l ...

, Turkey, to a

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish language ** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) **Central Kurdish (Sorani) **Southern Kurdish ** Laki Kurdish *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern ...

family who are members of the Şêxbizin tribe and migrated to Eskişehir from a village of

Bayburt Province Bayburt Province () is a Provinces of Turkey, province of Turkey. Located in the Northeast Anatolia Region (statistical), Northeast Anatolia region of the country, the capital city is Bayburt. Its area is 3,746 km2, and its population is 84,24 ...

in eastern

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

to work for the

Turkish State Railways The State Railways of the Republic of Turkey (), abbreviated as TCDD, is a government-owned national railway company responsible for the ownership and maintenance of railways in Turkey, as well as the planning and construction of new lines. TCDD ...

. After finishing high school in

Germencik Germencik is a municipality and district of Aydın Province, Turkey. Its area is 394 km2, and its population is 44,172 (2022). Geography Germencik is located in the middle of the fertile Büyük Menderes (Meander) plain, inland from the Ae ...

Aydın Aydın ( ''EYE-din''; ; formerly named ''Güzelhisar; Greek: Τράλλεις)'' is a city in and the seat of Aydın Province in Turkey's Aegean Region. The city is located at the heart of the lower valley of Büyük Menderes River (ancient ...

, where he lived with his parents and seven siblings, Dalan attended the Faculty of

Maçka Maçka (, the "club"; Laz language, Laz: მაჩხა ''Maçxa'') is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Trabzon Province, Turkey. Its area is 925 km2, and its population is 24,709 (2022). The name derives from the medieval ...

at the

Istanbul Technical University Istanbul Technical University, also known as Technical University of Istanbul (, commonly referred to as İTÜ), is an public university, public technical university located in Istanbul, Turkey. It is the world's third-oldest technical university ...

, and graduated in 1963 with a degree in

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

Political career

In 1983, he joined

Turgut Özal Halil Turgut Özal (13 October 192717 April 1993) was a Turkish politician, bureaucrat, engineer and statesman who served as the eighth president of Turkey from 1989 to 1993. He previously served as the 26th prime minister of Turkey from 1983 ...

to found a center-right party, the Motherland Party (Anavatan Partisi, ANAP). Dalan was elected mayor of Greater Istanbul that was established as a

metropolitan municipality A metropolitan municipality is a municipality established to serve a metropolitan area. Canada In generic terms and in practical application within Canada, a metropolitan municipality is an urban local government with partial or complete consol ...

on March 23, 1984. He served in this position from March 26, 1984 until March 28, 1989. During this time, he set up the principals of the metropolitan municipality system in Turkey, and invested in the

infrastructure Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and pri ...

of the ever-expanding city of

such as the sewer system, transportation and recreation areas. The blue-eyed politician is best remembered for his promise "''the waters of the

Golden Horn The Golden Horn ( or ) is a major urban waterway and the primary inlet of the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Turkey. As a natural estuary that connects with the Bosphorus Strait at the point where the strait meets the Sea of Marmara, the waters of the ...

will be the same color as my eyes''". He served as deputy chairman of the World Local Governments Union and as president of the Organization of the Capitals and Cities of Islamic Countries and also of the World Metropolitans Union. He was listed on the

United Nations Environment Programme The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the Declaration of the United Nati ...

Global 500 Roll of Honour The Global 500 Roll of Honour was an award given from 1987 to 2003 by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The award recognized the environmental achievements of individuals and organizations around the world. A successor system of UNE ...

in 1987. After losing his post to Nurettin Sözen, the candidate of the SHP in the regional elections of 1989, he founded his own party, the Democratic Center Party (Demokrat Merkez Partisi, DMP) on May 17, 1990, and became its leader. The DMP merged on September 14, 1991 with the

right-wing Right-wing politics is the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position based on natural law, economics, authority, property ...

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

party 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 ...

, 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 ...

(Doğru Yol Partisi, DYP). In the general elections held that year, he ran for membership 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 ...

, and was elected deputy of Istanbul Province. After serving one term in parliament, he finally quit politics.

Later career

Bedrettin Dalan worked as a top executive in business, and lectured at

Marmara University Marmara University (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Marmara Üniversitesi'') is a Public university, public research university in Istanbul, Turkey. The university, named after the Sea of Marmara, was founded as a university in 1982. However, its ...

and Istanbul Academy of Fine Arts. Dedicating himself to education, he founded İstanbul Eğitim ve Kültür Vakfı (İSTEK Vakfı), a foundation, which opened a number of prestigious private educational institutions in Istanbul such as primary and secondary schools, middle and high schools. In 1996, the foundation established a university in Istanbul, the Yeditepe University. Bedrettin Dalan acts as the president of the board of trustees of the foundation. He is married to Ayseli Dalan and they have two sons, Barış and Altay Burak.

Ergenekon trials

During excavations in

Poyrazköy Poyrazköy is a neighbourhood in the municipality and district of Beykoz, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its population is 889 (2022). Poyraz lies at the exit of the Bosporus into the Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal M ...

Beykoz Beykoz () is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Istanbul Province, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 310 km2, and its population is 247,875 (2022). It lies at the northern end of the Bosphorus on the Anatolian side. The name i ...

district, Istanbul that lasted from 21 to 28 April 2009 arms including 21 LAW arms, 14 hand grenades and 450 grams explosives were found. The discovery resulted in a separate court case known as the Poyrazköy case. The arms were found on the land of Dalan's Istek Foundation. Dalan was charged in the

, and the subject of an

as he was abroad at the time. In late 2011 Germany declined a request to extradite Dalan.Today's Zaman, 15 December 2011
Germany refuses to extradite Ergenekon suspect Dalan
In mid-2009 the accountant of Dalan's Yeditepe University left the country having emptied its accountants of TL5m.Today's Zaman, 6 August 2009

/ref> Prosecutors claim that Dalan was Ergenekon's "number three", and was one of the architects of the 1997 "post-modern coup".Today's Zaman, 1 May 2009
Dalan was Ergenekon’s number three, says prosecution

Bibliography

* ''Haliç. Neydi, Ne Oldu?'' (''Golden Horn. What Was It? What Did It Become?)''

References

External links

Newspaper ''Vatan''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dalan, Bedrettin 1941 births 20th-century mayors of places in Turkey Living people People from Eskişehir Istanbul Technical University alumni Leaders of political parties in Turkey Mayors of Istanbul Motherland Party (Turkey) politicians Democratic Center Party (Turkey) politicians Democrat Party (Turkey, current) politicians Deputies of Istanbul Turkish Kurdish politicians 20th-century Turkish politicians Turkish political party founders