Işılay Saygın (April 4, 1947 – July 26, 2019) was a Turkish architect, politician, and four-time government minister between 1995 and 1999. İşilay Saygın was born to Osman Nuri Saygın and his wife Fatma in

Buca Buca (, ) is a municipality and district of İzmir Province, Turkey. Its area is 178 km2, and its population is 522,404 (2022). It is the biggest district of İzmir Province as terms of population. It covers the southeastern part of the agglom ...

district of

İzmir Province İzmir Province () is a province and metropolitan municipality of Turkey in western Anatolia, situated along the Aegean coast. Its capital is the city of İzmir, which is in itself composed of the province's central 11 districts out of 30 in to ...

, western Turkey. She graduated from Faculty of Architecture at

Ege University Ege University or Aegean University () is a public research university in Bornova, İzmir. It was founded in 1955 with the faculties of Medicine and Agriculture. It is the first university to start courses in İzmir and the fourth oldest unive ...

. Saygın entered politics in 1973 from the Justice Party (AP) and served two terms as district mayor of her hometown. Her post ended in 1980 after the

military coup A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

that year. She then worked as an architect until she returned to politics in 1983 joining the

Nationalist Democracy Party Nationalist Democracy Party (, MDP) was a political party in Turkey. Background About one year after the coup of 1980, all political parties were closed by the military regime, or the so-called National Security Council or () regardless of thei ...

(MDP). With the 1983 election, Saygın entered 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 ...

in its 17th term as a deputy of

İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...

. In the following elections of

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

and

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, she kept her seat in the parliament. After the dissolution of the MDP in 1986, she joined the Motherland Party (ANAP) in 1987 In 1995, she moved to 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 ...

(DYP). In 1997, she returned to her former party ANAP. She was politically active until 2003. Saygın was appointed four times as a government minister. She became the

Minister of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...

responsible for "Women and Family Affairs" in the 51st government led by female

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Tansu Çiller Tansu Çiller (; born 24 May 1946) is a Turkish academic, economist, and politician who served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Turkey from 1993 to 1996. She was Turkey's first and only female prime minister. As the leader of the True Path Party ...

succeeding Aysel Baykal, and served between October 5 and October 30, 1995. She continued in her post in the 52nd government led by Çiller until February 23, 1996, replaced by

İmren Aykut İmren Aykut (born 1940) is a Turkish female economist, trade unionist, politician and former government minister. Early years Aykut was born to Evket Şadi and his wife Emine in Kozan, Adana, Turkey in 1940. She finished the primary education ...

. The same day, she was appointed Minister of Environment succeeding

Ahmet Hamdi Üçpınarlar Ahmad () is an Arabic male given name common in most parts of the Muslim world. Other English spellings of the name include Ahmed. It is also used as a surname. Etymology The word derives from the root ( ḥ-m-d), from the Arabic (), from ...

. On March 6, 1996, Mustafa Taşar took over her office. Prime minister

Mesut Yılmaz Ahmet Mesut Yılmaz () (6 November 1947 – 30 October 2020) was a Turkish politician. He was the leader of the Motherland Party (, ANAP) from 1991 to 2002, and served three times as Prime Minister of Turkey. His first two prime-ministerial term ...

appointed her the same day

Minister of Tourism The Minister of Tourism is the head of the governmental department that specializes in tourism, recreation and/or culture. The position exists in many countries under several names: *Ministry of Tourism and Environment (Albania) *Ministry of Touri ...

in the 53rd government. She held the office until June 28, 1996. Saygın took again office of the

on the same day serving in the 54th government led by

Necmettin Erbakan Necmettin Erbakan (29 October 1926 – 27 February 2011) was a Turkish politician and political theorist who served as the 23rd prime minister of Turkey from 1996 to 1997. He was pressured by the military to step down as prime minister and was la ...

and the 55th government led Mesut Yılmaz until January 11, 1999. In January 1998, as she was holding the office of Minister of State in charge of "Women and Family Affairs", Saygın was criticized when she defended the practice of

virginity test A virginity test is the pseudoscientific practice and process of determining whether a woman or girl is a virgin; i.e., to determine that she has never engaged in, or been subjected to, vaginal intercourse. The test typically involves a check for ...

ing in an interview she gave to a daily. Feminists demanded her resignation.

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