Kürşad Tüzmen (born October 9, 1958) is a Turkish former civil servant and Minister of State of Turkey responsible for foreign trade. He held this position between 2002 and 2009.

Personal life

Kürşad Tüzmen was born to Nuray and his wife Feriha in

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

on October 9, 1958. He has a brother

Tarkan Tüzmen Tarkan Tüzmen (born 7 March 1968), known professionally as Tüzmen, is a Turkish singer and actor, known for being a representative for Turkey in the Eurovision Song Contest 1998, and being the brother of former minister for Turkey Kürşad T� ...

, who became a singer. Tüzmen is a graduate in

business administration Business administration is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. Overview The administration of a business includes the performance o ...

from

Middle East Technical University Middle East Technical University (commonly referred to as METU; in Turkish language, Turkish, ''Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi'', ODTÜ) is a prestigious public university, public Institute of technology, technical university located in Ankara, ...

and holds a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

international relations International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...

from the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

, United States. He completed a certificate course at the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a Public university, public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus university, campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and twenty-six schools of ...

. He is a long-distance swimmer, professional diver, and passionate skier. He is a former champion swimmer, winning a race across the

Bosphorus The Bosporus or Bosphorus Strait ( ; , colloquially ) is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul, Turkey. The Bosporus connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara and forms one of the continental bo ...

in 2004, in the 46–50 age category, and even now is occasionally photographed in swimwear. Tüzmen was a member of the

Turkish Olympic Committee Turkish National Olympic Committee (TNOC; , TMOK) is the governing Olympic body of Turkey. It is based in Istanbul. History As one of the oldest National Olympic Committees in the world, TNOC was founded in the era of the Ottoman Empire in 1908 ...

. He is married and is father of two.

Civil servant

Tüzmen entered a civil servant career, and served at several positions in governmental organizations. He attended studies on foreign trade and free trade zones with scholarship of

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; , OCDE) is an international organization, intergovernmental organization with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and international trade, wor ...

(OECD),

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

and

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...

in Denmark, Egypt, Singapore and South Korea. He was a specialist and department head and deputy director general at State Planning Organization, Department of the Treasury and Department of Foreign Trade. After serving as director general of the Department of Free-trade Zones, he became deputy undersecretary and then undersecretary of the Department of Foreign trade. He chaired the board of directors at Eximbank, Center of Export Development (İGEME) and the Association of World Special Economic Zones (WEPZA). Tüzmen gave lectures on free trade zones and economic development in Ireland, Brazil and Chile. He authored articles on economics and foreign trade at several periodicals.

Politician

Tüzmen entered politics from the

Justice and Development Party Justice and Development Party may refer to several political parties, the best-known ones being: * Justice and Development Party (Morocco) * Justice and Development Party (Turkey) Justice and Development Party may also refer to: * Justice and Dev ...

(AKP). Elected in the 2002 general election held on November 3, he became a member of the 22nd Parliament as a deputy of

Gaziantep Gaziantep, historically Aintab and still informally called Antep, is a major city in south-central Turkey. It is the capital of the Gaziantep Province, in the westernmost part of Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia Region and partially in the Medi ...

. He was appointed

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 ...

in the 58th (November 19, 2002 - March 12, 2003) and

59th The 59th Quartermaster Company is a bulk petroleum company designed to provide semi-portable storage for of fuel and to provide distribution of fuel to military units within a specified geographic area while deployed overseas. Its secondary missi ...

government (March 14, 2003 - August 28, 2007). After the 2007 general election on July 22, he kept his seat in the 23rd Parliament, this time as a deputy of

Mersin Mersin () is a large city and port on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast of Mediterranean Region, Turkey, southern Turkey. It is the provincial capital of the Mersin Province (formerly İçel). It is made up of four district governorates ...

. He remained government minister in the 60th government (August 29, 2007 - May 1, 2009). His term ended in 2009 with the cabinet change. He was succeeded by

Zafer Çağlayan Mehmet Zafer Çağlayan (born 10 November 1957 in Muş) is a Turkish people, Turkish politician and former Minister. He is a Grand National Assembly of Turkey, member of parliament from the ruling Justice and Development Party (Turkey), Justice ...

. He was later elected to the central decision-making and executive board of the party, and became deputy chairman of the party for the resort foreign trade. He resigned from his post on March 24, 2010 due to serious health issues resulting from

melanoma Melanoma is the most dangerous type of skin cancer; it develops from the melanin-producing cells known as melanocytes. It typically occurs in the skin, but may rarely occur in the mouth, intestines, or eye (uveal melanoma). In very rare case ...

he had contracted five years before.

Recognition

;1999 * "Civil Servant of the Year" award by the daily '' Dünya'', ;2000 * "Government Executive of the Year" award by the Association of Mediterranean Journalists, ;2001 * "Civil Servant of the Year" award by the daily '' Dünya'', * "Civil Servant of the Year" award by the weekly '' Ekonomist'' * "People At The Top of Their Career" award by the Group of Young Alumni of the

Faculty of Political Science, Ankara University The Faculty of Political Science of the University of Ankara (, more simply known as "''SBF''") is the oldest institution of administrative sciences in Turkey. It is the successor of the "Mekteb-i Mülkiye" ('), also known simply as "Mülkiye," wh ...

, * "Statesman of the Year" award by GESİAD (Association of Young Industrialists and Businessmen), * "Commercial Citation" by the

American-Turkish Council The American-Turkish Council (ATC) is a business association dedicated to enhancing the promotion of US-Turkish commercial, defense, technology, and cultural relations. Its diverse membership includes Fortune 500s, multinationals, U.S. and Turk ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tuzmen, Kursad Living people 1958 births People from Ankara Middle East Technical University alumni University of Illinois alumni Turkish civil servants Justice and Development Party (Turkey) politicians Deputies of Gaziantep Deputies of Mersin Members of the 22nd Parliament of Turkey Members of the 23rd Parliament of Turkey Members of the 58th government of Turkey Members of the 59th government of Turkey Members of the 60th government of Turkey Ministers of state of Turkey