Lütfi Elvan (born 12 March 1962) is a Turkish politician. Elvan has served as the Minister of Finance and Treasury of Turkey from November 2020 to December 2021. He previously served as the Minister of Transport, Maritime and Communication from 2013 to 2015. He has served as a Member of Parliament for the

electoral district An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

Karaman Karaman is a city in south central Turkey, located in Central Anatolia, north of the Taurus Mountains, about south of Konya. It is the seat of Karaman Province and Karaman District.Antalya Antalya is the fifth-most populous city in Turkey and the capital of Antalya Province. Recognized as the "capital of tourism" in Turkey and a pivotal part of the Turkish Riviera, Antalya sits on Anatolia's southwest coast, flanked by the Tau ...

from June to November 2015 and for

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 ...

since November 2015. He is a member of the Justice and Development Party (AK Parti).

Early life

Lütfi Elvan was born to A. Nuri Elvan and his wife Samiye at

Ermenek Ermenek is a town in Karaman Province in the Mediterranean Region, Turkey, Mediterranean region of Turkey. It is the seat of Ermenek District.

town in

Karaman Province Karaman Province () is a province of south-central Turkey. Its area is 8,678 km2, and its population is 260,838 (2022). According to the 2000 census, the population was 243,210. The population density is 30 people/km. The traffic code is 7 ...

on 12 March 1962. He studied mining engineering at

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 ...

graduating in 1983. Elvan received a scholarship from the state-owned mining company Etibank for further study abroad. He continued his education earning a master's degree in the fields of mining engineering and

operations research Operations research () (U.S. Air Force Specialty Code: Operations Analysis), often shortened to the initialism OR, is a branch of applied mathematics that deals with the development and application of analytical methods to improve management and ...

with a thesis on "Determination of Optimal Production Systems in short-term Mining Production Planning" at

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

, England in 1986. In 1995, he received a further master's degree in economics at

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially known as UD, UDel, or Delaware) is a Statutory college#Delaware, privately governed, state-assisted Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Newark, Delaware, United States. UD offers f ...

, US.

Professional career

Elvan began his professional career in 1987 as an engineer working in the operations research department at Etibank. There, he was instrumental in implementing computer-aided mining applications. In 1989, he moved to State Planning Organization (DPT), and worked until 1996 as specialist. Appointed Head of Department for Regions with Development Priorities in 1996, he served at this post until 2002. He was promoted to Deputy Undersecretary of DPT in November 2002. In July 2007, he resigned from his post to enter politics.

Political career

He joined the ruling Justice and Development Party (Akparty), and was elected into the

Grand National Assembly of Turkey The Grand National Assembly of Turkey ( ), usually referred to simply as the GNAT or TBMM, also referred to as , in Turkish, is the Unicameralism, unicameral Turkey, Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by ...

in the 2007 general election as an MP from

. He became one of the party leader's head advisors. In the parliament, Elvan was appointed Head of the Hungary-Turkey Interparliamentary Group. Elvan was re-elected into the parliament in the 2011 general election. He served as the chairman of the parliamentary Budget and Planning Commission. On 26 December 2013, Elvan assumed office as the Minister of Transport, Maritime and Communication, succeeding

Binali Yıldırım Binali Yıldırım (; born 20 December 1955) is a Turkish politician who served as the List of Prime Ministers of Turkey, 27th and last prime minister of Turkey from 2016 to 2018 and Speaker of the Grand National Assembly from 2018 to 2019. He w ...

during Erdoğan's cabinet reshuffle with ten new names that was announced the day before, on 25 December, following the

2013 corruption scandal in Turkey The 2013 corruption scandal in Turkey or 17–25 December Corruption and Bribery Operation was a criminal investigation that involved several key people in the Turkish government. All of the 52 people detained on 17 December were connected in v ...

Minister of Finance and Treasury

He assumed as Minister of Finance and Treasury in November 2020 as the successor of Erdogans son in-law

Berat Albayrak Berat Albayrak ( born 21 February 1978) is a Turkish businessman and politician. He served as the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources from 2015 to 2018 and as the minister of treasury and finance from 2018 to 2020. In the general elections ...

. His tenure was marked with the fall of the

Turkish lira The lira (; Currency sign, sign: Turkish lira sign, ₺; ISO 4217, ISO 4217 code: TRY; abbreviation: TL) is the official currency of Turkey. It is also legal tender in the ''de facto'' state of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. One lira i ...

and an ailing Turkish economy which he wanted to defend with a stable

currency exchange rate In finance, an exchange rate is the rate at which one currency will be exchanged for another currency. Currencies are most commonly national currencies, but may be sub-national as in the case of Hong Kong or supra-national as in the case of ...

and a low

inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the average price of goods and services in terms of money. This increase is measured using a price index, typically a consumer price index (CPI). When the general price level rises, each unit of curre ...

. He didn't applaud Erdogans financial policy of low interest rates, resigned from his post on the 2 December 2021 and was succeeded by

Nureddin Nebati Nureddin Nebati (born 1 January 1964; Viranşehir), is a Turkish politician who served as the Ministry of Finance and Treasury (Turkey), Minister of Finance and Treasury of Turkey from 2021 to 2023. He has previously served in the Grand National A ...

Personal life

Elvan is married and has two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elvan, Lutfi 1962 births People from Ermenek Istanbul Technical University alumni Turkish mining engineers Turkish civil servants Alumni of the University of Leeds University of Delaware alumni Justice and Development Party (Turkey) politicians Deputies of Karaman Ministers of transport and communications of Turkey Living people Members of the 25th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 24th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 23rd Parliament of Turkey Members of the 26th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 64th government of Turkey Members of the 65th government of Turkey Deputy prime ministers of Turkey