Sabahattin Çakmakoğlu (25 November 1930 – 24 October 2024) was a Turkish bureaucrat and politician who served as the Minister of National Defense from 1999 to 2002. He was the

Nationalist Movement Party The Nationalist Movement Party, or alternatively translated as Nationalist Action Party (, MHP), is a Turkish Far-right politics, far-right, ultranationalism, ultranationalist Political parties in Turkey, political party. The group is often de ...

presidential candidate for the 2007 presidential election, which he lost to the Justice and Development Party candidate

Abdullah Gül Abdullah Gül (; ; born 29 October 1950) is a Turkish politician who served as the 11th president of Turkey from 2007 to 2014. He previously served for four months as Prime Minister of Turkey, Prime Minister from 2002 to 2003, and concurrently s ...

. He 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 ...

Kayseri Kayseri () is a large List of cities in Turkey, city in Central Anatolia, Turkey, and the capital of Kayseri Province, Kayseri province. Historically known as Caesarea (Mazaca), Caesarea, it has been the historical capital of Cappadocia since anc ...

from 1999 to 2002 and again from 2007 to 2011. Beginning his career as a

bureaucrat A bureaucrat is a member of a bureaucracy and can compose the administration of any organization of any size, although the term usually connotes someone within an institution of government. The term ''bureaucrat'' derives from "bureaucracy", wh ...

, Çakmakoğlu served as the

Kaymakam Kaymakam, also known by #Names, many other romanizations, was a title used by various officials of the Ottoman Empire, including acting grand viziers, governors of provincial sanjaks, and administrators of district kazas. The title has been reta ...

(sub-Governor) of numerous districts before being appointed the Deputy Governor of Ankara. Serving as Deputy Governor for three years, Çakmakoğlu then served as the 28th Governor of Gümüşhane from 1972 to 1975, as the 28th Governor of Isparta from 1975 to 1978, as the 27th Governor of Edirne from February to August 1978, as the 27th Governor of Gaziantep from 1979 to 1980 and finally as the 31st Governor of Mersin from 1984 to 1988. In 1991, he was appointed the non-partisan

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

due to the constitutional requirement for the partisan Interior minister to vacate his or her office three months before a general election and hand it over to the Undersecretary of the Interior Ministry. Çakmakoğlu served as the Interior Minister until a new government was formed after the 1991 general election.

Early life and career

Sabahattin Çakmakoğlu was born on 25 November 1930 in İncesu,

. Having received his primary and secondary education in Kayseri, he graduated from

Ankara University Ankara University () is a public university, public research university in Ankara, the capital of Turkey. It was the first higher education institution founded in Turkey after the History of the Republic of Turkey, formation of the Turkish republ ...

Faculty of Political Science in 1953. He became a Civilian Administrative Officer and a candidate to become a

(a district governor, roughly translated as a 'sub-governor'). During his time as a Kaymakam candidate, he also graduated from the Ankara University Faculty of Law.

Bureaucratic career

Kaymakam

Çakmakoğlu spent 12 years serving as a Kaymakam in the districts of Kozaklı in

Nevşehir Province Nevşehir Province () is a Provinces of Turkey, province in central Turkey with its capital in Nevşehir. Its area is 5,485 km2, and its population is 317,952 (2024). Its adjacent provinces are Kırşehir Province, Kırşehir to the northwest ...

, Gülşehir in Nevşehir Province,

Ürgüp Ürgüp ( ''Prokópio,'' Cappadocian Greek: ''Prokópi'', ) is a town in Nevşehir province in the Cappadocia area of Central Anatolia, Turkey. It is the seat of Ürgüp District.Çıldır Çıldır (, Husenian; meaning "North"; ka, ჩრდილი, Chrdili; meaning "Shadow") is a town in Ardahan Province of Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a r ...

Ardahan Province Ardahan Province (; ka, არტაანის რეგიონი, tr; is a Provinces of Turkey, province in the north-east of Turkey, bordering Georgia (country), Georgia and Armenia. Its area is 4,934 km2, and its population is 92,481 ...

Bayburt Bayburt () is a city in northeast Turkey lying on the Çoruh River. It is the seat of Bayburt Province and Bayburt District.Gümüşhane Province and Ereğli in

Konya Province Konya Province () is a province and metropolitan municipality in southwest Central Anatolia, Turkey. Its area is 40,838 km2, making it the largest province by area, and its population is 2,296,347 (2022). The provincial capital is the city ...

. In 1989, the district of Bayburt became a Province in its own right.

Governor

Çakmakoğlu spent three years serving as the Deputy Governor of Ankara before being appointed as the 28th Governor of Gümüşhane from 1972 to 1975, as the 28th Governor of Isparta from 1975 to 1978, as the 27th Governor of Edirne from February to August 1978, as the 27th Governor of Gaziantep from 1979 to 1980 and finally as the 31st Governor of Mersin from 1984 to 1988.

Undersecretary

Between the years 1988 and 1992, Çakmakoğlu served in the General Directorate of Security, as the Undersecretary to the

Prime Minister of Turkey The prime minister of Turkey, officially the prime minister of the Republic of Turkey (), was the head of government of the Turkey, Republic of Turkey from 1920 to 2018, who led a political coalition in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, Tu ...

and as the Undersecretary to the

. In 1991, he was elected as a member of the Council of Higher Education (YÖK) from the Cabinet office contingency. In 1992, after retirement, he served as the chief advisor to the

President of Turkey The president of Turkey, officially the president of the Republic of Türkiye (), is the head of state and head of government of Turkey. The president directs the executive branch of the national government and is the commander-in-chief of the ...

, at the time Turgut Özal.

Minister of the Interior

With the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

requiring that the serving partisan Ministers of the Interior, of

Transport Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...

and of

Justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...

should vacate their position to their respective Undersecretaries at least three months before a general election, Çakmakoğlu took over from Mustafa Kalemli as Minister of the Interior on 30 August 1991, three months before the 1991 general election. He remained as Minister until a new government was formed, being succeeded by

İsmet Sezgin İsmet Sezgin (6 January 1928 – 7 December 2016) was a Turkish politician who served as the Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey and Minister of National Defense from 1997 to 1999, as the Speaker of the Grand National Assembly in 1995, as the Mini ...

when the

coalition government A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...

between the True Path Party and the Social Democratic Populist Party (SHP) on 21 November 1991.

Political career

Çakmakoğlu first entered politics in 1992 by joining the Motherland Party (ANAP), but left the party to join the

(MHP) in 1995. He served as an advisor to MHP leader Alparslan Türkeş until his death in 1997. On 23 November 1997, Çakmakoğlu was elected to the MHP party council and later became a Deputy Leader of the MHP. He was elected to Parliament as an MHP MP from

in the 1999 general election.

Minister of National Defense

Following the 1999 general election, the Democratic Left Party (DSP), the

and the Motherland Party formed a triple coalition government. Çakmakoğlu was subsequently appointed as the Minister of National Defense. He served in the position until 18 November 2002. He lost his seat in the 2002 general election due to the MHP falling below the 10%

election threshold The electoral threshold, or election threshold, is the minimum share of votes that a candidate or political party requires before they become entitled to representation or additional seats in a legislature. This limit can operate in various w ...

necessary to win parliamentary representation.

Presidential candidacy

The MHP managed to win parliamentary representation once again in the 2007 general election, with Çakmakoğlu again returning as an MP for

. He became a Deputy Leader of the MHP for a second time shortly after. The general election had been called early due to the parliamentary deadlock caused during the presidential election earlier that year. With the parliamentary process to elect a successor to President Ahmet Necdet Sezer resuming after the general election, the MHP put forward Çakmakoğlu as their presidential candidate. He won 70 votes in the first round, 71 in the second and 70 in the final round, losing to the Justice and Development Party candidate

. Çakmakoğlu stepped down as an MP at the 2011 general election.

Personal life and death

Çakmakoğlu was married with two children. He had a secondary school named after him in his hometown of İncesu,

, namely ''Vali Sabahattin Çakmakoğlu Ortaokulu'' (Governor Sabahattin Çakmakoğlu Secondary School). A secondary school with the same name exists in

Mersin Province Mersin Province (), formerly İçel Province (), is a Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality in southern Turkey, on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast between Antalya Province, A ...

, where Çakmakoğlu served as Governor between 1984 and 1988. Çakmakoğlu died 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 24 October 2024, at the age of 93.

References

External links

Biography on the Parliament websiteCollection of all relevant news items at Haberler.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cakmakoglu, Sabahattin 1930 births 2024 deaths Nationalist Movement Party politicians Ankara University Faculty of Political Sciences alumni People from Kayseri Province Ministers of national defence of Turkey Members of the 21st Parliament of Turkey Members of the 23rd Parliament of Turkey Ministers of the interior of Turkey Turkish civil servants Deputies of Kayseri Kaymakams