Sadettin Tantan (born 1 January 1941) is the

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 ...

politician who is the founder and current leader of the Homeland Party (

: ''Yurt Partisi'', YURT-P) since 2002. He was a former member of the Motherland Party (ANAP) and served as the

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 ...

between 1999 and 2001 under the DSP-ANAP-MHP coalition led by

Bülent Ecevit Mustafa Bülent Ecevit (; 28 May 1925 – 5 November 2006) was a Turkish politician, statesman, poet, writer, scholar, and journalist. He served as the Prime Minister of Turkey four times between 1974 and 2002. He served as prime minister in 197 ...

Early life and career

Born in

Sapanca Sapanca is a municipality and district of Sakarya Province, Turkey. Its area is 173 km2, and its population is 46,847 (2024). It lies on the south bank of Lake Sapanca. The town's mayor is Nihat Arda Şahin ( CHP). Sapanca has recently beco ...

Sakarya Province Sakarya () is a province and metropolitan municipality in Turkey, located on the coast of the Black Sea. Its area is , and its population is 1,080,080 (2022). The Sakarya River creates a webbing of estuaries in the province, which is in the Ma ...

on 1 January 1941 as the son of a Laz father and a Georgian mother. Tantan studied at the Police Institute and graduated from the

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 ...

Academy of Economic and Commercial Sciences Faculty of Management. He received his master's degree from

Bursa Bursa () is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the Marmara Region, Bursa is one of the industrial centers of the country. Most of ...

Institute of Business Administration and went to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

to improve his foreign language skills.

Police career

He began work as a deputy commissioner in the

General Directorate of Security General Security Directorate or variants may refer to: * General Directorate of Security (India), an Indian intelligence agency * General Directorate of Security (Portugal) (''Direção-Geral de Segurança'') * General Directorate of Security (Tu ...

, working in the Narcotics and Law Departments of the police forces in Eskişehir, Bursa and Istanbul. He served as the Head of the Provincial Police Departments in

Giresun Giresun () is a city in the Black Sea Region of northeastern Turkey, about west of the city of Trabzon. It is the seat of Giresun Province and Giresun District.Tekirdağ Tekirdağ () is a city in northwestern Turkey. It is located on the north coast of the Sea of Marmara, in the region of East Thrace. The city forms the urban part of the Süleymanpaşa district, with a population of 186,421 in 2022. Tekirdağ ...

. Between 1980 and 1990, he served as the President of the Istanbul Specialised Wrestling Club. He also served as the President of the Wrestling Federation between December 1991 and December 1993.

Politics

Mayor of Fatih (1994-99)

Tantan joined the Motherland Party (ANAP) in 1994 and was selected as the party's candidate to become the Mayor of Istanbul's

Fatih Fatih () is a municipality and district of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 15 km2, and its population is 368,227 (2022). It is home to almost all of the provincial authorities (including the mayor's office, police headquarters, metro ...

district for the 1994 local elections. He was elected and served as the district's mayor for five years. In 1999, there was speculation that ANAP could select him as a candidate for the Mayor of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality for the 1999 local elections. He was instead selected as a candidate to become a Member of Parliament#Member of Parliament for Istanbul's second electoral district in the 1999 general election.

Minister of the Interior (1999-2001)

After being elected as a Member of Parliament in the 1999 general election, Tantan was appointed as the

in the triple party coalition that included the Democratic Left Party (DSP), 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 ...

(MHP) and the Motherland Party. The coalition was headed by DSP leader

. As Interior Minister, Tantan received media coverage for his numerous anti-corruption operations. He was removed from office in a reshuffle on 6 June 2001 and was offered the position of

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 customs. He rejected the position and resigned from the Motherland Party.

Homeland Party (2002-present)

Tantan co-founded the Homeland Party in January 2002 and was elected leader of the party in an Extraordinary Congress on 25 August 2002, replacing Hakan Önder. The party won 294,909 vote (0.93%) in the November 2002 general election and lost the three MPs that had defected to the party prior to the election, having fallen far 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 ...

needed to win representation in Parliament. The party was unable to contest the 2011 general election due to formal irregularities in submitting required documents to the Supreme Electoral Council. The party put forward mayoral candidates in

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 ...

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 ...

and

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 ( ...

but failed to win any municipalities. In the June 2015 general election, the party won 9,289 votes (0.02% of the vote) and again failed to win any parliamentary representation.

Personal life

Tantan is married and has six children and nine grandchildren.

References

External links

Collection of all relevant news items at Haberler.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tantan, Sadettin 1941 births Living people Ministers of the interior of Turkey Turkish people of Laz descent Turkish people of Georgian descent Motherland Party (Turkey) politicians Members of the 21st Parliament of Turkey Deputies of Istanbul Members of the 57th government of Turkey People from Sapanca Turkish political party founders