İsmail Safa Giray (5 March 1931 – 20 June 2011) was a Turkish

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing i ...

and politician from the Motherland Party (, ANAP). He was a member of the Turkish parliament and served as Minister of Public Works and Housing,http://arama.hurriyet.com.tr/arsivnews.aspx?id=5259289 Minister of National Defense, and

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

Early life and education

Safa Giray was born in

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 ...

, Turkey in 1931. He graduated in 1954 with a degree from the Faculty of

Civil Engineering Civil engineering is a regulation and licensure in engineering, professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads ...

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 ...

Career

Safa Giray entered politics in 1983 along with

Turgut Özal Halil Turgut Özal (13 October 192717 April 1993) was a Turkish politician, bureaucrat, engineer and statesman who served as the eighth president of Turkey from 1989 to 1993. He previously served as the 26th prime minister of Turkey from 1983 ...

from the beginnings of the Motherland Party and was elected into the parliament as an MP from

Balıkesir Province Balıkesir Province () is a Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality in northwestern Turkey with coastlines on both the Sea of Marmara and the Aegean Sea, Aegean. Its area is 14,583 km ...

. He held the office of Minister of Public Works and Settlement (13 December 1983 – 30 March 1989) in two Turgut Özal cabinets, Minister of National Defense (30 March 1989 – 19 October 1990) in the

Yıldırım Akbulut Yıldırım Akbulut (; 2 September 1935 – 14 April 2021) was a Turkish politician, who was a leader of the Motherland Party (ANAP), the Prime Minister of Turkey, and twice the Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. A lawyer by pr ...

cabinet. He resigned from the position because of inter-party and cabinet conflicts. Later, he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs (23 June 1991 – 21 November 1991) by 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 ...

. He left politics in 1999 after 16 years. In 1993, Safa Giray was accused of fraud and misuse of authority during his time of service as Minister of Public Works. He was tried before the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

in conjunction with the awarding of contracts for motorway construction. He was found not guilty and was acquitted on 12 April 1995. Safa Giray died on 20 June 2011 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 ( ...

and was buried in

Gölbaşı Cemetery Gölbaşı (literally "head of the lake") is a Turkish place name that may refer to these places: * Gölbaşı, Adıyaman, town and district of Adıyaman Province in Turkey * Gölbaşı, Ankara Gölbaşı is a municipality and Districts of Turke ...

following a state funeral in front of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey and a funeral service at the

Kocatepe Mosque The Kocatepe Mosque () is the largest mosque in Ankara, Turkey. It was built between 1967 and 1987 in the Kocatepe quarter in Kızılay, and its size and prominent situation have made it a landmark that can be seen from almost anywhere in central ...

References

1931 births 2011 deaths Politicians from İzmir Motherland Party (Turkey) politicians Government ministers of Turkey Ministers of foreign affairs of Turkey Ministers of national defence of Turkey Turkish civil engineers Istanbul Technical University alumni Deputies of Istanbul Deputies of Balıkesir Ministers of public works of Turkey Members of the 20th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 45th government of Turkey Members of the 46th government of Turkey Members of the 47th government of Turkey Members of the 48th government of Turkey 20th-century Turkish engineers {{Turkey-politician-stub