Yıldırım Akbulut (; 2 September 1935 – 14 April 2021) was a Turkish politician, who was a leader of the Motherland Party (ANAP), the

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, and twice the Speaker of 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 ...

. A lawyer by profession, Akbulut was one of the founding members of the Motherland Party in 1983. Entering Parliament in the 1983 general election, he became 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 ...

under Prime Minister and ANAP leader Turgut Özal in 1984. Serving until 1987, Akbulut was then fielded as his party's candidate for Parliamentary speaker, which he won and subsequently served until 1989. In 1989, Özal contested the presidential election and was elected the 8th

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 ...

. Özal chose Akbulut as his successor as Prime Minister, leading him to be elected ANAP leader and taking office as the 20th Prime Minister of Turkey. He was widely regarded as a 'puppet' of President Özal, who was accused despite his ceremonial and impartial position of calling the shots for the government. He was defeated in the 1991 ANAP leadership primaries by

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 ...

and subsequently left office. In 1999, he was elected for a second time as Speaker of Parliament. To this date in Turkish politics, 'Yıldırım Akbulut' has become synonymous with 'political puppet', denoting a politician stationed in high office but actually only serving on behalf of another, more powerful superior. When serving Prime Minister

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician who is the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as the 25th prime minister of Turkey, prime minister from 2003 to 2014 as part of the Jus ...

was elected President in 2014, the media ran speculation about who would be Erdoğan's 'Yıldırım Akbulut' (replacement prime minister on Erdoğan's behalf).

Biography

Akbulut was born in Erzincan, Turkey as the son of a postman. After finishing high school, he was educated in Law at

Istanbul University Istanbul University, also known as University of Istanbul (), is a Public university, public research university located in Istanbul, Turkey. Founded by Mehmed II on May 30, 1453, a day after Fall of Constantinople, the conquest of Constantinop ...

. Following his graduation, he worked as a freelance lawyer. Upon entering the political arena, Akbulut was elected to the parliament from the Erzincan province. He served as Minister of Interior in the cabinet of Turgut Özal. He was then elected Speaker of the Parliament serving between December 24, 1987 and November 9, 1989. After the election of Turgut Özal as the

, Akbulut became

from November 9, 1989 forming the 47th government of Turkey. On June 15, 1991 he lost Anavatan Party primaries to Mesut Yilmaz, ending his tenure in office. In 1992, with the order of Ozal, Akbulut resigned from the party, however, he returned shortly afterwards. On May 20, 1999, Yıldırım Akbulut was elected for the second time Speaker of the Grand National Assembly that lasted until September 30, 2000. He was married and had three children. Akbulut died at the age of 85 in Ankara on 14 April 2021 from COVID-19. He was interred at the Turkish State Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Akbulut, Yildirim 1935 births 2021 deaths 20th-century prime ministers of Turkey People from Erzincan Motherland Party (Turkey) politicians Istanbul University alumni Istanbul University Faculty of Law alumni Deputies of Erzincan Leaders of political parties in Turkey Grand Crosses of the Order of the Star of Romania Speakers of the Parliament of Turkey Ministers of the interior of Turkey Members of the 21st Parliament of Turkey Members of the 45th government of Turkey Members of the 47th government of Turkey Burials at Turkish State Cemetery Deputy speakers of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Ankara