Mehmet Zeki Sezer (born 12 April 1957) is a Turkish

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and former chairman of the Democratic Left Party (Demokratik Sol Parti, DSP), he was elected in the 6th ordinary party congress in 2004 after the resignation of

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 years

Sezer was born in 1957 in

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 ...

. He graduated from M. Rüştü Uzel Chemistry Vocational High School and then from the School of

Chemical Engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of the operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials ...

at Gazi Üniversitesi 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 ( ...

. He completed his 4-month short-term

military service Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job (volunteer military, volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription). Few nations, such ...

in 1983.

Early career

During his high school and university years, Sezer played

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

for various clubs. He has a special interest in

art Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...

s. Sezer began his career as a

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

technician in 1975 in the public service and later worked as a

chemical engineer A chemical engineer is a professional equipped with the knowledge of chemistry and other basic sciences who works principally in the chemical industry to convert basic raw materials into a variety of Product (chemistry), products and deals with ...

. He worked also in the private sector in the same capacity.

Political career

His political career in the DSP started in 1988. Sezer served as an executive of Çankaya branch of DSP, as deputy-chairman of

branch and became a board member in 1991. He also served twice as the party's

secretary-general Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

. Between 2001 and 2004 he was the deputy chairman of DSP. In 2004 party congress succeeded Ecevit. However, in 2009 he lost this post to Masum Türker. In 1999, Sezer was elected as deputy of Ankara to the

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

and served as a minister of state in the 57th government under 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 ...

Bülent Ecevit Democratic Left Party

Family life

Sezer is married and has two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sezer, Zeki 1957 births Living people People from Eskişehir Democratic Left Party (Turkey) politicians Leaders of political parties in Turkey Government ministers of Turkey Members of the 21st Parliament of Turkey Members of the 57th government of Turkey Gazi University alumni Ministers of state of Turkey