İsmet Yılmaz (born 10 December 1961) is a Turkish politician who was a member of the Grand National Assembly from 2011 to 2023.

İsmet Yılmaz
Yılmaz in 2011
Parliamentary Leader of the Justice and Development Party
In office
17 November 2021 – 2 June 2023
Preceded byNaci Bostancı
Succeeded byAbdullah Güler
Minister of National Education
In office
24 May 2016 – 10 July 2018
Prime MinisterBinali Yıldırım
Preceded byNabi Avcı
Succeeded byZiya Selçuk
Minister of National Defense
In office
24 November 2015 – 24 May 2016
Prime MinisterAhmet Davutoğlu
Preceded byVecdi Gönül
Succeeded byFikri Işık
In office
6 July 2011 – 29 August 2014
Preceded byVecdi Gönül
Succeeded byVecdi Gönül
26th Speaker of the Grand National Assembly
In office
1 July 2015 – 17 November 2015
PresidentRecep Tayyip Erdoğan
Prime MinisterRecep Tayyip Erdoğan
Ahmet Davutoğlu
DeputyNaci Bostancı
Şafak Pavey
Koray Aydın
Yurdusev Özsökmenler
Preceded byCemil Çiçek
Succeeded byİsmail Kahraman
Member of the Grand National Assembly
In office
12 June 2011 – 2 June 2023
ConstituencySivas (2011, June 2015, Nov 2015, 2018)
Minister of Transport and Communication
In office
8 May 2007 – 29 August 2007
Prime MinisterRecep Tayyip Erdoğan
Preceded byBinali Yıldırım
Succeeded byBinali Yıldırım
Personal details
Born (1961-12-10) 10 December 1961 (age 62)
Gürün, Sivas Province, Turkey
Political partyJustice and Development Party
EducationHaydarpaşa High School
Alma mater
ProfessionMechanical engineer, law consultant, civil servant, politician
Cabinet59th, 61st, 62nd, 64th, 65th

Previously he was Minister of National Defense and Minister of National Education. Yılmaz also briefly served as the Speaker of the Grand National Assembly. Prior to entering politics, he worked as a law consultant and mechanical engineer.

Early life and education

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İsmet Yılmaz was born in Gürün, Sivas Province. Following his primary education in his hometown, he enrolled in Haydarpaşa High School in Istanbul. Then, he studied mechanical engineering at the School of Maritime in Istanbul Technical University, graduating in 1982 with a bachelor's degree. Yılmaz attended then Istanbul University's Faculty of Law for education in maritime law and finished in 1987. He continued his further studies in "technical management in maritime" at the World Maritime University in Malmö, Sweden earning a master's degree. He received another master's degree in law from the Institute of Social Sciences in Marmara University, Istanbul. Finally, İsmet Yılmaz received a Doctor of Law degree from the Institute of Social Sciences at Ankara University.[1]

Career

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Government

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After serving twenty years as an engineer and a law consultant, he became Undersecretary of Maritime Affairs at the Ministry of Transport and Communication on December 31, 2002. In accordance with Article 114 of the Constitution of Turkey, he was appointed neutral Minister of Transport and Communication on May 8, 2007, as placeholder for Binali Yıldırım until the 2007 general elections.[2] Yılmaz was appointed Undersecretary at the Ministry of Culture and Tourism on November 1, 2007.[1]

He entered politics as a member of the AK Party and became deputy for Sivas Province following the 2011 general elections. On July 6, 2011, Yılmaz was appointed Minister of National Defence in the Cabinet Erdoğan III.[1][3] During his first term as Minister of Defense, he praised Turkey's affiliation to NATO and saw its membership as the result of values like democracy and human rights that Turkey was defending.[4]

Speaker of Parliament

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Yılmaz was put forward as the AKP's candidate for Speaker of the Grand National Assembly for the June–July 2015 speaker elections. Since the AKP did not have a majority (276 seats) in Parliament, the election went into a fourth and final round where Yılmaz managed to win a simple majority of the vote on 1 July 2015. He was thus elected as the Speaker with 258 votes (exactly the same number of votes as AKP MPs) to rival Deniz Baykal's 182 votes.[5]

Personal life

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İsmet Yılmaz is married and has three children.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Özgeçmiş" (in Turkish). İsmet Yılmaz. Retrieved 2011-10-19.
  2. ^ "Yılmaz: Kişi başına hız 400 kilometreye yükseldi". Hürriyet. 2007-05-23. Retrieved 2010-11-28. Ulaştırma Bakanı İsmet Yılmaz [Transport minister İsmet Yılmaz]
  3. ^ "İşte yeni kabine - Mynet Haber" (in Turkish). Retrieved 2013-07-15.
  4. ^ Gilsinan, Kathy (2019-10-11). "Why Is Turkey in NATO Anyway?". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2022-06-02.
  5. ^ "AK Party candidate İsmet Yılmaz becomes Turkey's new Parliament Speaker". Daily Sabah. July 2015.
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Political offices
Preceded by Minister of Transport and Communication
May 8, 2007 – August 29, 2007
Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of National Defence
July 7, 2011 – July 1, 2015
Succeeded by
Preceded by Speaker of the Parliament of Turkey
July 1, 2015 – November 2015
Succeeded by
Preceded by Ministry of National Education
May 24, 2016 – July 10, 2018
Succeeded by