İsmail Cem

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İsmail Cem
İsmail Cem

İsmail Cem İpekçi, (b. 1940, Istanbul – d. January 24, 2007, Istanbul) was a Turkish politician, journalist, statesman and former minister of foreign affairs.

İsmail Cem finished high school at Robert College in İstanbul in 1959 and graduated from the Law School at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland in 1963. He earned in 1983 a master's degree in sociology of politics at the École Libre des Sciences Politiques in Paris, France.

Contents

[edit] Journalism

Returning home in 1963, Cem started his professional career as a journalist. He worked in some major newspapers and became editor-in-chief of Milliyet. Between 1971-1974, he served as the chief of the Istanbul office of the Turkish Newspaper Workers Union. In 1974-1975, he acted as the CEO of the state-owned Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT).

[edit] Political career

He entered politics after being elected deputy of Istanbul in the general elections held in 1987. He was re-elected in 1991 again from Istanbul and in 1995 from Kayseri. After the death of President Turgut Özal in 1993, he ran for president without success. In 1995, İsmail Cem left the Republican People's Party (CHP) and joined the Democratic Left Party (DSP). He was then appointed Minister of Culture. He served as minister of foreign affairs from June 30, 1997 until July 10, 2002. He was the fourth longest-serving minister of this position in Turkey.

[edit] Relations with European Union

He negotiated candidate status for Turkey's bid to join the European Union as foreign minister.[1]

[edit] Relations with Greece

Cem and his Greek counterpart George Papandreou worked to improve Turkish-Greek relations.[2]

[edit] Later political career and illness

After a dispute with the party leader Bülent Ecevit, he resigned from the Democratic Left Party (DSP) ahead of 2002 parliamentary elections and formed the New Turkey Party (YTP) on July 20, 2002 together with his former party colleague Hüsamettin Özkan. İsmail Cem was elected leader of YTP, which did not do well in the elections.

Returning from the USA, where he was due to medical treatment of cancer, he closed YTP on October 24, 2004 joining the CHP. İsmail Cem was acting as the chief advisor to Deniz Baykal, the leader of CHP, and lectured in Applied Foreign Politics of Turkey at the Istanbul Bilgi University until his death. He was married to Elçin Cem, and the couple had a daughter, İpek Cem Taha, and a son, Kerim Cem.

[edit] Funeral

İsmail Cem died on January 24, 2007 in İstanbul after suffering two years long from lung cancer. He was honored with a state funeral, at which Speaker of the Parliament Bülent Arınç, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, current and former leaders of the political parties, his close friend former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece, George Papandreou and Greek Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Theodoros Kasimis attended.[3] Papandreou laid on his grave a branch from the olive tree, they both had planted 2000 in Greece as a symbol of peace.[4]

[edit] Legacy

Ismail Cem was especially admired by young people in Turkey during his time as a foreign minister [5]. Polls indicated that young people desired to see Cem as President of Turkey. [6]

[edit] Books

  • Türkiye'de Geri Kalmışlığın Tarihi (History of Under Development in Turkey), 512 pp, Can, ISBN 975-510-791-6
  • Türkiye Üzerine Yazılar (Articles on Turkey)
  • 12 Mart (12th of March) (Referring to March 12th, 1971, the date of military coup)
  • TRT'de 500 Gün (500 Days at TRT) (TRT is the Turkish state television)
  • Siyaset Yazıları (Notes about Politics)
  • Geçiş Dönemi Türkiye'si (Turkey in a Period of Transition)
  • Sosyal Demokrasi ya da Demokratik Sosyalizm Nedir, Ne Değildir? (What is, What is not Social Democracy Or Democratic Socialism?), 311 pp, Can, ISBN 975-510-801-7
  • Türkiye'de Sosyal Demokrasi (Social Democracy in Turkey)
  • Engeller ve Çözümler (Obstacles and Solutions)
  • Yeni Sol, Sol'daki Arayış (The New Left, Seek in the Left), 340 pp, Can, ISBN 975-8440-16-0
  • Gelecek İçin Denemeler (Essays about the Future), 344 pp, Can, ISBN 975-8440-18-7
  • Türkiye, Avrupa, Avrasya I, Strateji-Yunanistan-Kıbrıs (Turkey, Europe, Eurasia I, Strategy-Greece-Cyprus), 298 pp, Istanbul Bilgi University (2004), ISBN 975-6857-88-9
  • Avrupa'nın Birliği ve Türkiye (Union of Europe and Turkey), 364 pp, Istanbul Bilgi University (2005), ISBN 975-6176-27-X

[edit] Photography

  • Mevsim, Mevsim (Season, Season)

İsmail Cem held four photo exhibits.

[edit] Awards

In 2000, he was honored by US-based "East West Institute" think-tank with the Statesman of the Year award together with the Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs George Papandreou for fostering closer relations between the two nations. [7]

[edit] References and notes

  1. ^ "Profile: Ismail Cem - supreme diplomat", BBC.
  2. ^ "Profile: Ismail Cem - supreme diplomat", BBC.
  3. ^ http://haber.tnn.net/haber_detay.asp?ID=1650015&Cat=ENG TNN News]
  4. ^ Sky Turk TV News
  5. ^ 'L'EXPRESS' PRAISES ISMAIL CEM.
  6. ^ 'L'EXPRESS' PRAISES ISMAIL CEM.
  7. ^ STATESMAN OF THE YEAR AWARD FOR ISMAİL CEM.

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Tansu Çiller		 Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey
1997–2002		 Succeeded by
Şükrü Sina Gürel


Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey Flag of Turkey
Bekir Sami Kunduk • Ahmet Muhtar Mollaoğlu • Yusuf Kemal Tengirşenk • İsmet İnönü • Şükrü Kaya • Tevfik Rüştü Aras • Şükrü Saracoğlu • Numan Menemencioğlu • Hasan Saka • Necmettin Sadak • Mehmet Fuat Köprülü • Adnan Menderes • Fatin Rüştü Zorlu • Ethem Menderes • Selim Sarper • Feridun Cemal Erkin • Hasan Esat Işık • İhsan Sabri Çağlayangil • Osman Olcay • Haluk Bayülken • Turan Güneş • Metin Esenbel • Gündüz Ökçün • Hayrettin Erkmen • Ertuğrul Ekrem Ceyhun • İlter Türkmen • Vahit Melih Halefoğlu • Mesut Yılmaz • Ali Bozer • Ahmet Kurtcebe Alptemoçin • Safa Giray • Hikmet Çetin • Mümtaz Soysal • Murat Karayalçın • Erdal İnönü • Coşkun Kırca • Deniz Baykal • Emre Gönensay • Tansu Çiller • İsmail Cem • Şükrü Sina Gürel • Yaşar Yakış • Abdullah Gül
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