Tansu Çiller
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Tansu Penbe Çiller, Her Excellency Prof. Dr. (pronounced [ˈtansu ˈtʃiller] (born May 24, 1946) is an economist and politician in Turkey. She was Turkey's first and to date only female Prime Minister.
She is a daughter of a governor. She graduated from the School of Economics at Robert College after finishing the American College for Girls in Istanbul. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut and completed later on her postdoctoral studies at Yale University. In 1978, she became a lecturer and in 1983 a professor. She went back to Turkey and worked in Istanbul Bank as president of the company.
After teaching at several universities as a professor, she entered politics in November 1990, joining the True Path Party. She was first elected to parliament in 1991 as deputy of Istanbul and served as Minister of State in charge of economics in the coalition government of Süleyman Demirel. On June 13, 1993, she became the party's leader and later the Prime Minister of a coalition government. The withdrawal of the Republican People's Party from the coalition in 1996 brought down her government. Çiller also served as Turkey's Foreign Affairs Minister between 1996 and 1997.
The EU-Turkey Customs Union agreement was signed in 1995 and came into effect in 1996, during Çiller's government. Çiller was also Turkey's PM during the Imia/Kardak crisis with neighbouring Greece in 1996.
One of her major achievements was to transform the Turkish Army from an organization using WW-II vintage equipment of the US Army to a modern fighting force that can win against terrorist organizations like PKK using hit-and-run tactics. She also convinced the US Government to list the PKK as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, which was later followed by the acceptance of the same by the European Union.
She was investigated in the Turkish Parliament on serious corruption accusations following her period in government. Along with another former Prime Minister, Mesut Yılmaz, she was later cleared of all the charges mainly due to technicalities such as statute of limitations and political immunity.
After her November 2002 election defeat, she retired from political life.
She is married to Özer Çiller and they have two children.
[edit] References
- Biyografi.net - Biography of Tansu Çiller
- Who is Who - Biographies : Prof. Dr. Tansu Çiller
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Süleyman Demirel |
Leader of the True Path Party Jun 13, 1993–Dec 14, 2002 |
Succeeded by Mehmet Ağar |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Süleyman Demirel |
Prime Minister of Turkey Jun 25, 1993–Mar 6, 1996 |
Succeeded by Mesut Yılmaz |
| Preceded by Emre Gönensay |
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey Jun 28, 1996–Jun 20, 1997 |
Succeeded by İsmail Cem |
| Preceded by Nahit Menteşe |
Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey Jun 28, 1996–Jun 20, 1997 |
Succeeded by Bülent Ecevit İsmet Sezgin |
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