Oleksandr Turchynov

This name uses Eastern Slavic naming customs; the patronymic is Valentynovych and the family name is Turchynov.
Oleksandr Turchynov
Олександр Турчинов
11th Secretary of RNBO of Ukraine
Assumed office
16 December 2014
President Petro Poroshenko
Preceded by Andriy Parubiy
10th Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada
In office
22 February 2014 – 27 November 2014
Preceded by Volodymyr Rybak
Succeeded by Volodymyr Groysman
President of Ukraine
Acting
In office
23 February 2014 – 7 June 2014
Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk
Preceded by Viktor Yanukovych
Succeeded by Petro Poroshenko
Prime Minister of Ukraine
Acting
In office
4 March 2010 – 11 March 2010
President Viktor Yanukovych
Preceded by Yulia Tymoshenko
Succeeded by Mykola Azarov
18th Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine
In office
18 December 2007 – 11 March 2010
Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko
Preceded by Mykola Azarov
Succeeded by Andriy Klyuyev
7th Director of the Security Service
In office
4 February 2005 – 8 September 2005
President Viktor Yushchenko
Preceded by Ihor Smeshko
Succeeded by Ihor Drizhchanyi
Personal details
Born (1964-03-31) 31 March 1964
Dnipropetrovsk, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Political party Hromada (1994–1999)
Fatherland (1999–2014)
People's Front (2014-present)
Other political
affiliations		 Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc (2001–2012)
Dictatorship Resistance Committee (2011–2014)
Spouse(s) Hanna Volodymyrivna
Children Kyrylo
Alma mater National Metallurgical Academy of Ukraine
Religion Ukrainian Evangelical Baptist[1]
Signature
Website Official website
People's Deputy of Ukraine
3rd convocation
May 12, 1998 – May 14, 2002
Elected as: Hromada, No.12[2]
4th convocation
May 14, 2002 – July 7, 2005
Elected as: Fatherland, No.7[3]
5th convocation
May 25, 2006 – June 15, 2007
Elected as: Fatherland, No.2[4]
6th convocation
November 23, 2007 – December 19, 2007
Elected as: Fatherland, No.2[5]
7th convocation
December 12, 2012 – November 27, 2014
Elected as: Fatherland, No.4[6]
8th convocation
November 27, 2014 – Present
Elected as: People's Front, No.3[7]

Oleksandr Valentynovych Turchynov (Ukrainian: Олександр Валентинович Турчинов; born 31 March 1964) is a Ukrainian politician, screenwriter, and economist. He is the current Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine.[8]

Turchynov is a former acting President of Ukraine from the removal from power of President Viktor Yanukovych on 21 February 2014.[9][10][11][12] until Petro Poroshenko was sworn in as Ukrainian President on 7 June 2014.[13] He then became Chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament till 27 November 2014. Turchynov also served as acting Prime Minister in 2010 (when he was the First Vice Prime Minister in the absence of a prime minister after Yulia Tymoshenko's government was dismissed on 3 March 2010[14]) until the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) appointed Mykola Azarov as Prime Minister on 11 March 2010.[15][16]

Turchynov was the first deputy chairman of the political party Batkivshchyna (All-Ukrainian Union "Fatherland") and a close associate of party leader Yulia Tymoshenko.[8][17][18][19] He started the new political party People's Front in September 2014, now together with Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk.[20]

Biography

Oleksandr Turchynov was born in Dnipropetrovsk. He graduated from the Dnipropetrovsk Metallurgical Institute in 1986, after which he worked at Kryvorizhstal, a large Ukrainian steel producer.[21] From 1987 to 1990, he served as head of the agitation and propaganda division of the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Komsomol (Communist Youth League) Committee, which was led by Serhiy Tihipko.[21] Tihipko and Turchynov became political advisers of Leonid Kuchma, then head of Dnipropetrovsk-based Pivdenmash missile manufacturer.[21] Kuchma and his entire team, including Tihipko and Turchynov moved to Kiev in 1992, after Kuchma was appointed Prime Minister.[21] In 1993 Turchynov was formally appointed an advisor on economic issues to Prime Minister Kuchma.[21]

Turchynov is an old ally of Yulia Tymoshenko, another prominent Ukrainian political figure from Dnipropetrovsk. They used to have a common business in Dnipropetrovsk. In December 1993, Turchynov co-founded and became Vice President of Ukrainian Union of Industrialist and Entrepreneurs. In 1994 he created the political party Hromada together with Pavlo Lazarenko, a business ally of Tymoshenko.[21] Turchynov was also director of the Economic Reforms Institute from January 1994 to March 1998 and was head of the Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences' Laboratory of Shadow Economy Research.[22][23]

Political life

Turchynov, Arseniy Yatsenyuk and Oleh Tyahnybok with coalition ageement before 2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election.
Turchynov and Oleh Tyahnybok in parliament, 24 February 2014

In 1998, he was elected to parliament as a member of Hromada but after the scandal around Lazarenko, he left the faction and party (during May 1999) together with Yulia Tymoshenko's All-Ukrainian Union "Fatherland". He was re-elected to parliament in 2002 and 2006 as part of the BYuT.

On 4 February 2005, Turchynov was appointed and served as the first‐ever civilian head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).

In August 2007, Turchynov replied to the accusation that his stance on same-sex marriage is typically conservative, "I do not agree. If a man has normal views, then you label him a conservative, but those who use drugs or promote sodomy, you label them a progressive person. All of these are perversions".[24]

In the spring of 2008, he was the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and the Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc candidate[25] for the Mayor of Kiev election he placed second at the election with 218,600 votes (19.13% of total vote).[26]

In December 2009, during the 2010 Ukrainian presidential election campaign Turchynov accused President Viktor Yushchenko and opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych of coordinating their actions in their attempts to topple the Second Tymoshenko Government.[27] From December 2009 till March 2010, the adviser to Turchynov in the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine was Andriy Slyusarchuk, a Ukrainian fraudster.[28]

On 4 March 2010, after the fall of the second Tymoshenko Government, former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko resigned from that post on 4 March 2010[14] and Turchynov was empowered to fulfill the Prime Minister's duties until a new government was formed.[29] On 11 March 2010 the Azarov Government was elected[30] and Mykola Azarov was appointed Prime Minister the same day.[15][16]

In 2012 he was re-elected into parliament on the party list of "Fatherland".[31]

On 22 February 2014, he was elected as speaker of Verkhovna Rada.[9] On 23 February 2014, Turchynov was designated as acting President of Ukraine following the impeachment of Viktor Yanukovych.[32] On 25 February Turchynov assumed the (Presidential power of) command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.[12]

On 14 April 2014, while talking on the phone with Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, Turchynov asked for the United Nations's support regarding the crisis in eastern Ukraine, to which the Secretary-General replied that peacekeepers may be sent in should Russia withhold its veto. Meanwhile, Turchynov issued a deadline to the pro-Russian insurgents to disarm and dismantle their barricades, but the deadline passed without incident.[33] Before he issued a deadline, which was scheduled for 9 am,[34] he tried to negotiate with insurgents and even proposed to hold referendum on the same day as elections which will be on 25 May. His proposition was questioned by journalists who feared that the referendum might be sabotaged by pro-Russia insurgents.[35]

In a 2014 news story, The Global Post reported that in the Donetsk region "some 74 percent of respondents said they consider acting President Oleksandr Turchynov to be illegitimate, the poll said."[36]

Petro Poroshenko was elected President of Ukraine on 25 May 2014.[37][38][39][40][41] Poroshenko was sworn in as Ukrainian President on 7 June 2014, this ended the presidential powers of Turchynov.[13]

On 10 September 2014, Turchynov became founding member the new party People's Front.[20]

On 21 September 2014, he said that Russia doesn't admits that their soldiers are fighting in Ukraine. He also stated that Russia is the main aggressor and that during the conflict his nation have lost over 1,000 lives with 100s missing. During the same Facebook message he compared the conflict to the butterflies, a metaphor to one of Ray Bradbury's works.[42]

Turchynov was elected his party's faction leader on 27 November 2014.[43]

On 16 December 2014, President Poroshenko appointed Turchynov as Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine.[8]

Controversies

In February 2006 state prosecutors opened a criminal case against Turchynov and his SBU deputy Andriy Kozhemyakin for destroying a file about FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitive, organized crime boss Semyon Mogilevich, from the SBU archive. The case was dismissed four months later.[44] WikiLeaks documents mention Turchynov, then head of Ukraine's SBU, as having destroyed documents implicating Yulia Tymoshenko's alleged connections to Mogilevich.[45]

Early March 2014 Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, stated he did not regard Turchynov as the legitimate Ukrainian President.[46]

Non-official activities

In 2004 Turchynov published a book Illusion of Fear.[21] In 2005 he also wrote a script to the same name movie that is based on the book.[47] The movie was released in Ukraine in September 2008 and was the 2008 Ukrainian submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.[48]

Personal life

His wife is Hanna Turchynova (born 1970), PhD, Head of Foreign Languages at National Pedagogical Dragomanov University. They have one son, Kyrylo (born 1994), a student that finished his master's degree thesis in 2014.[49]

Turchynov is known for abstaining from tobacco and alcohol.[50] He is part of the 1% of Ukraine's population that identify as being Protestant. Although some in the media have reported that he is a pastor,[51][52][53] the Associated Baptist Press and the European Baptist Federation report[50][54] that he is an elder and occasional lay preacher at his Kiev church, the Word of Life Center, which is a member of the Evangelical Baptist Union of Ukraine.[21]

References

  1. ↑ "Cable: 06KIEV1663_a". WikiLeaks. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  2. ↑ "People's Deputy of Ukraine of the III convocation". Official portal (in Ukrainian). Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Archived from the original on 8 May 2014. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
  3. ↑ "People's Deputy of Ukraine of the IV convocation". Official portal (in Ukrainian). Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
  4. ↑ "People's Deputy of Ukraine of the V convocation". Official portal (in Ukrainian). Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
  5. ↑ "People's Deputy of Ukraine of the VI convocation". Official portal (in Ukrainian). Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
  6. ↑ "People's Deputy of Ukraine of the VII convocation". Official portal (in Ukrainian). Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
  7. ↑ portal "People's Deputy of Ukraine of the VIII convocation" Check |url= value (help) (in Ukrainian). Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
  8. 1 2 3 Turchynov becomes secretary of Ukraine's NSDC, Interfax-Ukraine (16 December 2014)President Poroshenko decides to appoint Turchynov Ukraine's NSDC secretary – source, Interfax-Ukraine (16 December 2014)
  9. 1 2 "Ukraine: Speaker Oleksandr Turchynov named interim president". BBC News. 23 February 2014. Archived from the original on 23 February 2014. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  10. ↑ "Ukraine protests timeline". BBC News. 23 February 2014. Archived from the original on 23 February 2014.
  11. ↑ "Turchinov elected as speaker of Ukrainian Parliament". Voice of Russia. 22 February 2014. Archived from the original on 23 February 2014. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
  12. 1 2 "Turchynov assumes duties of supreme commander-in-chief of Ukrainian Armed Forces". Interfax-Ukraine. 26 February 2014. Archived from the original on 15 April 2014. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  13. 1 2 Lukas Alpert (29 May 2014). "Petro Poroshenko to Be Inaugurated as Ukraine President June 7". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
    "Rada decides to hold inauguration of Poroshenko on June 7 at 1000". Interfax-Ukraine. 3 June 2014. Archived from the original on 3 June 2014.
    "Poroshenko sworn in as Ukrainian president". Interfax-Ukraine. 7 June 2014. Archived from the original on 1 July 2014.
  14. 1 2 "Press secretary: Tymoshenko vacates premier's post". Kyiv Post. Interfax-Ukraine. 4 March 2010. Archived from the original on 7 March 2011. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  15. 1 2 "Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych forms coalition". BBC News. 11 March 2010. Archived from the original on 12 March 2010. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  16. 1 2 "Azarov became Prime Minister". UNIAN. 11 March 2010. Archived from the original on 14 March 2010. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  17. ↑ "Turchynov is summoned for interrogation to SBU today – BYUT". UNIAN. 20 September 2010. Archived from the original on 27 February 2014. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
  18. ↑ "Batkivschyna to nominate Tymoshenko for presidency, Yatseniuk heads party's political council". Kyiv Post. Interfax-Ukraine. 14 June 2013. Archived from the original on 15 June 2013. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
  19. ↑ "BYT-Batkivschyna replaces its leader". Kyiv Post. Interfax-Ukraine. 7 December 2011. Archived from the original on 7 December 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  20. 1 2 Яценюк очолив політраду "Народного фронту", Турчинов - голова штабу [Yatsenyuk became a leader of the "People's Front" political council, while Turchynov is a head of its headquarters]. Ukrayinska Pravda (in Ukrainian). 10 September 2014. Archived from the original on 11 September 2014. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
    "Ukrainian PM, Parliament Speaker to Head Newly Formed Popular Front Party". RIA Novosti. 10 September 2014. Archived from the original on 11 September 2014. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  21. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Turchynov campaign draws scrutiny". Kyiv Post. 24 April 2008. Archived from the original on 30 January 2011. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
  22. ↑ Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko members biography's, Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko official website Archived 26 January 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  23. ↑ "Who Is Who in Tymoshenko's Government?". Ukrayinska Pravda. 23 December 2007. Archived from the original on 8 August 2007. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
  24. ↑ "Overview of Lesbian and Gay rights in Eastern Europe". The Lesbian & Gay Foundation. Archived from the original on 20 August 2008. Retrieved 12 August 2009.
  25. ↑ Тимошенко и Луценко объявили Турчинова единым кандидатом от коалиции [Tymoshenko and Lutsenko announced Turchynov the only candidate from the coalition]. Korrespondent.net (in Russian). 22 May 2008. Archived from the original on 28 May 2008. Retrieved 19 June 2008.
  26. ↑ "UNIAN News Agency". Archived from the original on 12 June 2008. Retrieved 19 June 2008.
  27. ↑ "Western Information Agency: Yushchenko and Yanukovych are playing ball". Kyiv Post. 4 December 2009. Archived from the original on 28 January 2011. Retrieved 5 December 2009.
  28. ↑ "Turchynov is summoned for interrogation on “Doctor Pi” case". Ukrainian Independent Information Agency. 10 May 2012. Archived from the original on 4 September 2014.
  29. ↑ "Cabinet: Turchynov will fulfill premier's duties until new government is formed". Kyiv Post. Interfax-Ukraine. 4 March 2010. Archived from the original on 7 March 2010.
  30. ↑ "Ukraine's new government puts final nail in coffin of the Orange Revolution". The Guardian. 11 March 2010. Archived from the original on 14 March 2010.
  31. ↑ Список депутатів нової Верховної Ради [List of Parliament Members of the new Verkhovna Rada]. Ukrayinska Pravda (in Ukrainian) (UA). 11 November 2012. Archived from the original on 13 November 2012. Retrieved 9 January 2013.
  32. ↑ "Ukraine's Parliament Appoints Opposition Leader Acting PM". Novinite. Sofia News Agency. Archived from the original on 23 February 2014. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
  33. ↑ "Ukraine asks for UN peacekeepers as pro-Russia militants flout deadline". Windsor Star. 14 April 2014. Archived from the original on 15 April 2014. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
  34. ↑ "Separatists Ignore Ultimatum, Tighten Grip on East Ukraine". The New York Times. Reuters. 14 April 2014. Archived from the original on 20 April 2014. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
  35. ↑ "Separatist unrest spreads in Ukraine, no sign of military crackdown". Tehran Times. 14 April 2014. Archived from the original on 15 April 2014. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
  36. ↑ "Most in east Ukraine region against joining Russia". The Global Post. 19 April 2014. Archived from the original on 20 April 2014. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
  37. ↑ "Ukraine talks set to open without pro-Russian separatists". The Washington Post. 14 May 2014. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  38. ↑ "Ukraine elections: Runners and risks". BBC News Online. 22 May 2014. Archived from the original on 27 May 2014. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  39. ↑ "Q&A: Ukraine presidential election". BBC News. 7 February 2010. Archived from the original on 29 April 2014. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  40. ↑ "Poroshenko wins presidential election with 54.7% of vote - CEC". Radio Ukraine International. 29 May 2014. Archived from the original on 29 May 2014. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
    Внеочередные выборы Президента Украины [Results election of Ukrainian president] (in Russian). Телеграф. 29 May 2014. Archived from the original on 29 May 2014. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  41. ↑ "New Ukrainian president will be elected for 5-year term – Constitutional Court". Interfax-Ukraine. 16 May 2014. Archived from the original on 17 May 2014. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  42. ↑ "Турчинов: Россия цинично не признает перед своим народом, что их солдаты воюют в Украине" [Turchynov: Russia cynically doesn't admit in from of its people, that their soldiers are fighting in Ukraine]. Segodnya. 21 September 2014. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
  43. ↑ (Ukrainian) In Parliament created a faction, Ukrayinska Pravda (27 November 2014)
  44. ↑ Byrne, Peter (10 December 2010). "New and conflicting details emerge over Mogilevich's alleged involvement in nation". Kyiv Post. Archived from the original on 14 December 2010. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  45. ↑ Peter Byrne (10 December 2010). "New and conflicting details emerge over Mogilevich’s alleged involvement in nation". Kyiv Post. Archived from the original on 3 October 2012. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
  46. ↑ Dave Boyer (4 March 2014). "Obama tells Putin stop "meddling" in Ukraine and withdraw troops from Crimea". The Washington Times. Archived from the original on 4 March 2014. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
  47. ↑ "‘Illusion of Fear’ from Turchynov". Kyiv Post. 22 May 2008. Archived from the original on 25 February 2014. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
  48. ↑ "Ukraine submits 'Illusion' for Oscar race". UNIAN. 16 October 2008. Archived from the original on 23 February 2014. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
  49. ↑ "Son Turchynov has ascended to the draft" (in Ukrainian). Tablo ID. 24 July 2014. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  50. 1 2 "Elevation of Ukrainian leader puts spotlight on Baptists". ABP News. Archived from the original on 6 March 2014. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  51. ↑ "Profile: Olexander Turchynov". BBC News. 23 February 2014. Archived from the original on 26 February 2014. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  52. ↑ Antonia Blumberg (25 February 2014). "Oleksandr Turchynov, Baptist Pastor, Named As Ukraine's Acting President". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  53. ↑ "Ukraine Names Baptist Pastor as Acting President". Christianity Today. Archived from the original on 15 April 2014. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  54. ↑ "European Baptist Federation". EBF. Archived from the original on 25 May 2014. Retrieved 1 March 2014.

External links

Government offices
Preceded by
Ihor Smeshko		 Director of the Security Service
2005 		Succeeded by
Ihor Drizhchany
Political offices
Preceded by
Mykola Azarov		 Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine
2007–2010 		Succeeded by
Andriy Klyuyev
Preceded by
Yulia Tymoshenko		 Prime Minister of Ukraine
Acting
2010 		Succeeded by
Mykola Azarov
Preceded by
Volodymyr Rybak		 Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada
2014 		Succeeded by
Volodymyr Groysman
Preceded by
Viktor Yanukovych		 President of Ukraine
Acting
2014 		Succeeded by
Petro Poroshenko
Preceded by
Andriy Parubiy		 Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council
2014–present 		Incumbent


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