Hüseyin Çelik

Turkish politician (born 1959)

Hüseyin Çelik


Minister of National Education
In office 14 March 2003 – 1 May 2009
Prime Minister	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Preceded by	Erkan Mumcu
Succeeded by	Nimet Çubukçu
Minister of Culture
In office 19 November 2002 – 14 March 2003
Prime Minister	Abdullah Gül
Preceded by	Suat Çağlayan
Succeeded by	Erkan Mumcu
Member of the Grand National Assembly
In office 18 April 1999 – 7 June 2015
Constituency	Van (1999, 2002, 2007) Gaziantep (2011)

Personal details
Born	(1959-03-05) 5 March 1959 (age 65) Van, Turkey
Political party	Justice and Development Party (AKP) (2001- ) True Path Party (DYP) (1999-2001)
Spouse	Şahsenem Çelik
Alma mater	Istanbul University University of London
Signature
Website	HuseyinCelik.net

Hüseyin Çelik (born 5 March 1959 in Gürpınar, Van) is a former Minister of National Education of Turkey and member of parliament for Van for the Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Background

Çelik was the first advisor of Recep Tayyip Erdogan and later became the minister of culture and tourism. After that, he became the Minister of National Education. He was the spokesperson of the Turkish Parliament and AKP. Also, in the past, Çelik graduated in Turkish language and literature from Istanbul University in 1983 and went on to a career as an academic at Van Yüzüncü Yıl Üniversitesi, eventually becoming assistant professor in 1997. From 1988-1991 he studied towards a master's degree in politics at the School of Oriental and African Studies in the University of London. His focus was on the late-Ottoman Empire writer and thinker Ali Suavi.

Writer

During the 1990s he wrote a column on Ottoman era politics and other issues for the nationalist-leaning social and political science journal Türkiye Günlüğü. He has published 15 books on politics, culture, history etc. has also edited and annotated an edition of the work "Şinasi" by Ottoman writer Ziyad Ebuzziya.

Political career

He was elected to parliament for Van as a member of Tansu Çiller's DYP in 1999, moving to the newly founded AK Party in 2001. He was elected parliamentary chief and then following the AK Party's election victory in 2002, he became Minister of Culture and then Minister of Education.

During his brief tenure as Minister of Culture he is remembered for immediately sacking the entire Board for the Protection of Culture and Nature (Turkish: Kültür ve Tabiat Varlıklarını Koruma Kurulu).^[1] Regional bodies set up to monitor archaeology and other research throughout the country, led by architect and champion of Anatolia's cultural heritage Oktay Ekinci, one of those dismissed. Çelik was then accused of taking this action under pressure from AK Party MP for Muğla Hasan Özyer in order to enable the Muğla coastline to be developed for mass-market tourism.^[2]

Minister of Education (2003 - 2009)

As Minister of Education as well as curriculum reform and all the day-to-day running of the school system, Çelik has had to deal with a number of issues including:

pressure from the European Union to re-open the Greek Orthodox Halki seminary school in Istanbul.
pressure from graduates and parents, the majority of them AK Party voters, to change the rules that currently limit graduates of the conservative Imam Hatip schools to studying only religious studies at university.
a number of clashes with the Higher Education Board over issues ranging from the Imam Hatip issue to the appointment and dismissal of individual university rectors.^[3]

Personal life

Çelik is of Arab descent on his father's side and of Kurdish descent on his mother's side.^[4] He is married to Şahsenem Çelik and they have three children; Ali Ekrem, Enis, and Büşra Vuslat.

References

^ "Bakan Çelik'ten kurul savunması". Kültür/Sanat. Radikal (in Turkish). 2003-02-25. Retrieved 2008-10-11.
^ Çalışlar, Oral (2003-02-21). Cumhuriyet
^ "Çelik'ten PKK'lı akraba iddiasına yanıt". Archived from the original on December 31, 2007., CNNTURK
^ Yaklaşık 5-6 milyon Türk-Kürt evliliği var, Sabah, 2010

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hüseyin Çelik (politician).

Personal Web site

Political offices
Preceded by Erkan Mumcu	Minister of National Education of Turkey 14 March 2003–1 May 2009	Succeeded by Nimet Çubukçu
Preceded by Suat Çağlayan	Minister of Culture of Turkey November 19, 2002–March 14, 2003	Succeeded by Erkan Mumcu

Gül Cabinet (2002–2003)

Cabinet

Prime Minister

Abdullah Gül (2002–2003)

Deputy Prime Ministers

Mehmet Ali Şahin (2002–2003)
Abdüllatif Şener (2002–2003)
Ertuğrul Yalçınbayır (2002–2003)

Minister of State

Mehmet Aydın (2002–2003)
Beşir Atalay (2002–2003)
Ali Babacan (2002–2003)
Kürşad Tüzmen (2002–2003)

Minister of Justice

Cemil Çiçek (2002–2003)

Minister of National Defense

Mehmet Vecdi Gönül (2002–2003)

Minister of Interior

Abdülkadir Aksu (2002–2003)

Minister of Foreign Affairs

Yaşar Yakış (2002–2003)

Minister of Finance

Kemal Unakıtan (2002–2003)

Minister of National Education

Erkan Mumcu (2002–2003)

Minister of Public Works and Settlement

Zeki Ergezen (2002–2003)

Minister of Health

Recep Akdağ (2002–2003)

Minister of Transport and Communication

Binali Yıldırım (2002–2003)

Minister of Agriculture

Sami Güçlü (2002–2003)

Minister of Labour and Social Security

Murat Başesgioğlu (2002–2003)

Minister of Industry and Commerce

Ali Coşkun (2002–2003)

Minister of Energy and Natural Resources

Mehmet Hilmi Güler (2002–2003)

Minister of Culture

Hüseyin Çelik (2002–2003)

Minister of Tourism

Güldal Akşit (2002–2003)

Minister of Environment

İmdat Sütlüoğlu (2002–2003)

Minister of Forestry

Osman Pepe (2002–2003)

v t e First Erdoğan Cabinet (2003–2007)
Cabinet
Prime Minister	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (2003–2014)
Deputy Prime Ministers	Abdullah Gül (2003–2007) Mehmet Ali Şahin (2003–2007) Abdüllatif Şener (2003–2007)
Minister of State	Ali Babacan (2003–2007) Güldal Akşit (2003-2005) Nimet Çubukçu (2005–2007) Mehmet Aydın (2003–2007) Kürşad Tüzmen (2003–2007) Beşir Atalay (2003–2007)
Minister of Justice	Cemil Çiçek (2003–2007) Fahri Kasırga (2007)
Minister of National Defense	Mehmet Vecdi Gönül (2003–2007)
Minister of the Interior	Abdülkadir Aksu (2003–2007) Osman Güneş (2007)
Minister of Foreign Affairs	Abdullah Gül (2003–2007)
Minister of Finance	Kemal Unakıtan (2003–2007)
Minister of National Education	Hüseyin Çelik (2003–2007)
Minister of Public Works and Settlement	Zeki Ergezen (2003-2007) Faruk Nafız Özak (2005–2007)
Minister of Health	Recep Akdağ (2003–2007)
Minister of Transport and Communication	Binali Yıldırım (2003–2007) İsmet Yılmaz (2007)
Minister of Agriculture	Sami Güçlü (2003–2005) Mehmet Mehdi Eker (2005–2007)
Minister of Labour and Social Security	Murat Başesgioğlu (2003–2007)
Minister of Industry and Commerce	Ali Coşkun (2003–2007)
Minister of Energy and Natural Resources	Mehmet Hilmi Güler (2003–2007)
Minister of Culture and Tourism	Erkan Mumcu (2003–2005) Atilla Koç (2005–2007)
Minister of Environment and Forestry	Osman Pepe (2003–2007)

v t e Second Erdoğan Cabinet (2007–2011)
Cabinet
Prime Minister	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (2003–2014)
Deputy Prime Ministers	Cemil Çiçek (2007–2011) Hayati Yazıcı (2007–2009) Bülent Arınç (2009–2011) Nazım Ekren (2007–2009) Ali Babacan (2009–2011)
Minister of State	Mehmet Aydın (2007–2011) Kürşad Tüzmen (2007-2009) Mehmet Zafer Çağlayan (2009–2011) Nimet Çubukçu (2007–2009) Selma Aliye Kavaf (2009–2011) Cevdet Yılmaz (2009–2011) Mustafa Sait Yazıcıoğlu (2007–2009) Faruk Çelik (2009–2011) Murat Başesgioğlu (2007–2009) Faruk Nafız Özak (2009–2011) Egemen Bağış (2009–2011) Hayati Yazıcı (2009–2011)
Minister of Justice	Mehmet Ali Şahin (2007–2009) Sadullah Ergin (2009–2011)
Minister of National Defense	Mehmet Vecdi Gönül (2007–2011)
Minister of the Interior	Beşir Atalay (2007–2011)
Minister of Foreign Affairs	Ali Babacan (2007–2009) Ahmet Davutoğlu (since 2009–2011)
Minister of Finance	Kemal Unakıtan (2007–2009) Mehmet Şimşek (2009–2011)
Minister of National Education	Hüseyin Çelik (2007–2009) Nimet Çubukçu (2009–2011)
Minister of Public Works and Settlement	Faruk Nafız Özak (2007-2009) Mustafa Demir (2009–2011)
Minister of Health	Recep Akdağ (2007–2011)
Minister of Transport and Communication	Binali Yıldırım (2007–2011)
Minister of Agriculture	Mehmet Mehdi Eker (2007–2011)
Minister of Labour and Social Security	Faruk Çelik (2007–2009) Ömer Dinçer (2009–2011)
Minister of Industry and Commerce	Mehmet Zafer Çağlayan (2007–2009) Nihat Ergün (2009–2011)
Minister of Energy and Natural Resources	Mehmet Hilmi Güler (2007–2009) Taner Yıldız (2009–2011)
Minister of Culture and Tourism	Ertuğrul Günay (2007–2011)
Minister of Environment and Forestry	Veysel Eroğlu (2007–2011)