Bülent Arınç | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Arınç in 2010 | |
| Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey | |
| In office 1 May 2009 – 28 August 2015 | |
| Prime Minister | Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Ahmet Davutoğlu |
| Serving with | Cemil Çiçek(2009-11) Ali Babacan(2009-15) Beşir Atalay(2011-14) Bekir Bozdağ(2011-13) Emrullah İşler(2013-14) Numan Kurtulmuş(2014-15) Yalçın Akdoğan(2014-15) |
| Preceded by | Hayati Yazıcı |
| Succeeded by | Tuğrul Türkeş |
| 22ndSpeaker of the Grand National Assembly | |
| In office 19 November 2002 – 22 July 2007 | |
| President | Ahmet Necdet Sezer |
| Deputy | İsmail Alptekin Nevzat Pakdil Sadık Yakut Yılmaz Ateş |
| Preceded by | Ömer İzgi |
| Succeeded by | Köksal Toptan |
| Member of the Grand National Assembly | |
| In office 8 January 1996 – 7 June 2015 | |
| Constituency | Manisa (1995,1999,2002,2007) Bursa (2011) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1948-05-25)25 May 1948 (age 77) Bursa, Turkey |
| Political party | Welfare Party(Before 1997) Virtue Party(1997–2001) Justice and Development Party(2001–) |
| Spouse | Münevver Arınç |
| Children | Mehmet Fatih Ayşenur Mücahit |
| Alma mater | Ankara University |
| Signature |  |
Bülent Arınç (Turkish pronunciation:[byˈlæntaˈɾɯntʃ]; born 25 May 1948) is a conservativeTurkishpolitician. He served as the 22ndSpeaker of theParliament of Turkey from 2002 to 2007 and as aDeputy Prime Minister of Turkey between 2009 and 2015. He also co-founded theJustice and Development Party (AKP) in 2001.
He was born on May 25, 1948 inBursa,Turkey.[1] After finishing high school inManisa, Bülent Arınç attendedUniversity of Ankara, earning aBachelor of Laws degree in 1970.[1] After his graduation, he worked as a freelance lawyer in Manisa.[1] He is of Grecophone Cretan Turk heritage with his ancestors arriving to Turkey as Cretan refugees during the time of SultanAbdul Hamid II to escape massacres[2] and is fluent in Cretan Greek.[2]
Interested in politics from his university years, Bülent Arınç ran for the deputy of Manisa in the 1995 general elections, and entered theTurkish Grand National Assembly from theWelfare Party (Turkish:Refah Partisi).[1] He became also a member of the board of his party, and served in the parliament's justice commission.[1]
Following the closing of the Welfare Party by theConstitutional Court of Turkey on February 15, 1998, he transferred to theVirtue Party (Turkish:Fazilet Partisi). Arınç was elected in the 1999 general elections as deputy of Manisa, this time from the Virtue Party.[1] He became a member of the foreign affairs commission of the parliament.[1]
The constitutional court closed the Virtue Party on June 22, 2001.[1] Bülent Arınç, along withRecep Tayyip Erdoğan, co-founded theJustice and Development Party (Turkish:Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi) the same year on August 14.[3] He was appointed speaker of his party's group in the parliament.[1]
Bülent Arınç was elected the third time deputy of Manisa in the general elections held on November 3, 2002. On November 19, 2002, he was elected Speaker of the Parliament.[4] On May 1, 2009, he was appointed as State Minister Responsible for Foundations and theTurkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT;Turkish:Türkiye Radyo ve Televizyon Kurumu) and Deputy Prime Minister in thesecond cabinet of Erdoğan.[5]
In 2012, Arınç opposed education in theKurdish language as he didn't deem it a "language of civilization".[6][7]
In 2013, Arınç referred to theHagia Sophia as amosque, which angered the Greek government. He expressed the wish to see it reconverted from a museum into a functioning mosque.[8]
In 2014, Arınç stated women should not laugh out loud to him in public during a speech about "moral corruption" at an Eid al-Fitr holiday gathering:[9][10] "She will not laugh in public to Mr. Arinc. She will not be inviting in her attitudes and will protect her chasteness." When asked to explain his comments, he suggested that women"leave their husbands at home, and go to vacation with their lovers" and that they"can't wait to climb poles when they see someone", referring to women whopole dance while on holiday. Both comments were widely ridiculed in social media.[11][12]
In November 2020, Arınç resigned as a member of the High Advisory Board of the Turkish presidency, demanding political reforms in the.[13] He referred to the juridical situation in Turkey and advocated for the release of the philanthropistOsman Kavala and the Kurdish politicianSelahattin Demirtaş of thePeoples Democratic Party.[14]
Then in 2020 he encouraged the Turkish society to read the bookDevran of Demirtaş, mentioning that the Kurds are the oppressed in Turkey.[14] This drew a harsh criticism from Erdoğan, who denied there was a Kurdish issue in Turkey and branded Demirtaş as aterrorist.[14]
Bülent Arınç is married with two children. His third child, a son, was killed in a traffic accident in 1997.[15]
Media related toBülent Arınç at Wikimedia Commons
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Speaker of the Parliament 2002–2007 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Third Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey 2009–2015 | Succeeded by |
| Grand National Assembly Büyük Millet Meclisi (1920–1960) |  | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| House of Representatives Temsilciler Meclisi (1961) | |||||
| Grand National Assembly in period of Bicameralism Büyük Millet Meclisi Çift Meclisli Dönemde (1961–1980) |
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| Consultative Assembly Danışma Meclisi (1981–1983) | |||||
| Grand National Assembly Büyük Millet Meclisi (since 1983) | |||||
| Interim speakers of the parliament |
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| International | |
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| National | |
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