Abdülkadir Aksu

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix =

| name = Abdülkadir Aksu

| native_name =

| native_name_lang =

| honorific-suffix =

| image =

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|office = Minister of the Interior

| primeminister = Abdullah Gül
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

| term_start = 19 November 2002

| term_end = 7 May 2007

| predecessor = Muzaffer Ecemiş

| successor = Osman Güneş

| office2 =

| primeminister2 = {{unbulleted list|Turgut Özal|Yıldırım Akbulut|Mesut Yılmaz}}

| term_start2 = 31 March 1989

| term_end2 = 24 November 1991

| predecessor2 = Mustafa Kalemli

| successor2 = Mustafa Kalemli

|office3 = Minister of state
(Responsible for Southeastern Anatolia Project)

| primeminister3 = Mesut Yılmaz

| term_start3 = 6 March 1996

| term_end3 = 28 June 1996

|office4 = {{GNAT MP}}

|term_start4 = 18 April 1999

|term_end4 = 7 June 2015

|constituency4 = Istanbul (III) (1999, 2002, 2007, 2011)

|term_start5 = 8 January 1996

|term_end5 = 18 April 1999

|constituency5 = Diyarbakır (1995)

|term_start6 = 29 November 1987

|term_end6 = 20 October 1991

|constituency6 = Diyarbakır (1987)

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1944|10|12}}

| birth_place = Diyarbakır, Turkey

| party = Justice and Development Party (2001 - present)
Virtue Party (1998 - 2001)
Welfare Party (1996 - 1998)
Motherland Party (1987 - 1996)

}}

Abdülkadir Aksu ({{IPAc-en|audio=En-us-Abdulkadir Aksu from Turkey pronunciation (Voice of America).ogg|ɑː|b|d|uː|l|ˈ|k|ɑː|d|ər|_|ˈ|ɑː|k|s|uː}} {{respell|ahb|dool|KAH|dər|_|AHK|soo}}; {{IPA|tr|abdylkaːˈdiɾ ˈaksu|lang}}; born 1944, Diyarbakır) is a Turkish politician from Diyarbakır. According to some sources, he is Kurdish;Natali, Denise, The Kurds and the state: evolving national identity in Iraq, Turkey, and Iran, Syracuse University Press, 2005, [https://books.google.com/books?id=G62NSVhprsQC&pg=PA114 p. 114.]Maya Shatzmiller, [https://books.google.com/books?id=82jaiJ48vZQC&pg=PA255 Nationalism and Minority Identities in Islamic Societies], McGill-Queen's Press, 2005, {{ISBN|0-7735-2848-2}}, p. 255. "Abdulkadir Aksu, a prominent Kurdish politician from Diyarbakır".Emrullah Uslu, "Turkey’s Kurdish Problem: Steps Toward a Solution", Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 1521-0731, Vol: 30, No 2, 2007, pp. 157–172. "many ethnic Kurds have been appointed to high government positions, including Abdulkadir Aksu". according to Üzeyir Tekin, he is of partial Albanian and Kurdish origin;{{Cite book|title=Abdülkadir Aksu |last=Tekin |first= Üzeyir|date= April 2010|publisher= Oriennt Yayınları |isbn=978-975-6124-09-3 }}{{page needed|date=September 2010}} and according to Hasan Celal Güzel, a friend of Aksu family, he is of Turkish (Turkmen) origin.{{Cite news | url=http://www.aktifhaber.com/tayyip-erdogan,-gurcu-degil-60498h.htm | work=zaman | title=Hasan Celal Güzel: Merkez sağda birlik için Özal'a 'Demirel cumhurbaşk... | date=2006-01-31 | access-date=2011-01-11 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707102052/http://www.aktifhaber.com/tayyip-erdogan,-gurcu-degil-60498h.htm | archive-date=2011-07-07 | url-status=dead }}

He is a member of the Community of İskenderpaşa, a Turkish sufistic community of Naqshbandi tariqah.[http://www.eurasiareview.com/05092015-the-naqshbandi-khalidi-order-and-political-islam-in-turkey-analysis/ Eurasia Review: "The Naqshbandi-Khalidi Order And Political Islam In Turkey – Analysis" By Hudson Institute] September 5, 2015

Early life and education

He attended high school in Diyarbakır and in 1968 he graduated with a degree in political sciences from the Ankara University.{{Cite web|title=Who's who in Politics in Turkey|url=https://tr.boell.org/sites/default/files/ays-tarihvakfi-18x24-boll-r7-eng.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191115005654/https://tr.boell.org/sites/default/files/ays-tarihvakfi-18x24-boll-r7-eng.pdf|archive-date=15 November 2019|access-date=23 July 2020|website=Heinrich Böll Stiftung|pages=3–5}} During his time at the university he became a member of in the Free Thought Club which was as a counterweight to the Socialist Thought Club. The Free Thought Club was to be influential in politics as several members of its executive board became ministers in the Turkish Government. Aksu also founded the Diyarbakır Association in Ankara, aimed as an organization to connect the people of Diyarbakır.

Professional career

Since his graduation, he entered the public administration and was assigned as a Kaymakam in a variety of districts. In 1985, while being the Kaymakam of Gaziantep, he was bequested with the award of the Bureaucrat of the Year.

Political career

He was elected a member of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, representing Diyarbakir for the Motherland Party (ANAP) in 1987.{{Cite web|last=Şafak|first=Yeni|date=2020-02-12|title=Diyarbakır Seçim Sonuçları 1987 - Genel Seçim 1987|url=https://www.yenisafak.com/secim-1987/diyarbakir-ili-secim-sonuclari|access-date=2020-12-01|website=Yeni Şafak|language=tr-TR}} He became the Minister of the Interior in 1989 in the Government of Turgut Özal which he stayed also through the Government of Yilidirm Akbulut.{{cite web | url=http://www.tbmm.gov.tr/develop/owa/milletvekillerimiz_sd.bilgi?p_donem=23&p_sicil=4279 | title=Türki̇ye Büyük Mi̇llet Mecli̇si̇ }} During his membership in the ANAP, he was a prominent advocate of Özals conciliatory policies dubbed as the "Politics of Four Inclinations". He was again elected to parliament for Diyarbakır in the parliamentary election of 1995.{{Cite web|last=Şafak|first=Yeni|date=2020-02-12|title=Diyarbakır Seçim Sonuçları 1995 - Genel Seçim 1995|url=https://www.yenisafak.com/secim-1995/diyarbakir-ili-secim-sonuclari|access-date=2020-12-01|website=Yeni Şafak|language=tr-TR}} He then left the Motherland Party, and joined the Welfare Party (RP), for which he served as a member of the administrative board. After the ban of the RP in 1998, he became a member of the Virtue Party which was a predecessor of the Justice and Development Party (AKP). For the AKP, he served as the Interior Minister from 2002 to 2007{{Cite web|title=Abdulkadir Aksu, Republic of Turkey: Profile and Biography|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/profile/person/1969990|access-date=2020-12-01|website=Bloomberg.com|language=en}} and became its party vice-chair in replacement of Dengir Mir Mehmet Firat in 2008.{{Cite web |title=U-turn in AKP's Kurdish policy |url=https://www.hurriyet.com.tr/gundem/u-turn-in-akps-kurdish-policy-10320300 |access-date=2022-04-10 |website=Hurriyet Daily News |language=tr}} In May 2019 he was assigned the post of the chair of the state-owned Vakifbank.{{Cite web|title=President Erdoğan's political elites to run state-owned banks|url=https://ahvalnews.com/vakifbank/president-erdogans-political-elites-run-state-owned-banks|access-date=2020-12-01|website=Ahval|language=en}}

Personal life

He is married and is the father of two children.{{Cite web|title=Abdulkadir Aksu Kimdir ? - Abdulkadir Aksu Hayatı ve Biyografisi|url=https://www.haberler.com/abdulkadir-aksu-7738/biyografisi/|access-date=2020-12-01|website=www.haberler.com}}