Ahmet Özal
{{Short description|Turkish politician (born 1955)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| image = File:Ahmet Özal in Süleyman Demirel Funeral (cropped).jpg
| image_size = 200
| name = Ahmet Özal
| office = {{GNAT MP}}
| term_start = 18 April 1999
| term_end = 3 November 2002
| constituency = Malatya (1999)
| alma_mater = North Carolina State University
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1955|12|03|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Ankara, Turkey
| spouse = Asuman Duran (m. 2022)
| children = 2
| parents = Turgut Özal
Semra Özal
| relatives = Özal family
}}
Tevfik Ahmet Özal (born 3 December 1955) is a Turkish politician, the son of former Turkish President and Prime Minister Turgut Özal and a member of the Özal family. He has been an MP, and co-founded the Uzan Group and later the Özal Group.
Career
After graduating from the North Carolina State University he worked at the International Monetary Fund and in international banking from 1979 to 1988. In 1989 he co-founded (with Cem Uzan) Turkey's first private television station, "Magic Box" (now Star TV).
Özal was elected to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey in 1999{{cite web|url=http://www.sabah.com.tr/Yazarlar/donat/2011/04/16/ahmet-ozal|title=Ahmet Ozal|publisher=Sabah|access-date=8 September 2011}} as an independent; he joined the Motherland Party in 2002,Hurriyet Daily News, 4 April 2002, [http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/ahmet-ozal-joins-anap.aspx?pageID=438&n=ahmet-ozal-joins-anap-2002-04-04 Ahmet Ozal joins ANAP] and was the party's candidate for Mayor of Istanbul in the March 2009 local elections (gaining less than 1% of the vote). Later, he would become Deputy Chairman of the Democratic Party, after the Motherland Party merged with it in October 2009.{{cite web|url=http://www.sabah.com.tr/Gundem/2010/12/16/ahmet_ozal_basbakanla_ne_konustu|title=Ahmet Özal Başbakan'la ne konuştu?|publisher=Sabah|access-date=8 September 2011}}
Since taking public office, he has adamantly stated that he feels his late father, former Turkish President and Prime Minister Turgut Özal, was assassinated.Hurriyet Daily News, 27 December 2012, [http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/late-president-ozals-son-still-not-convinced.aspx?pageID=238&nID=37741&NewsCatID=338 Late president Özal’s son still not convinced] He has suggested that the Soviet Union might have been responsible, because of Turgut's efforts to unite the Turkic republics of Central Asia.Today's Zaman, 15 May 2006, [http://todayszaman.com/news-33134-ahmet-ozal-soviet-union-killed-my-father.html Ahmet Ozal: Soviet Union Killed my Father] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305014108/http://www.todayszaman.com/news-33134-ahmet-ozal-soviet-union-killed-my-father.html |date=2016-03-05 }} In 2013 Özal said that several months before the 1988 assassination attempt on Turgut, Turgut had survived a plane incident in which his official plane lost an engine and crash-landed (Ahmet was on board at the time). The manufacturer later reported a 95% probability that the plane would explode under the circumstances present.Today's Zaman, 24 April 2013, [http://todayszaman.com/news-313599-ozals-little-known-near-plane-crash-finds-way-into-indictment.html Özal's little known near plane crash finds way into indictment] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304113341/http://www.todayszaman.com/news-313599-ozals-little-known-near-plane-crash-finds-way-into-indictment.html |date=2016-03-04 }}
He is on the Board of Trustees of Turgut Özal University, named after his father.Turgut Özal University, [http://en.turgutozal.edu.tr/kategori/board-of-trustees-43-40.html Board Of Trustees] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130607192224/http://en.turgutozal.edu.tr/kategori/board-of-trustees-43-40.html |date=2013-06-07 }}, accessed 2 July 2013
On 23 July 2016, in the course of the 2016 Turkish purges, the university was shut down by the Turkish government among other [http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20160722211654519 15 universities]{{Cite web|url=http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20160722211654519|title=Fifteen universities closed in purge after failed coup - University World News|website=www.universityworldnews.com|access-date=2016-10-27}} due to its alleged ties with the Gülen movement.{{cite news|url=http://www.resmigazete.gov.tr/eskiler/2016/09/20160901M1-1.htm|title=657 Sayılı Kanun Hükmünde Kararname|date=1 September 2016|newspaper=Resmi Gazete}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ozal, Ahmet}}
Category:Democrat Party (Turkey, current) politicians
Category:Motherland Party (Turkey) politicians
Category:Children of presidents of Turkey
Category:Children of prime ministers of Turkey
Category:North Carolina State University alumni
Category:Members of the 21st Parliament of Turkey
Category:Turkish people of Kurdish descent
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