Tansu Çiller (Istanbul 1946- )
Turkish politician, member of the Parliament,
ex-leader
of the True Path Party (Dogru Yol Partisi,
DYP). She was Turkey's first woman
prime minister from 1993-96's
Governments, and has been central
in Turkish politics since then. Her politics has been marked by attempts
to liberalize both the economy of Turkey
and the individual rights of its people. She has over the recent years lost some
of her former allies, among them President Süleyman
Demirel.
She is graduated as an economist from the Bogazici (Bosphorus) University of Istanbul. She also holds a Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut.
BIOGRAPHY:
1946: Born in Istanbul.
1991 October: Elected to parliament.
1993: She becomes leader of the True Path Party
(DYP).
—— She forms a new government, which is lead by the True
Path Party.
1995 September: The Republican People's Party (CHP)
leaves the government, which forces Çiller to call for early
elections.
—— December: Çiller does not achieve the number of votes she
needed in the parliamentary elections, as her party
only got 19%, 2% less than the winning Islamist Welfare Party (RP).
1996 March: Çiller and the True Path
Party (DYP) forms government together with Mesut
Yilmaz of the Motherland Party (ANAP),
leaving him in the position of prime minister.
—— June: Çiller cooperates with Necmettin
Erbakan of the Islamist Welfare Party (RP) in overthrowing her partner
Mesut
Yilmaz.
—— July: A coalition is forged between Erbakan
and Çiller, which leaves Çiller in the position as foreign
minister.
1997 June: Ciller is intended to become prime minister,
as Erbakan resigns, but President Demirel
asked Yilmaz instead to form
government.
Today she is not the leader of DYP anymore, and stayed out of the Parliament because of 10% threshold during the elections of 2002. Afterwards, she didn't enter the politics again.