Mesut Yilmaz
Place of Birth: Istanbul,
Turkey
Date of Birth: November 6, 1947
Schooling: Received a degree in finance/economics from Ankara
University, did graduate studies in economics and social sciences in Germany.
Career Path:
Forms Motherland Party in 1983 with former
President Turgut Ozal
Elected Deputy of Turkish Grand Assembly (November
1983)
Appointed State Minister of Information (December 1983)
Minister of Culture and Tourism (1986)
Minister of Foreign Affairs (December 1987)
Prime Minister (Governments
of June - October 1991, March
- June 1996, June 1997-1998)
Political Goals and Strategies:
Yilmaz has been described as an ardent secularist in the grand tradition
of Atatürk. He has aggressively pursued
privatization of the economy, and has worked to reform the
tax code and
the social security system. He has concentrated on resolving the Kurdish
uprisings by PKK in Eastern
Anatolia, and worked to reduce violence and improve Turkey’s
human-rights record.