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Meral Akşener

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Meral Akşener
Meral Akşener in 2021
Leader of the İYİ Party
In office
25 October 2017 – 27 April 2024
Preceded byParty established
Succeeded byMüsavat Dervişoğlu
Deputy Speaker of the Grand National Assembly
In office
10 August 2007 – 7 June 2015
SpeakerKöksal Toptan
Mehmet Ali Şahin
Cemil Çiçek
Served withSadık Yakut
Mehmet Sağlam[tr]
Güldal Mumcu
Ayşe Nur Bahçekapılı
Nevzat Pakdil[tr]
Eyyüp Cenap Gülpınar[tr]
Preceded byYılmaz Ateş[tr]
Succeeded byKoray Aydın
Minister of the Interior
In office
8 November 1996 – 30 June 1997
Prime MinisterNecmettin Erbakan
Preceded byMehmet Ağar
Succeeded byMurat Başesgioğlu
Member of the Grand National Assembly
In office
22 July 2007 – 1 November 2015
Constituencyİstanbul(III)(2007,2011,Jun 2015)
In office
24 December 1995 – 3 November 2002
Constituencyİstanbul(1995)
Kocaeli(1999)
Personal details
Born
Meral Gürer

(1956-07-18)18 July 1956(age 68)
İzmit,Turkey
Political partyGood Party(2017–present)
Other political
affiliations		True Path Party(1995–2001)
Nationalist Movement Party(MHP) (2001–2016)
Spouse
Tuncer Akşener
​
(m.1980)​
RelationsHasan Tahsin Argun (grand uncle)
Işıl Akşener (daughter-in-law)
ChildrenFatih Akşener
Alma materIstanbul University
Marmara University
OccupationPolitician, academic, historian
Websitemeralaksener.com.tr
NicknameAsena

Meral Akşener(néeGürer,Turkish pronunciation:[meˈɾalˈakʃenæɾ];born 18 July 1956) is aTurkishpolitician, teacher, historian andacademicwho is the founder of theGood Party(İYİ Party).

Akşener first entered parliament as a deputy of theTrue Path Party(DYP) in the1995and1999 general election,and served as theinterior ministerinthe coalition governmentestablished byNecmettin Erbakanbetween 1996 and 1997. Distrustful of her coalition partner, she played a key role in the downfall of her own government in the1997 military memorandum.

Akşener entered the parliament as a deputy of theNationalist Movement Party(MHP) in the2007,2011andJune 2015 general elections,serving as a vice-speaker of theGrand National Assemblyfrom 2007 to 2015. After tensions between her and the MHP's leaderDevlet Bahçeli,she was not nominated as an MP for theNovember 2015 general election.In 2016, she led a group of opposition within the party against Bahçeli. In 2017 she separated from the MHP and founded the Good Party, of which she was the leader. She was the party's presidential candidate for the2018 elections.Akşener was a key opposition figure in Turkish politics and has been dubbed as an "iron lady" by international observers.[1][2]She resigned her leadership following her party's defeat in the2024 local elections,withMüsavat Dervişoğlusucceeding her.

Early life

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Meral Akşener was born on 18 July 1956, in the Gündoğdu neighbourhood ofİzmit,Kocaeli.Her father Tahir Ömer and her mother Sıddıka areBalkan TurksfromMacedoniaandThraceand were among hundreds of thousands wholeft Greece to resettle in Turkey in 1923.[1]Her paternal side had migrated to the Balkans fromBüyükkadı,[3]one of the fewAleviTurkmen villages ofDiyarbakır.[4]

She studied history atIstanbul Universityand completed her post-graduate studies at the Social Sciences Institute ofMarmara University,earning aPh.D.in history. She then worked as a lecturer atYıldız Technical University,Kocaeli Universityand Marmara University before entering politics.[5][6]

DYP and interior ministry

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Meral's older brother was president of MHP's İzmit branch, which gave her connections to right-wing politicians. Akşener quit her post as a university department chair and entered politics with the1994 municipal elections,running for theTrue Path Party(DYP) as the mayoral candidate forKocaeli.Catching DYP chairwoman and then prime ministerTansu Çiller's attention, Akşener became the chair of the women's branch of the DYP and enteredparliamentin the1995 general electionas a DYP deputy fromIstanbul province.Akşener was a proponent of governing with theMotherland Partybut, lacking a majority, Çiller instead formed a coalition government withNecmettin Erbakan's IslamistRefah Party.[7]

From the outset, Akşener was opposed to the arrangement but Çiller kept her close by appointing her as one of the DYP’s general vice presidents, as well as giving her responsibility for the party's General Governing Council and women’s and youth issues. Akşener replacedMehmet AğarasMinister of the Interiorafter his resignation due to his involvement in theSusurluk scandal,becoming the first female interior minister in Turkish history.[6]

Akşener replaced many officials with ties to organized crime but even she was implicated when it emerged that she attended a wedding with Ağar andAbdullah Çatlı.[7]Suspicious of her coalition partner, Akşener backed a rejected bill to replace Refah mayors that were governing against secular principles, which contributed to the escalation of the1997 military memorandumcrisis. She was forced out of office following the collapse of theREFAH-DYP (Refahyol) government,due to the memorandum.[2][7]

In1999she was re-elected to parliament as a deputy forKocaeli province,but sensing DYP's decline, she led a group of DYP members against Çiller by courting other right-wing parties.[7]On 4 July 2001, Akşener left the DYP for the "innovative wing" of theWelfare Party,led byAbdullah GülandRecep Tayyip Erdoğan.[8][9]The innovative wing founded theAKPon 14 August. However she was dissatisfied with the continuation of theNational Outlook(Turkish:Milli Görüş) ideology in the new party,[10]and joined theNationalist Movement Party(MHP) in 3 November.[11]She immediately became chief advisor for political affairs to the MHP chairDevlet Bahçeli.[12]However like most of the long-established parties, the MHP was ejected from parliament when it wasn't able to clear the 10% threshold for entering parliament in the2002 election,and Akşener lost her seat.

MHP deputy

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Akşener flashing the Grey Wolf salute after delivering a speech at the illegal MHP congress, 2016

She was MHP's candidate for the Istanbul mayoralty in the2004 mayoral elections.Akşener rejoined parliament in2007,representingIstanbul province,[6]and was elected vice-speaker of the parliament alongsideGüldal Mumcu,another female politician, serving as Turkey's first female vice-speaker since 1968.[6]She served in the Turkey-China Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group of the parliament.[13]She was re-elected as an MP in the2011andJune 2015 general elections.However, she was not included on the MHP's lists for theNovember 2015 snap election.[10]

When the MHP lost half of its MPs in the election and Bahçeli openly supported Erdoğan; Akşener demanded an extraordinary congress to oust him.[1]On 8 September 2016, she was expelled from the MHP and was accused of having links to 2016 putschists. She promised to start her own political party.[7]

Leader of the Good Party

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Main article:Good Party

Under her leadership, theGood Partywas founded on 25 October 2017. In her first address to her followers, Akşener said she believed that Turkish democracy was "under threat" and that the Good Party wanted a free society and to fix the problems of theTurkish judiciary system.[14]

Akşener further stated that the "media should not be under pressure. Democratic participation, a strong parliament, and the national will are irreplaceable. We will democratize the law on political parties along contemporary democratic principles and the criteria of theVenice Commission."[14]Aksener said that many who were joining her movement were young Turkish citizens who were "chafing under the restrictions" imposed by the government on public gatherings, freedom of expression, and constraints on the media.[1]

Initially, the Good Party only had five MPs, not enough to form a parliamentary group to participate in an election, butKemal Kılıçdaroğlu,leader of theRepublican People's Party(CHP), transferred 15 MPs to her party to allow it to compete in the2018 general election.[15]On 1 May, the CHP, Good Party,Felicity Party,andDemocrat Partyformed theNation Allianceas an electoral alliance to challenge thePeople's Alliancemade up of the AKP and MHP. Akşener was the Good Party'spresidential candidate in the electionand received 7.3% of the vote,[2][16]while her party captured 43 seats.

Meral Akşener andTemel Karamollaoğlu,2021

The Nation Alliance continued with the2019 local elections.After negotiations between Akşener and Kılıçdaroğlu, the CHP and Good Party agreed to compete in separate provinces, and nominatedMansur Yavaşas a joint candidate for theAnkara mayoralty.[17]The two campaigned together during the election. While the Good Party didn't win any mayoralties, Yavaş won Ankara, the CHP took the cities ofIstanbul,Bolu,Antalya,Mersin,Bilecik,Artvin,ArdahanandKırşehirfrom the AKP,[18]and the Good Party was the third most popular party. Akşener condemned the decision torepeat the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality elections.[19]During the election campaign, she toured every district of Istanbul and supportedEkrem İmamoğluin his campaign.

Akşener has refused to run for president in thepresidential election of 2023,instead saying that she would run forprime ministeronce the opposition is able to return Turkey to aparliamentary system.She agreed to invite theDEVAandFuture Partyto the Nation Alliance, turning it into a 6-party coalition, called the Table of Six.

On 3 March 2023, Akşener abruptly announced her withdrawal from theNation Alliance,and announced her party would not support main opposition CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu as the joint candidate in the 2023 presidential election, imploring the mayors of Istanbul and Ankara, Ekrem İmamoğlu or Mansur Yavaş of the CHP, to run instead.[20]She stated that the other four parties of the alliance secretly agreed to support Kılıçdaroğlu as their candidate if the CHP put their some 70 of their MPs on its lists; this claim was refuted by DEVA's deputy chairman Mehmet Emin Ekmen.[21][22]İmamoğlu and Yavaş chose to stand by their chairman. On 6 March, she and her party rejoined the Table of Six after intense public criticism and after it was announced that Ekrem İmamoğlu and Mansur Yavaş would be appointed Vice-Presidents if Kılıçdaroğlu wins the presidential election.[23][24]Kılıçdaroğlu lost thepresidential election,and the Good Party received 9.7% of the vote in theparliamentary election.Akşener announced the dissolution of the Nation Alliance after the election.[25]

Some commentators speculated that her very public withdrawal might have cost the opposition the election by showing to voters the disunity of the coalition.[26]Aytun Çıray,a former Good Party MP and General Secretary, has claimed Akşener's move was a conspiracy initiated by Erdoğan to spoil the unity of the opposition.[27]

In the lead up to the2024 local elections,Akşener announced that her party would enter on its own lists across all 81 provinces, including against her previous clients, İmamoğlu and Yavaş.[28]During the campaign period, she harshly criticized the CHP and the two mayors, aiming to present her party as athird way.The Good Party polled its worst ever result with 3.7% nationally and the sixth largest party, winning only the municipality ofNevşehir.In a press release on 8 April, 2024, Akşener announced that the Good Party would host an extraordinary leadership congress, and that she would not run for reelection as a candidate for the chairmanship. She was succeeded by her preferred candidate:Müsavat Dervişoğlu,in the party'sfifth extraordinary congress.

Views and Ideology

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Akşener, in addition to being the first woman candidate for the Turkish presidency in history, put great emphasis onwomen's rights in Turkeyand made this a central plank of her presidential campaign. Her campaign drew attention to the drastic increase of cases ofviolence against womenandrapein Turkey under AKP administration. Akşener declared her pledge to liftgood conduct timein all cases of violence against women and rape, and instead of forcefully sending women to therapy in such cases, her party would send the perpetrator to mandatory therapy before or after serving their sentence and therapy for women would be optional.[29]She is heavily against child marriages.[30][31]Although there was an increase in participation of women in the workforce in Turkey, Akşener stated she finds this inadequate and would implementbenevolent sexismto increase participation ofwomen in workforceand to reduce thewage gap.[32]

Akşener has been an animal rights advocate throughout her career, and has campaigned for the full adoption ofUNESCOAnimal Rights Declaration. She adopted a cat namedCedric,which was found raped and covered in blood on a street inFoça,Izmir.[33]

During her MHP days asDeputy Speaker of the Grand National Assembly,even back in 2010, Akşener held a pro-EU stance and held many meetings with EU officials representing Turkey, and was described as the head of the pro-European wing inside the MHP.[34]

Akşener criticized the move by theErdoğanadministration to purchaseS-400 missile systemsfromRussiain a move to distance the country from NATO and the West, stating that the move lacks common sense and wisdom and invited Erdoğan for calmness and to have "information on history". Akşener explained that the move makes no sense as the missiles are not compatible with the existing infrastructure of theTurkey's military,which is integrated to common NATO defense systems, saying that in case of conclusion of such a purchase and its delivery, the S400 missiles would just rot in hangars. She went on to say that such moves by the rulingAKPdegradedTurkey's foreign policy,conflicting with 150-year-old Turkish foreign policy principles.[35]

In a April 2020 interview, she stated that she was in favour of reinstating thedeath penalty in Turkeyfor terrorists and perpetrators of violence against women.[36]

Controversies

[edit]

During the 1990s, Akşener threatened journalists who spoke out against the government, saying: "Until now, we have succeeded in preventing any unwanted event happening. Still we will try. But after today, we know we will have difficulty in holding back our Tansu-Çiller-fanatical youths. We are warning you for the last time."[7]

In 2016, Akşener claimed that her tenure as interior minister saw security services conduct "the longest, broadest, and most comprehensive cross-border actions [against thePKK] in history. I’m sorry to say there are some on social media who say ‘Meral Akşener can’t be MHP leader, she’s responsible for unsolved murders.’ Let them say what they will; I’m fine with all of it. If a thing is necessary for this country, for this nation’s unity and togetherness, I will take responsibility right to the end "[7]

While Akşener carried out the military's demands in the lead-up to the1997 military memorandum,one of her appointees was charged with wiretapping high-ranking commanders of theTurkish Armed Forces,which created friction between her and the Turkish military. One general allegedly threatened to "impale her like a goose". Though they shared their opposition to theIslamismof theWelfare Party,Akşener's disagreements with the military in the lead-up to the 1997 coup were ultimately over whether the ousting of the Islamists would be done through democratic means or through military intervention.[7]

Akşener accusedAbdullah Öcalanof being "Armenian spawn" (Ermeni tohumu).[7]

Akşener frequently uses nicknames for government-aligned politicians, some of which tend to stick. She dubbedTreasury and Finance MinisterBerat Albayrakthe "Damat"(royal son-in-law) after his marriage toEsra Erdoğan.[37]

Personal life

[edit]

Meral Gürer married Tuncer Akşener, an engineer, in 1980. Their son, Fatih Akşener, was born in 1984. Meral Akşener has been described as a devout Muslim who prays regularly.[38]She is known to her supporters asAsena,after themythical she-wolf.[38]

She supports the football teamsGalatasarayandKocaelispor.[39]

Electoral history

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Parliamentary

[edit]
As a MP
Election Constituency Party Votes Seats Elected
# % Rank
1995 Istanbul True Path Party 641,825 15.39% 4th Yes
1999 Kocaeli 74,095 13.45% 4th Yes
2007 Istanbul (III) Nationalist Movement Party 227,753 11.47% 3rd Yes
2011 Istanbul (III) 257,456 9.97% 3rd Yes
June 2015 Istanbul (III) 323,495 11,4% 4th Yes
As a party leader
Main article:Good Party § Election results
Election Party Votes Seats Position
# % Rank # ±
2018 Good Party 4,990,710 9.96% 5th new Opposition
2023 5,272,482 9.69% 4th Decrease0.18pp Opposition

Presidential

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Election Votes % Outcome
2018 3,649,030 7.29% 4th

Local

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Election Mayoral election votes Percentage of votes Municipal councillor votes Percentage of votes Number of municipalities Number of councillors
2019 3,351,418 7,76% 3,142,757 7,31%
2024 1,735,924 3.77%

See also

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References

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  1. ^abcdGall, Carlotta (5 January 2018)."A Rival Steps Up to Challenge Turkey's President Erdogan".The New York Times.Retrieved10 January2018.The daughter of a civil servant, Ms. Aksener grew up in a small rural village in western Turkey. Her family was among the hundreds of thousands resettled from Greece in the population exchanges between Greece and Turkey in 1923.
  2. ^abcMalsin, Jared (14 July 2017)."Turkey's 'Iron Lady' Meral Aksener Is Getting Ready to Challenge Erdogan".Time.Retrieved14 July2017.
  3. ^"Akşener Diyarbakır'da Kürtçe pankartla karşılandı: Babamın ailesi Diyarbakırlı".Diken.8 December 2017.Retrieved26 January2023.
  4. ^Diken, Şeyhmus (2007).Amidalılar: sürgündeki Diyarbekirliler.p. 241.Köyümüz, Büyük Kadı köyü. Diyarbakır'a arabayla yarım saatlik mesafededir. Türkmen-Alevi köyüdür.
  5. ^"Biography".Archived fromthe originalon 2017-04-19.Retrieved2010-07-12.
  6. ^abcd"Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi 23. Dönem Milletvekili-Meral Akşener"(in Turkish). TBMM.Retrieved2013-02-05.
  7. ^abcdefghiSilverman, Reuben (21 June 2018)."Turkey's Back to the Future Opposition: Part One".Jadaliyya.
  8. ^"Akşener, DYP'den istifa etti, Yenilikçiler'e katıldı".Hürriyet.4 July 2001.
  9. ^"DYP'den ayrılan Akşener yenilikçilere katıldı".NTV MSNBC.4 July 2001.
  10. ^ab"Portre: Meral Akşener".[[Aljezeera.18 September 2015. Archived fromthe originalon 2016-08-28.
  11. ^"Meral Akşener MHP'ye geçti".NTV MSNBC.3 November 2001. Archived fromthe originalon 2016-05-16.
  12. ^"Akşener başdanışman".Radikal.16 November 2001.
  13. ^"MHP Meral Akşener'i aday göstermedi".Radikal.18 September 2015.
  14. ^ab"Akşener hints at run for presidency in 2019 as she forms 'Good Party'".Hürriyet Daily News.25 October 2017.Retrieved2017-10-26.
  15. ^Başaran, Rıfat (22 April 2018)."CHP'den 15 milletvekili İYİ Parti'ye geçti".Hürriyet.
  16. ^"Erdogan tightens grip with Turkey poll win".2018-06-25.Retrieved2019-06-17.
  17. ^"Mansur Yavaş'tan İYİ Parti'ye ret!".Habertürk.11 December 2018.
  18. ^"31 Mart Yerel Seçim Sonuçları".Sabah.Archived fromthe originalon 2019-03-27.
  19. ^"Akşener:" Talimatla karar veren yargı mensupları adına utanıyorum "".Yeniçağ.7 May 2019.
  20. ^"Akşener parts ways with 'Table of Six' – Türkiye News".Hürriyet Daily News.2023-03-03.Retrieved2023-03-03.
  21. ^"Mehmet Emin Ekmen iddiaları yalanladı".5 March 2023. Archived fromthe originalon 15 March 2023.Retrieved2 June2023.
  22. ^"Akşener'in 3 Mart 2023 Açıklamaları".3 March 2023. Archived fromthe originalon 3 March 2023.Retrieved2 June2023.
  23. ^"Nation alliance nominates CHP leader Kılıçdaroğlu for presidential polls – Türkiye News".Hürriyet Daily News.2023-03-06.Retrieved2023-03-06.
  24. ^"İyi Parti Sözcüsü Zorlu açıkladı: Akşener, Altılı Masa'ya döndü!".T24(in Turkish).Retrieved2023-03-06.
  25. ^"İyi Parti masadan ayrıldı".1 June 2023. Archived fromthe originalon 1 June 2023.Retrieved2 June2023.
  26. ^"Akşener 'infiltrated' opposition alliance with Erdoğan's instruction, former İYİ MP suggests".Duvar.11 April 2024.
  27. ^Eski İYİ Partili Aytun Çıray'dan Akşener ile ilgili gündem olacak sözler!HalkTV. 9 April 2024.
  28. ^"Akşener calls İmamoğlu, Yavaş 'cowards' in a row over Turkey's local elections".Duvar.20 December 2023.
  29. ^"Akşener: Kadınlara şiddet ve tecavüzde 'iyi hal indirimi'ni kaldıracağım".ABC. 7 June 2018.
  30. ^"Akşener: Kadınlara şiddet ve tecavüzde 'iyi hal indirimi'ni kaldıracağım".ABC. 7 June 2018.
  31. ^Kolcu, Gamze (2 June 2018)."Akşener: Sorunları kadın gözüyle, yüreğiyle çözmek için yola çıktık".Hürriyet.
  32. ^"Akşener: Kadınlara şiddet ve tecavüzde 'iyi hal indirimi'ni kaldıracağım".ABC. 7 June 2018.
  33. ^Küçük Cantank, Nilay (20 February 2018)."MİTİNG İÇİN İZMİR'E GİDEN MERAL AKŞENER TECAVÜZE UĞRAYAN KEDİ CEDRİC'İ SAHİPLENDİ".Ajanimo. Archived fromthe originalon 16 June 2018.Retrieved16 June2018.
  34. ^"Meral Akşener'den AB'ye mesaj".Milliyet.14 May 2010.
  35. ^"Meral Akşener'den 'S-400' tepkisi: Koyacaksın depoya çürüyecekler".Cumhuriyet. 29 December 2017.
  36. ^Akşener, Meral(24 April 2020)."Meral Akşener'den net HDP yorumu: PKK'nın uzantısıdır! / Jülide Ateş ile 40 (TEK PARÇA)".Jülide Ateş ile 40(Interview). Interviewed byJülide Ateş.Istanbul, Turkey: Haber Global.Retrieved23 May2020.Terör suçları ile kadına şiddet suçları için idam cezasının olması gerektiğini düşünüyorum (Question 31)
  37. ^"Meral Akşener'den Albayrak'a: Damat bey, sen nereye bakıyorsun?".Cumhuriyet.6 October 2020.
  38. ^ab"A challenge to Turkey's Erdogan".The Economist.16 November 2017.Retrieved17 November2017.
  39. ^Archived atGhostarchiveand theWayback Machine:"Meral Akşener Özel Röportajı | 1997 | 32.Gün Arşivi".YouTube.18 July 2021.
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