Agah Oktay Güner

Agah Oktay Güner
Minister of Culture and Tourism
In office
67 March 1967 – 67 June 1967
Prime MinisterMesut Yılmaz
Preceded byFikri Sağlar
Succeeded byİsmail Kahraman
Minister of Trade
In office
21 July 1977 – 5 January 1978
Prime MinisterSüleyman Demirel
Preceded byZiya Müezzinoğlu
Succeeded byTeoman Köprülüler
Personal details
Born(1937-06-21)21 June 1937
Bayburt, Turkey
Died8 September 2025(2025-09-08) (aged 88)[1]
Party Democrat Party (2011–2025)
Other political
affiliations
Nationalist Movement Party (1977–1980)
Motherland Party (1995–2001)
True Path Party (2001–2002)
Children5
Alma mater

Agah Oktay Güner (21 June 1937 – 8 September 2025) was a Turkish journalist and politician who held various cabinet posts and served in different parties, including Nationalist Movement Party, Motherland Party and True Path Party.

Early life and education

Güner was born in Bayburt in 1937.[2] He graduated from Konya High School.[3] He received a degree in law from Ankara University and obtained his PhD in economics from the University of Paris.[2] His PhD thesis was about economic state enterprises and economic development.[3]

During his university studies in Ankara Güner began his political activity in 1954 being a member of the nationalist youth group Turkish Hearths.[3]

Career and activities

Güner became a member of the conservative think tank called Thinkers Club (Turkish: Aydınlar Kulübü) in 1962 which was the precursor of the Intellectuals' Hearth (Turkish: Aydınlar Ocağı).[4] He worked at different public institutions.[2] In 1977 he joined the Nationalist Movement Party.[3] He was first elected to the Parliament in 1977 and served as the deputy of Konya in the 16th term.[5] In the 41st government he was the minister of commerce between 21 July 1977 and 5 January 1978.[3] Following the 1980 coup in Turkey he was arrested and sentenced to death.[5] He later was acquitted and released from the prison.[5]

Güner joined the Motherland Party and was elected to the Parliament in 1995 serving as a deputy of Ankara in the 20th term.[5] In the 53rd government he was the minister of culture between 6 March and 28 June 1996.[2] In 1999 he was elected as a deputy from Balıkesir and served in the 21st term of the Parliament.[5] In 2002 he resigned from the Motherland Party and joined the True Path Party.[3]

Güner was among the contributors of the newspapers Tercüman ve Türkiye.[2] He was one of the writers of Yeniçağ newspaper.[6]

Views

Güner was among the critics of the language simplification carried out by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in 1926.[7] He argued that Turkish youth had problems in understanding the Ottoman texts.[7] After Güner was released from prison he stated "we are in prison, yet our ideology is in government" referring to both his colleagues who were still in the prison and the Turkish government which had been implementing nationalist policies closely similar to those of the National Movement Party.[8][9]

Güner was one of the followers of the Rifaʽi order.[10]

Personal life

Güner was married and had five children.[3]

References

  1. ^ https://www.sozcu.com.tr/amp/eski-bakan-agah-oktay-guner-yasamini-yitirdi-p224732
  2. ^ a b c d e "Agâh Oktay Güner" (in Turkish). Biyografya. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Merve Gündoğan (July 2017). Milliyetçi siyasette bir fikir ve aksiyon adamı: Agâh Oktay Güner (MA thesis) (in Turkish). Pamukkale University. pp. 3, 5–6. hdl:11499/2059.
  4. ^ Yıldız Atasoy (2009). Islam’s Marriage with Neoliberalism State Transformation in Turkey. London: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 94. doi:10.1057/9780230246669. ISBN 978-0-230-24666-9.
  5. ^ a b c d e "ANAP'lı Agah Oktay Güner, Çankaya adayı". NTV (in Turkish). Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  6. ^ "Yazarlar. Agah Oktay Güner". Yeniçağ. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  7. ^ a b Ebru Erdem Akçay (2013). "Expanding Women's Rights versus Conserving the Traditional Family in the Civil Code Amendment Debates in Turkey". Middle Eastern Studies. 49 (1): 82. doi:10.1080/00263206.2012.743886. S2CID 143357413.
  8. ^ Alev Çınar; Burak Arıkan (2002). "The Nationalist Action Party: Representing the State, the Nation or the Nationalists?". Turkish Studies. 3 (1): 28. doi:10.1080/714005706. hdl:11693/48335. S2CID 144105768.
  9. ^ Fatih Çağatay Cengiz (2021). "Resistance to change: the ideological immoderation of the Nationalist Action Party in Turkey". Turkish Studies. 22 (3): 473. doi:10.1080/14683849.2020.1850283. S2CID 229446076.
  10. ^ Niyazi Öktem (2002). "Religion in Turkey". BYU Law Review. 2002 (2): 371–404.