Agah Oktay Güner (born 1937) is 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.

Agah Oktay Güner
Minister of Culture
In office
6 March 1996 – 28 June 1996
Prime MinisterMesut Yılmaz
Minister of Commerce
In office
21 July 1977 – 5 January 1978
Prime MinisterSüleyman Demirel
Personal details
Born1937 (age 86–87)
Bayburt, Turkey
Political partyNationalist Movement Party
Other political
affiliations
Children5
Alma mater

Early life and education

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Güner was born in Bayburt in 1937.[1] He graduated from Konya High School.[2] He received a degree in law from Ankara University and obtained his PhD in economics from the University of Paris.[1] His PhD thesis was about economic state enterprises and economic development.[2]

During his university studies in Ankara Güner began his political activity in 1954 being a member of the nationalist youth group Turkish Hearths.[2]

Career and activities

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Güner became a member of the conservative think thank called Thinkers Club (Turkish: Aydınlar Kulübü) in 1962 which was the precursor of the Intellectuals' Hearth (Turkish: Aydınlar Ocağı).[3] He worked at different public institutions.[1] In 1977 he joined the Nationalist Movement Party.[2] He was first elected to the Parliament in 1977 and served as the deputy of Konya in the 16th term.[4] In the 41st government he was the minister of commerce between 21 July 1977 and 5 January 1978.[2] Following the 1980 coup in Turkey he was arrested and sentenced to death.[4] He later was acquitted and released from the prison.[4]

Güner joined the Motherland Party and was elected to the Parliament in 1995 serving as a deputy of Ankara in the 20th term.[4] In the 53rd government he was the minister of culture between 6 March and 28 June 1996.[1] In 1999 he was elected as a deputy from Balıkesir and served in the 21st term of the Parliament.[4] In 2002 he resigned from the Motherland Party and joined the True Path Party.[2]

Güner was among the contributors of the newspapers Tercüman ve Türkiye.[1] He is one of the writers of Yeniçağ newspaper.[5]

Views

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Güner is among the critics of the language simplification carried out by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in 1926.[6] He argued that Turkish youth had problems in understanding the Ottoman texts.[6] 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.[7][8]

Güner is one of the followers of the Rifaʽi order.[9]

Personal life

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Güner is married and has five children.[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Agâh Oktay Güner" (in Turkish). Biyografya. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ a b c d e "ANAP'lı Agah Oktay Güner, Çankaya adayı". NTV (in Turkish). Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  5. ^ "Yazarlar. Agah Oktay Güner". Yeniçağ. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ Niyazi Öktem (2002). "Religion in Turkey". BYU Law Review. 2002 (2): 371–404.