61 Notable alumni of
Istanbul Technical University
Updated:
Istanbul Technical University is 569th in the world, 110th in Asia, and 3rd in Turkey by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 61 notable alumni from Istanbul Technical University sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff.
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Orhan Pamuk
- Occupations
- journalistscreenwriterwriternovelistessayist
- Biography
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Ferit Orhan Pamuk is a Turkish novelist, screenwriter, academic, and recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature. One of Turkey's most prominent novelists, he has sold over 13 million books in 63 languages, making him the country's best-selling writer.
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Aziz Sancar
- Occupations
- molecular biologistbiochemistscientistuniversity teachergeneticist
- Biography
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Aziz Sancar is a Turkish molecular biologist specializing in DNA repair, cell cycle checkpoints, and circadian clock. In 2015, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry along with Tomas Lindahl and Paul L. Modrich for their mechanistic studies of DNA repair. He has made contributions on photolyase and nucleotide excision repair in bacteria that have changed his field.
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Turgut Özal
- Enrolled in Istanbul Technical University
- In 1950 graduated with Bachelor of Engineering in electrical engineering
- Occupations
- engineerpolitician
- Biography
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Halil Turgut Özal was a prominent Turkish politician, bureaucrat, engineer and statesman who served as the 8th President of Turkey from 1989 to 1993. He previously served as the 26th Prime Minister of Turkey from 1983 to 1989 as the leader of the Motherland Party. He was the Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey in the military government of Bülend Ulusu between 1980 and 1982.
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Süleyman Demirel
- Occupations
- engineerpolitician
- Biography
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Sami Süleyman Gündoğdu Demirel was a Turkish politician, engineer, and statesman who served as the 9th President of Turkey from 1993 to 2000. He previously served as the Prime Minister of Turkey seven times between the years 1965 and 1993. He was the leader of the Justice Party (AP) from 1964 to 1980 and the leader of the True Path Party (DYP) from 1987 to 1993.
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Binali Yıldırım
- Occupations
- engineerpoliticianmarine engineer
- Biography
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Binali Yıldırım is a Turkish politician who served as the 27th and last prime minister of Turkey from 2016 to 2018 and Speaker of the Grand National Assembly from 2018 to 2019. He was Leader of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) from 2016 to 2017, then becoming parliamentary leader until 2018.
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Necmettin Erbakan
- Occupations
- engineerpoliticianuniversity teacher
- Biography
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Necmettin Erbakan was a Turkish politician, engineer, and academic who was the Prime Minister of Turkey from 1996 to 1997. He was pressured by the military to step down as prime minister and was later banned from politics by the Constitutional Court of Turkey for allegedly violating the separation of religion and state as mandated by the constitution.
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Selçuk Bayraktar
- Enrolled in Istanbul Technical University
- 1997-2002 graduated with Bachelor of Science
- Occupations
- businesspersonpoliticianengineer
- Biography
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Selçuk Bayraktar is a Turkish pilot, engineer and businessman. He is the chairman of the board and the chief technology officer of the Turkish technology company Baykar. He is also known as the architect of Turkey's first indigenous unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) Bayraktar TB2 and first unmanned fighter jet Bayraktar Kızılelma. Bayraktar is also the founding chairman of the Turkish Technology Team Foundation.
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Yılmaz Erdoğan
- Occupations
- film actorscreenwriterfilm directoractor
- Biography
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Yılmaz Erdoğan is a Turkish filmmaker, actor and poet who is most famous for his box-office record-breaking debut comedy film Vizontele (2001) and the television series Bir Demet Tiyatro (1995–2002/2006–2007). He founded BKM Theatre and Film Production. He was awarded the Best Supporting Actor at 4th Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards for his performance in The Water Diviner (2014).
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Oğuz Atay
- Occupations
- engineercivil engineeruniversity teacherwriterplaywright
- Biography
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Oğuz Atay was a Turkish novelist. His first novel, Tutunamayanlar ('The Disconnected'), appeared in 1971–72. Never reprinted in his lifetime and controversial among critics, it has become a best-seller since a new edition came out in 1984. It has been described as "probably the most eminent novel of twentieth-century Turkish literature": this reference is due to a UNESCO survey, which goes on: "it poses an earnest challenge to even the most skilled translator with its kaleidoscope of colloquialisms and sheer size." In fact four translations have so far been published: into Dutch, as Het leven in stukken, translated by Hanneke van der Heijden and Margreet Dorleijn (Athenaeum-Polak & v Gennep, 2011); into German, as Die Haltlosen, translated by Johannes Neuner (Binooki, 2016); into English, as 'The Disconnected', translated by Sevin Seydi (Olric Press, 2017: ISBN 978-0-9955543-0-6): an excerpt from this won the Dryden Translation Prize in 2008 (Comparative Critical Studies, vol. V (2008) 99); into Greek, as ΑΠΟΣΥΝΑΓΩΓΟΙ, translated from Turkish by Νίκη Σταυρίδη, poetry sections by Δημήτρης Μαύρος, Gutenberg Editio Minor 34, 2022. ISBN 978-960-01-2397-5.
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Lütfi Elvan
- Occupations
- mining engineerpoliticianeconomistengineer
- Biography
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Lütfi Elvan is a Turkish politician. Elvan has served as the Minister of Finance and Treasury of Turkey from November 2020 to December 2021. He previously served as the Minister of Transport, Maritime and Communication from 2013 to 2015. He has served as a Member of Parliament for the electoral district of Karaman from 2007 to June 2015, for Antalya from June to November 2015 and for Mersin since November 2015. He is a member of the Justice and Development Party (AK Parti).
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Simge
- Enrolled in Istanbul Technical University
- Studied in 2021
- Occupations
- recording artistsingersongwriterlyricistcomposer
- Biography
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Simge Sağın, known mononymously as Simge, is a Turkish singer. From early 2010s, she started to make Turkish pop songs, and with the release of her single "Miş Miş" in 2015 she became one of the most famous artists in Turkey.
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Dursun Özbek
- Occupations
- businessperson
- Biography
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Dursun Aydın Özbek is a Turkish businessman and 36th and 39th club president of Turkish multi-disciplined sports club Galatasaray S.K.
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İsmet Yılmaz
- Occupations
- engineerpoliticianminister
- Biography
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İsmet Yılmaz is a Turkish politician who was a member of the Grand National Assembly from 2011 to 2023.
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Salih Muslim
- Occupations
- politicianchemist
- Biography
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Salih Muslim Muhammad is the co-chairman of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), the main party of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. As the deputy coordinator of the National Coordination Committee for Democratic Change, he has been the most prominent Kurdish representative for much of the Syrian civil war.
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Toygar Işıklı
- Occupations
- composersingerlyricist
- Biography
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Toygar Işıklı is a Turkish film score composer, music producer, and singer.
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Fatma Şahin
- Occupations
- engineerpolitician
- Biography
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Fatma Şahin is a Turkish chemical engineer and politician. On 6 July 2011 she was appointed as the Minister of Family and Social Policies in the third cabinet of Erdoğan.
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Merve Özbey
- Occupations
- singer
- Biography
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Merve Özbey is a Turkish singer and songwriter. Due to her collaborations with Erdem Kınay in the songs "Duman" and "Helal Ettim", she became famous in Turkey.
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Recai Kutan
- Enrolled in Istanbul Technical University
- In 1952 studied civil engineering
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Mehmet Recai Kutan was a Turkish politician who was the leader of the Felicity Party (SP).
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Temel Kotil
- Occupations
- entrepreneurengineer
- Biography
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Temel Kotil is an aeronautical engineer and was the CEO of Turkish Aerospace Industries from 2016 to 2024. Previously, he was the CEO of Turkish Airlines from April 2005 to October 2016.
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Oğuzhan Asiltürk
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Oğuzhan Asiltürk was a Turkish politician. He served as Minister of Industry and Technology and Minister of the Interior as well as chairman of the executive board of the Felicity Party.
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Funda Arar
- Occupations
- singer
- Biography
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Funda Arar is a Turkish singer.
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Erkan Oğur
- Occupations
- composerclassical guitarist
- Biography
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Erkan Oğur is a Turkish musician. A pioneer of fretless guitars, he invented the first fretless classical guitar in 1976. A composer, he has influenced many musicians with his compositions combining the sounds of Turkish folk music and classical music with the ancient traditional music. He has played many concerts all over the world. He is regarded as a master of the kopuz and bağlama lutes.
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Volkan Konak
- Occupations
- musiciancomposersongwritersinger
- Biography
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Volkan Konak is an Old Turkish folk singer. His song "Cerrahpaşa" was a great success and his album, Mora, released in 2006, was awarded a gold plaque by the Turkish recording producers association, MÜ-YAP.
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Mimar Kemaleddin Bey
- Occupations
- architect
- Biography
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Ahmed Kemaleddin, widely known as Mimar Kemaleddin (Architect Kemaleddin) was a Turkish architect, and one of the leading figures of the First National architectural movement, alongside Vedat Tek.
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Naci Görür
- Enrolled in Istanbul Technical University
- Studied in 1967
- Occupations
- earth scientistuniversity teachergeologist
- Biography
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Naci Görür is a Turkish seismologist, geologist, and a former professor at the Technical University of Istanbul.
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Şarık Tara
- Occupations
- businesspersonindustrialistcivil engineer
- Biography
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Şarık Tara was a Turkish billionaire who founded Enka İnşaat ve Sanayi A.Ş., one of Turkey's largest construction company, with Sadi Gülçelik, in 1957. As well as being an international engineer, contractor, industrialist, he was known for his philanthropy.
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Fatih Birol
- Occupations
- economist
- Biography
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Fatih Birol is a Turkish economist and energy expert, who has served as the executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA) since 1 September 2015. During his time in charge of the IEA, he has taken a series of steps to modernise the Paris-based international organisation, including strengthening ties with emerging economies like India and China and stepping up work on the clean energy transition and international efforts to reach net zero emissions.
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Taner Yıldız
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Taner Yıldız is a Turkish politician. He is a member of the Justice and Development Party and served as the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources between 2009 and 2015.
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Alparslan Bayraktar
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Alparslan Bayraktar is a Turkish academic, engineer, and politician who has served as the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources since 2023. Before his appointment as minister, Bayraktar held several positions within the ministry, including Deputy Minister and Commissioner of the Energy Market Regulatory Authority.
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Mustafa Tuna
- Occupations
- politiciancivil engineer
- Biography
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Mustafa Tuna is a Turkish engineer, academic, and politician, who served as the 28th mayor of Ankara between November 2017 and April 2019.
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Ruhsar Pekcan
- Occupations
- businesspersonpolitician
- Biography
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Ruhsar Pekcan is a politician and electrical engineer who served as the Minister of Trade of Turkey between 2018 and 2021.
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Çağla Kubat
- Occupations
- engineeractormodelwindsurferbeauty pageant contestant
- Biography
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Çağla Kubat is a Turkish actress, model, windsurfer and beauty pageant titleholder. She is member of Fenerbahçe sailing & windsurfing team. She is 5 feet 10 3⁄4 (1.80m) tall.
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Veysel Eroğlu
- Occupations
- university teacherpolitician
- Biography
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Veysel Eroğlu is a Member of Parliament for Afyonkarahisar of the ruling Justice and Development Party and a former Minister of Forestry and Water of Turkey.
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Hatip Dicle
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Mehmet Hatip Dicle, is a Kurdish politician from Turkey. He was a member of the Democracy Party, then of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP).
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Ahmet Arslan
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Ahmet Arslan is a Turkish politician from the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) who served as the Minister of Transport, Maritime and Communication from 24 May 2016 until 10 July 2018. He is a Member of Parliament for the electoral district of Kars, having first been elected in the November 2015 general election.
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Faruk Özlü
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Faruk Özlü is a Turkish politician from the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) who served as the Minister of Science, Industry and Technology of Turkey from 24 May 2016 to 10 July 2018. He was a Member of Parliament for the electoral district of Düzce, having been first elected in the June 2015 general election and re-elected in the November 2015 general election.
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Selim Sırrı Tarcan
- Occupations
- boxerpoliticiansports official
- Biography
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Selim Sırrı Tarcan was a Turkish educator, sports official and politician. He is best remembered for his contribution to the establishment of the National Olympic Committee of Turkey and the introduction of the sport of volleyball in Turkey.
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Tevfik İleri
- Occupations
- politiciancivil engineer
- Biography
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Ahmet Tevfik İleri was a Turkish civil engineer, civil servant, politician and government minister.
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Feridun Hamdullahpur
- Enrolled in Istanbul Technical University
- In 1976 graduated with Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering
- In 1979 graduated with master's degree in mechanical engineering
- Biography
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Feridun Hamdullahpur CM is the chancellor of International Business University. Previously, he was the president and vice-chancellor of the University of Waterloo. Hamdullahpur was named the sixth president of the University of Waterloo in March 2011. Hamdullahpur's term ended on July 1, 2021, when his successor, Vivek Goel, took office.
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Serpil Kemalbay
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Serpil Kemalbay Pekgözegü is a Turkish politician and former co-leader of the Peoples' Democratic Party.
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Reza Roosta Azad
- Occupations
- chemical engineer
- Biography
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Reza Roosta Azad was an Iranian academic who was the chancellor of Sharif University of Technology, serving from 2010 until 2014.
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Doğan Kuban
- Occupations
- restorerwriterhistorianarchitectarchitectural historian
- Biography
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Doğan Kuban was a Turkish architectural historian.
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Tarhan Erdem
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Tarhan Erdem was a Turkish politician who was the President of KONDA Research and Consultancy, an opinion polling company. He was a member of the Republican People's Party (CHP) and briefly served as the Minister of Industry and Technology during the short-lived 40th government of Turkey headed by CHP leader Bülent Ecevit between 21 June and 21 July 1977.
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Halil Pasha
- Occupations
- painter
- Biography
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Halil Pasha, was a Turkish painter and art teacher. He was one of Turkey's first Impressionists.
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Feridun Bilgin
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Feridun Bilgin is a Turkish civil servant and politician who served as the Minister of Transport, Maritime and Communication of Turkey from 7 March to 17 November 2015. Formerly the Undersecretary to the Ministry, Bilgin took over from the Justice and Development Party minister Lütfi Elvan as required by Article 114 of the Turkish constitution. He was one of the founders of the newly founded Future Party in 2019.
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Sabiha Gürayman
- Occupations
- volleyball playercivil engineer
- Biography
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Sabiha Rıfat Gürayman (1910, Manastır – 4 January 2003, İzmir) was a Turkish construction engineer and volleyball player. As Turkey's first female civil engineer, she served as chief engineer for 10 years at the construction of Anıtkabir, the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder and first President of the Republic of Turkey. She was the first female volleyball player of Fenerbahçe SK, and the first Turkish woman to engage in the game of volleyball.
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Şamil Ayrım
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Şamil Ayrım is a Turkish politician and member of Turkish Parliament. He is a member of Justice and development party in Turkey and deputy for Istanbul
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Halil İbrahim Akça
- Years
- 1963-.. (age 62)
- Occupations
- diplomat
- Biography
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Halil İbrahim Akça is the Turkish ambassador to Brazil, and was the 11th Secretary General of the Economic Cooperation Organization.
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Ali Erdemir
- Enrolled in Istanbul Technical University
- 1972-1977 graduated with bachelor's degree in Journal of Material & Metallurgical Engineering
- Occupations
- engineerresearcher
- Biography
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Ali Erdemir, born on July 2, 1954, in Kadirli, Adana, Turkey, is a Turkish American materials scientist specializing in surface engineering and tribology.
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Suleyman Karaman
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Suleyman Karaman is a Turkish politician from the Justice and Development Party, who was a former General Manager and chairman of the Board of Directors of Turkish State Railways (TCDD) and Deputy General Manager of Istanbul transportation authority (IETT).
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Burcu Özsoy
- Occupations
- scientist
- Biography
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Burcu Özsoy is a Turkish scientist who works with sea ice remote sensing in Antarctica. Özsoy is head of the first Turkish polar research center, ITU PolReC.
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Cahit Karakaş
- Occupations
- engineerpolitician
- Biography
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Cahit Karakaş is a Turkish engineer and a former politician. He served as government minister and Speaker of the Parliament.
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Yılmaz Onay
- Occupations
- translatorwriter
- Biography
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Yılmaz Onay was a Turkish author, theatre director and translator.
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Uğur Uluocak
- Occupations
- photographer
- Biography
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Yaşar Uğur Uluocak was a Turkish outdoorsman, mountaineer, photographer, and editor.
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Safa Giray
- Occupations
- civil engineerpoliticianengineerdiplomat
- Biography
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İsmail Safa Giray was a Turkish civil engineer and politician from the Motherland Party (Turkish: Anavatan Partisi, ANAP). He was a member of the Turkish parliament and served as Minister of Public Works and Housing, Minister of National Defense, and Minister of Foreign Affairs.
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Hakkı Atun
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Hakkı Atun is a former Prime Minister of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. He held this office between 1994 and 1996. He was born in Famagusta in 1935. In 1959, he graduated from Istanbul Technical University as an engineer architect. He studied urban planning at Manchester and Nottingham Universities. In 1961–1975, he held various public positions. In 1963, he became the Regional Director of Limassol-Paphos Planning, in 1967 became the Head of the Planning and Construction Department, and in 1975, the Undersecretary of Housing.
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Hikmet Temel Akarsu
- Occupations
- writerchildren's writerplaywright
- Biography
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Hikmet Temel Akarsu is a Turkish novelist, short story writer, satirist and playwright.
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Ivet Bahar
- Enrolled in Istanbul Technical University
- 1983-1986 graduated with Doctor of Philosophy
- Occupations
- university teacherbiologist
- Biography
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Ivet Bahar is a Turkish-American computational biologist, currently serving as the Director of the Louis and Beatrice Laufer Center for Physical and Quantitative Biology, Louis & Beatrice Laufer Endowed Chair and Professor of Biochemistry and Cell Biology at the Stony Brook University, School of Medicine. Before joining Stony Brook University, she served as Distinguished Professor, John K. Vries Chair and Founder of the Department of Computational and Systems Biology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and as Assistant (1986-1987), Associate (1987-1993) and Full Professor (1993-2001) at the Chemical Engineering Department of Boğaziçi University, Istanbul, Turkey. Dr. Bahar is also the co-founder of an internationally acclaimed Joint CMU-Pitt Ph.D. Program in Computational Biology, CPCB, offered by the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University. She is an elected member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) since 2000. She was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2020.
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Ali Nihat Yazıcı
- Occupations
- chess playerengineer
- Biography
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Ali Nihat Yazıcı is the head of Turkish Chess Federation.
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R. Cengiz Ertekin
- Occupations
- scientist
- Biography
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R. Cengiz Ertekin is a professor of Marine Hydrodynamics and Ocean Engineering. He currently holds a guest professor position at Harbin Engineering University of China. He is best known for his contributions to the development of nonlinear water wave theories, hydroelasticity of very large floating structures, wave energy, and tsunami and storm impact on coastal bridges. He is also the co-developer, along with Professor H. Ronald Riggs of the University of Hawaiʻi, of the computer program HYDRAN for solving linear fluid-structure interaction problems of floating and fixed bodies.
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Mehmet Gümüşburun
- Occupations
- bureaucratchemical engineer
- Biography
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Mehmet Gümüşburun is a Turkish chemical engineer and bureaucrat.
