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Prime Minister Vladimir Putin meets with Turkish President Abdullah Gül during the summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia

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Born on October 29, 1950 in the city of Kaiseri (central Turkey).

Education:

1971:  Graduated from Istanbul University's Economic Faculty, and later earned an MA in London and Exeter (UK).

Experience:

He taught at Sakaria University where he defended a Candidate's Dissertation on "The Development of Economic Relations between Turkey and Islamic Countries". He holds the position of Associate Professor in the field of international economics.

1983-1991 he worked as an expert at the Islamic Development Bank in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia).

1992-2001:  he was a member of the Turkish delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, he holds a medal "For Services" and is a permanent Honorary Member of PACE.

1996-1997: he held the post of government minister (in charge of links with Turkic states and communities) and official government spokesman in the coalition government of Necmeddin Erbakan.

2002: As a result of the victory of the AKP in the parliamentary elections he headed up the government because of legal restrictions on the political activities on the party's leader, Recep Erdogan. After legislation was revised and Recep Erdogan was confirmed as Prime Minister, he was Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister.

April 2007:  he was nominated as AKP's candidate for President. He was elected President of the Turkish Republic on August 28, 2007.

Other:

He entered politics in the mid-1970s taking an active part in the electoral campaigns of the clerical National Salvation Party (MSP). After the 1980 military coup he was detained by police as a "political unreliable" on charges of collaborating with the Islamists and spent some time in the Istanbul military prison.

Since 1991 he was a candidate for parliament from the Felicity Party (SP), a successor to MSP. In 1995 and 1999 he was elected a deputy on the tickets of the Felicity Party and its successor, the Virtue Party.

He took part in the formation of the "renewal" wing of the Virtue Party which opposed the policy of open confrontation with the state on the issue of secularism and formed the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in August 2001.

Personal

He speaks English and Arabic.