Public figures enter parliament in new term
ANKARA
Several famous personalities, including a football player and a former Miss Türkiye, will serve in the 28th term of the Turkish parliament.
Former footballer and manager Ünal Karaman, who also worked as a caretaker manager for the Türkiye’s national football team in 2004, entered the new parliament from the İYİ (Good) Party list in the Central Anatolian Province of Konya.
Seda Sarıbaş, who bagged the title of Miss Türkiye in 2006, will serve as the southwestern province of Aydın deputy of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), according to the result of the parliamentary election on May 14.
Bahadır Yenişehirlioğlu, an actor known for his cast in a history series, ran in the election from the AKP lists in the western province of Manisa.
The actor will take his place among the famous figures of the parliament in the new term.
Yücel Arzen, who is also a composer of AKP’s “The Century of Türkiye” song, won the right to enter the parliament from Istanbul.
Journalist and writer Hulki Cevizoğlu is another figure who managed to get elected from the AKP’s Istanbul lists.
Journalist Şebnem Bursalı and businessman Can Türk Alagöz, known for his initiative to bring the Sinovac coronavirus vaccine to Türkiye, also became new members of the AKP’s lawmakers.
Former Ambassador to Washington Namık Tan, who also served as former president Abdullah Gül’s chief diplomatic adviser, and Mustafa Sarıgül, former mayor of Istanbul’s Sarıyer’s district, were among the most notable names selected from the main opposition Republic People’s Party (CHP).
Türkan Elçi, the wife of Tahir Elçi, the former president of the Diyarbakır Bar Association, who was killed as a result of an armed attack, also managed to come to the parliament as the CHP’s Istanbul deputy.
İlyas Topsakal, the vice-rector of Istanbul University and a historian known for his research on Turkish history, became a member of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) from the Black Sea province of Samsun.
Ayyüce Türkeş Taş, the daughter of the late Alparslan Türkeş, the founder of the MHP, managed to enter the parliament from the Adana list of the İYİ Party.
Sırrı Süreyya Önder, Istanbul deputy of the Green Left Party (YSP), returned to parliament after a five-year hiatus.
On the other hand, Mehmet Aslantuğ, a widely known actor who was nominated from the northwestern province of Muğla lists of the Turkish Workers’ Party (TİP), failed to enter the parliament.
Journalist İrfan Değirmenci, the İzmir candidate of the same party, is also among those who could not enter the parliament.
Former football player Gökhan Zan, who declared his candidacy from the İYİ Party in the quake-hit southern province of Hatay, was also among those who could not earn a place in the parliament.
National swimmer Umut Arman Sonay, the candidate from the 18th order in Istanbul from the AKP, and former referee Kuddusi Müftüoğlu, nominated from the AKP’s southern province of Antalya lists, could not be elected as well.
