Global InformationList of female ministers of Turkey information
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With Nihat Erim's appointment of Türkan Akyol as the Minister of Health and Social Assistance in the 33rd Government of Turkey, which was established on March 26, 1971, a woman took part in the government as a minister for the first time. Since Akyol became a minister, 28 different women have served as ministers in the cabinet of the Turkish government 43 times. The ministry to which women were most appointed was the Ministry of State with 15 appointments. With the abolition of the Ministry of State in 2011, Selma Aliye Kavaf became the last female minister of state. The Ministry of State was followed by the Ministry of Family and Social Services, which operates under different names, with 10 appointments.
While the first two female ministers in the cabinet were elected from outside the parliament, all the remaining female ministers, except Aysel Çelikel, Beril Dedeoğlu, Ayşen Gürcan, Zehra Zümrüt Selçuk, Ruhsar Pekcan, Derya Yanık and Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş, were elected from within the parliament. In terms of parties, the Justice and Development Party was the party that produced the most number of female ministers with 10 different ministers, followed by the Social Democratic Populist Party and True Path Party with three different ministers each. The government that provided the most female ministers was the 54th government with 4 female ministers. In this government; Tansu Çiller served as both prime minister and foreign minister, Meral Akşener as interior minister, and Ayfer Yılmaz and Işılay Saygın as ministers of state. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan became the president who appointed the most female ministers by appointing women to ministries 7 times, followed by Tansu Çiller and Necmettin Erbakan with five appointments each.
While Tayyibe Gülek became the youngest person to be elected as a minister to the 57th Turkish Government at the age of 34, Aysel Çelikel became the oldest woman to be elected as a minister to the same government at the age of 68. İmren Aykut; became the woman who served in the most governments by being a minister in the cabinets of the 46th, 47th, 48th, 53rd, and 55th Turkish Governments. Similarly, Işılay Saygın; became the woman who served in the most governments by being a minister in the cabinets of the 51st, 52nd, 53rd, 54th, and 55th Turkish Governments. Nimet Baş became the woman who has served as a minister for the longest time. She served as minister for 6 years and 4 days. In the first part of her ministry period, Baş served as the minister of state responsible for women and family, and later as the minister of national education.
On August 28, 2015, Ayşen Gürcan became the first headscarved minister.
The first female ministers of the Presidential Government System, which started to be implemented as of July 9, 2018, were Zehra Zümrüt Selçuk and Ruhsar Pekcan.
Türkân Akyol, the first female minister of health; Hayriye Ayşe Nermin Neftçi, the first female minister of culture and tourism; İmren Aykut, the first female minister of family and social services and the first female minister of state; Işılay Saygın, the first female minister of environment, urbanization and climate change; Tansu Çiller, the first female foreign minister; Meral Akşener, the first female minister of interior; Nimet Baş became the first female minister of national education and Beril Dedeoğlu became the first female European Union minister.
Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş, who was appointed as the minister of family and social services in the 67th Government of Turkey established on June 4, 2023, continues to serve as the only female minister today.