Mehmet Mehdi Eker

Mehmet Mehdi Eker is a Turkish politician who served as the Minister of Food, Agriculture and Livestock of Turkey from 2005 until 2015.[1][2] He was elected a Member of Parliament for the electoral district of Diyarbakır for Democratic People's Party in 2002.[3] He was re-elected in 2007[4] and 2011[5] for the Justice and Development Party (AKP). He was again elected as an MP in 2018.[6]


Mehdi Eker
Minister of Food, Agriculture and Livestock
In office
2 June 2005 – 28 August 2015
Prime MinisterRecep Tayyip Erdoğan
Ahmet Davutoğlu
Preceded bySami Güçlü
Succeeded byKutbettin Arzu
Member of the Grand National Assembly
Assumed office
8 July 2018
ConstituencyDiyarbakır (2018)
In office
19 November 2002 – 7 June 2015
ConstituencyDiyarbakır (2002, 2007, 2011)
Personal details
Born (1956-01-01) 1 January 1956
Bismil, Diyarbakır, Turkey
Political partyJustice and Development Party
Spouse(s)Yasemin Eker
Alma materAnkara University

A veterinarian and agro-economist he had a career as a civil servant in the ministry of agriculture before entering politics at the age of 46.

As minister of Agriculture he has had to deal with issues including:

  • The bird flu epidemic of 2005, in which he made a statement that it was safe to eat cooked chicken and then famously refused to do so on television.[7]
  • Adjusting food control regulations to comply with EU norms, including recategorising pork and horse meat as suitable for human consumption.[8]

References
  1. "Yield of Dreams". The Business Year. Retrieved 2019-11-05.
  2. "Cengiz Gunes, Turkey's New Left, NLR 107, September–October 2017". New Left Review. Retrieved 2019-11-05.
  3. "Diyarbakır SEÇİM SONUÇLARI". secim.haberler.com. Retrieved 2019-11-05.
  4. Şafak, Yeni (2019-03-11). "Seçim Sonuçları 2007 - Milletvekili Genel Seçim Sonuçları". Yeni Şafak (in Turkish). Retrieved 2019-11-05.
  5. Şafak, Yeni (2019-05-11). "Bismil Seçim Sonuçları 2011 - Genel Seçim 2011". Yeni Şafak (in Turkish). Retrieved 2019-11-05.
  6. Şafak, Yeni (2019-05-11). "Diyarbakır Bismil Genel Seçim Sonuçları | Genel Seçim 2018 Diyarbakır Bismil". Yeni Şafak (in Turkish). Retrieved 2019-11-05.
  7. Milliyet İnternet - Yaşam
  8. Milliyet İnternet - Ekonomi
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