Numan KURTULMUŞ

Minister of Culture and Tourism

Mr. Kurtulmuş was born on September 15, 1959 in Ordu province located in Northern Turkey.  His name comes from his grandfather who fought in the Turkish Independence War as a well-known major in the army.                                   

After completing his secondary education in Istanbul, he received his Bachelor’s in 1982 and Masters of Arts degree in 1984 at Istanbul University’s School of Business Administration. He continued his graduate studies at Temple University, School of Business & Management between 1988 and 1989.  Next three years (1990-1993), he was at Cornell University, New York State School of Industrial & Labor Relations as a visiting scholar where he wrote his Ph.D. dissertation. In 1992, he earned his Ph.D. degree in Industrial Relations with Human Resource Management concentration at Istanbul University.

He became Associate Professor in 1994 and Professor in 2004. He is the author of two books, “Post-Industrial Transformation” and “The Japanese Human Resource Management”, and numerous articles pertaining to the field of labor economics, social policies, industrial relations, and human resource management.

His political career started in 1998 when he became Istanbul Provincial Head and a member of General Administrative Board of the Virtue Party. Shortly after the closure of Virtue Party in 2001, he joined the Felicity Party, and served as the Chair from 2008 to 2010.

Kurtulmuş was the founding Chair of People’s Voice Party from November 1, 2010 to September 19, 2012 when the party dissolved itself to join the Justice and Development Party (AK Party). Within the ruling Justice and Development Party, he assumed the office of Deputy Chairman for Economic Affairs between October 4, 2012 and August 10, 2014.

Prof. Kurtulmuş served as the Deputy Prime Minister within the 62nd, 63rd, 64th and 65th Governments of Republic of Turkey. After serving as the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in the 66th Government, Kurtulmuş has been currently assuming the Acting Chairman of Justice and Development Party since August 2018.

Prof. Dr. Numan Kurtulmuş is married with three children, namely Ayşe, İsmail, and Emir.