born Oct. 13, 1927, Malatya, Tur.
died April 17, 1993, Ankara
Prime minister (1983–89) and president (1989–93) of Turkey .
After studying electrical engineering, he oversaw Turkey's electrification program in the 1950s and '60s. After working as a World Bank economist for most of the 1970s, he was elected prime minister as head of his own Motherland Party in 1983 and was reelected in 1987. In 1989 he persuaded the parliament to make him president, a traditionally nonpolitical position, and used the office to claim for Turkey an important role in the Persian Gulf War (1990–91).