Tansu Çiller
Prime Minister, Turkey, 1993 - 1996

Tansu Çiller is an economist and politician who served as Turkish Prime Minister from 1993-1996. She entered politics in November 1990, joining the True Path Party, and was elected to Parliament in 1991 as deputy of her hometown of Istanbul, where she served as Minister of State for Economics.

In 1993, she became the leader of the True Path Party and the Prime Minister of the coalition government. As Prime Minister, Çiller’s major achievement was the transformation of the Turkish Army into a modern fighting force. The coalition government collapsed in 1996, but Çiller remained involved in politics, serving as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1996-1997. Çiller retired from political life in 2002.

Before she entered politics, Çiller served as an economics professor at several universities and as President of the Istanbul Bank. She is married with two children.