Cevdet Yılmaz

Cevdet Yılmaz (born 1 April 1967) is a Turkish politician who has been the 2nd and current vice president of Turkey since 2023. Previously, he served as a Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey in the interim election government formed by Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu from 28 August to 17 November 2015. He previously served as the Minister of Development from 2011 to 2015 and again from 2015 to 2016.

Cevdet Yılmaz
Yılmaz in 2024
2nd Vice President of Turkey
Incumbent
Assumed office 4 June 2023
President	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Preceded by	Fuat Oktay
Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey
In office 28 August 2015 – 17 November 2015 Serving with Yalçın Akdoğan, Numan Kurtulmuş, Tuğrul Türkeş
Prime Minister	Ahmet Davutoğlu
Preceded by	Ali Babacan
Succeeded by	Mehmet Şimşek
Minister of Development
In office 24 November 2015 – 24 May 2016
Prime Minister	Ahmet Davutoğlu
Preceded by	Cüneyd Düzyol
Succeeded by	Lütfi Elvan
In office 6 July 2011 – 28 August 2015
Prime Minister	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Ahmet Davutoğlu
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Müslüm Doğan
Minister of State
In office 1 May 2009 – 6 July 2011
Prime Minister	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Succeeded by	Office abolished
Member of the Grand National Assembly
In office 22 July 2007 – 14 May 2023
Constituency	Bingöl (2007, 2011, Nov 2015, 2018) Diyarbakır (June 2015)
Personal details
Born	(1967-04-01) 1 April 1967 (age 58) Şabanköy, Bingöl, Turkey
Citizenship	Turkish
Political party	Justice and Development Party
Education	Public administration
Alma mater	Middle East Technical University University of Denver Bilkent University
Cabinet	60th, 61st, 62nd, 63rd, 64th, 67th
Signature

Early life and career

Cevdet Yılmaz was born on 1 April 1967 in Şabanköy, Bingöl to a Zaza family.^[1][2][3] After completing high school in Bingöl in 1983, Yılmaz graduated from the Middle East Technical University's Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Department of Public Administration with high honors in 1988.^[4]

In 1989, he started working at the State Planning Organization (Turkish: Devlet Planlama Teşkilatı).^{[citation needed]}

Yılmaz went to the United States between 1992 and 1994^{[citation needed]}, and graduated from the International Relations Department at the University of Denver. At the Bilkent University's Department of Political Science and Public Administration, Yılmaz received a doctorate.^[3]

In 2003, Yılmaz was appointed for the Directorate General of EU Relations.^[3]

In the elections of 2007, Yılmaz was elected as deputy of Bingöl. On 1 May 2009 he was appointed as the State Minister in the second cabinet of Erdoğan. On 6 July 2011 Yılmaz became Minister of Development in the third cabinet of Erdoğan.^[5] He was Chairman of the Turkish Parliament’s Planning and Budget Commission between November 2020 and June 2023.^[6][7]

On 3 June 2023 he was appointed Vice President of Turkey.^[8][6]