Yıldırım Aktuna
Encyclopedia
Yıldırım Aktuna was a Turkish
psychiatrist
, politician, district mayor and government minister in a number of cabinets.
. After completing the high school in Karşıyaka
, Izmir
in 1948, Yıldırım Aktuna attended the School of Medicine of the University of Istanbul as a cadet. In 1954, he graduated with Doctor of Medicine
degree in the rank of a lieutenant
.
, Aktuna was sent to the United States, where he attended advanced education in general medicine at the Brooke Army Medical Center
in Fort Sam Houston
, San Antonio between 1958-1959.
Having returned home, Aktuna specialized in neuropsychiatry
at the Gülhane Military Medical Academy in Ankara, finishing in 1962. He then served in the army as medical officer at various places in Turkey. Between 1967-1989, he was lecturer at the Kabul Military Hospital in Afghanistan
. In 1970, he retired from the Turkish Army
in the rank of a lieutenant colonel
.
Between 1972-1973, Aktuna sojourned in Austria
to pursue advanced studies in neurology
and electroencephalography
(EEG) at the Neurological Clinic of the University of Vienna
.
In 1979, Yıldırım Aktuna was appointed Chief Physician of the Bakırköy Psychiatric Hospital in Istanbul, the largest of its art in the country. He modernized the hospital, and devoted himself to raise consciousness for public mental health and to develop contemporary policies on this subject. He established in 1983 an alcohol
and drug rehabilitation
center within this hospital, the first facility in Turkey to conduct medical and psychotherapeutic treatment and research for dependency on psychoactive substances as well. For these activities, he was honored several times by various organizations.
(SHP). On March 26, 1989, he was elected district mayor of Bakırköy
in Istanbul, where he was much respected.
After serving two and half years in the regional politics, Aktuna quit his post and joined the True Path Party (DYP) on August 27, 1991. Following the general elections
, he entered the parliament
on October 20, 1991 as a deputy of Istanbul.
Yıldırım Aktuna served between 1991-1993 as Minister of Health in the cabinet of Süleyman Demirel
. In 1993, Tansu Çiller
appointed him Minister of State and government spokesman in her cabinet. After serving two years, he became Minister of Health again between 1996 and 1997 in the cabinets of Mesut Yılmaz
and later of Necmettin Erbakan
. From 1997 to 1999, Aktuna served Minister of State in the cabinet of Mesut Yılmaz. During his duty as Minister of Health, he prepared a healthcare reform programme and organized twice national healthcare congresses. Furthermore, he continued to support all the activities he initiated at the Bakırköy Psychiatric Hospital.
Yıldırım Aktuna left the True Path Party (DYP) on May 30, 1996 keeping his membership in the parliament as an independent deputy. On July 1, 1997, he joined "Party for a Democratic Turkey" (DTP), which was founded some months ago by unsatisfied DYP politicians, and was appointed vice president by its leader Hüsamettin Cindoruk
. He served as minister in the coalition cabinets from 1996 to 1998. However, he returned to DYP on November 24, 2001. Finally, he joined in 2003 the Liberal Democratic Party
(LDP), a small party with leadership problems at that time.
in February 2007, he decided to undergo a P53-based
gene therapy
, which is applied in more than hundred hospitals in China
since 2004. For this purpose, he traveled the next month to China
, where he stayed until August.
Yıldırım Aktuna died on September 29, 2007 in the German Hospital, Istanbul, where he was brought from Bodrum
, Muğla
twelve days before. He was laid to rest at the Zincirlikuyu Cemetery
on October 2.
He was succeeded by his son Oğul Aktuna and his divorced wife Zeliha Berksoy, a theatre actress and the daughter of Turkish prima donna
Semiha Berksoy
.
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
psychiatrist
Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
, politician, district mayor and government minister in a number of cabinets.
Early years
He was born 1930 in IstanbulIstanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
. After completing the high school in Karşıyaka
Karsiyaka
Karşıyaka is a district of İzmir Province in Turkey. It is part of the Greater Metropolitan Area of İzmir, in other words a metropolitan district, the second largest after Konak in terms of population, and it is almost entirely urbanized at the rate of 99,9 per cent, with corresponding high levels...
, Izmir
Izmir
Izmir is a large metropolis in the western extremity of Anatolia. The metropolitan area in the entire Izmir Province had a population of 3.35 million as of 2010, making the city third most populous in Turkey...
in 1948, Yıldırım Aktuna attended the School of Medicine of the University of Istanbul as a cadet. In 1954, he graduated with Doctor of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine is a doctoral degree for physicians. The degree is granted by medical schools...
degree in the rank of a lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
.
Military career
His first post was chief physician officer of the 26th Brigade at the 66th Army Division. After completing a one-year English language course at the Army Language School in AnkaraAnkara
Ankara is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a mean elevation of , and as of 2010 the metropolitan area in the entire Ankara Province had a population of 4.4 million....
, Aktuna was sent to the United States, where he attended advanced education in general medicine at the Brooke Army Medical Center
Brooke Army Medical Center
Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio is part of the United States Army Medical Command. It is a University of Texas Health Science Center and USUHS teaching hospital and contains the Army Burn Center....
in Fort Sam Houston
Fort Sam Houston
Fort Sam Houston is a U.S. Army post in San Antonio, Texas.Known colloquially as "Fort Sam," it is named for the first President of the Republic of Texas, Sam Houston....
, San Antonio between 1958-1959.
Having returned home, Aktuna specialized in neuropsychiatry
Neuropsychiatry
Neuropsychiatry is the branch of medicine dealing with mental disorders attributable to diseases of the nervous system. It preceded the current disciplines of psychiatry and neurology, in as much as psychiatrists and neurologists had a common training....
at the Gülhane Military Medical Academy in Ankara, finishing in 1962. He then served in the army as medical officer at various places in Turkey. Between 1967-1989, he was lecturer at the Kabul Military Hospital in Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
. In 1970, he retired from the Turkish Army
Turkish Army
The Turkish Army or Turkish Land Forces is the main branch of the Turkish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. The modern history of the army began with its formation after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire...
in the rank of a lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
.
Civil service
Switched over to civil service, he firstly was appointed Assistant Chief Physician at the Psychology Clinic of Şişli Children's Hospital in Istanbul. He later became the chief of that clinic.Between 1972-1973, Aktuna sojourned in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
to pursue advanced studies in neurology
Neurology
Neurology is a medical specialty dealing with disorders of the nervous system. Specifically, it deals with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of disease involving the central, peripheral, and autonomic nervous systems, including their coverings, blood vessels, and all effector tissue,...
and electroencephalography
Electroencephalography
Electroencephalography is the recording of electrical activity along the scalp. EEG measures voltage fluctuations resulting from ionic current flows within the neurons of the brain...
(EEG) at the Neurological Clinic of the University of Vienna
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna is a public university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world...
.
In 1979, Yıldırım Aktuna was appointed Chief Physician of the Bakırköy Psychiatric Hospital in Istanbul, the largest of its art in the country. He modernized the hospital, and devoted himself to raise consciousness for public mental health and to develop contemporary policies on this subject. He established in 1983 an alcohol
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
and drug rehabilitation
Drug rehabilitation
Drug rehabilitation is a term for the processes of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment, for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and so-called street drugs such as cocaine, heroin or amphetamines...
center within this hospital, the first facility in Turkey to conduct medical and psychotherapeutic treatment and research for dependency on psychoactive substances as well. For these activities, he was honored several times by various organizations.
Politics
Yıldırım Aktuna resigned from his post on December 30, 1988, and entered politics joining the Social Democratic Populist PartySocial Democratic Populist Party (Turkey)
The Social Democratic Populist Party was the name of a former Turkish left social-democratic party, which resulted from the fusion, in 1985, of the Social Democracy Party of Erdal İnönü and the People's Party of Aydın Güven Gürkan, both founded in 1983 with the return to democracy after the...
(SHP). On March 26, 1989, he was elected district mayor of Bakırköy
Bakirköy
This article is about a neighbourhood in IstanbulBakırköy is a neighborhood, municipality and district on the European side of İstanbul, Turkey. The quarter is densely populated, has a residential character and is inhabited by a middle class population...
in Istanbul, where he was much respected.
After serving two and half years in the regional politics, Aktuna quit his post and joined the True Path Party (DYP) on August 27, 1991. Following the general elections
Turkish general election, 1991
General elections were held in Turkey on 20 October 1991. It was the first by the ruling Motherland Party to be contested without its founding leader, Turgut Özal, who had become Turkish president two years previously. The result was a swing against Özal's former party in favour of its fierce...
, he entered the parliament
Grand National Assembly of Turkey
The Grand National Assembly of Turkey , usually referred to simply as the Meclis , is the unicameral Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by the Turkish Constitution. It was founded in Ankara on 23 April 1920 in the midst of the Turkish War of Independence...
on October 20, 1991 as a deputy of Istanbul.
Yıldırım Aktuna served between 1991-1993 as Minister of Health in the cabinet of Süleyman Demirel
Süleyman Demirel
Sami Süleyman Gündoğdu Demirel, better known as Süleyman Demirel , is a Turkish politician who served as Prime Minister seven times and was the ninth President of Turkey.-Life:Demirel was born in İslamköy, a town in Isparta Province...
. In 1993, Tansu Çiller
Tansu Çiller
Tansu Penbe Çiller is a Turkish economist and politician. She was Turkey's first and only female Prime Minister.- Early career :She is the daughter of a Turkish governor of Bilecik province during the 1950s. She graduated from the School of Economics at Robert College after finishing the American...
appointed him Minister of State and government spokesman in her cabinet. After serving two years, he became Minister of Health again between 1996 and 1997 in the cabinets of Mesut Yılmaz
Mesut Yilmaz
Ahmet Mesut Yılmaz is the former leader of the Motherland Party and was the Turkish prime minister in the 1990s.Mesut Yılmaz was a rising star in the Motherland Party of Turgut Özal, representing the Black Sea province of Rize in the parliament and serving as tourism minister in Ozal's cabinet...
and later of Necmettin Erbakan
Necmettin Erbakan
Necmettin Erbakan was a Turkish engineer, academic, politician , who was the Prime Minister of Turkey from 1996 until 1997. He was Turkey's first Islamist Prime Minister...
. From 1997 to 1999, Aktuna served Minister of State in the cabinet of Mesut Yılmaz. During his duty as Minister of Health, he prepared a healthcare reform programme and organized twice national healthcare congresses. Furthermore, he continued to support all the activities he initiated at the Bakırköy Psychiatric Hospital.
Yıldırım Aktuna left the True Path Party (DYP) on May 30, 1996 keeping his membership in the parliament as an independent deputy. On July 1, 1997, he joined "Party for a Democratic Turkey" (DTP), which was founded some months ago by unsatisfied DYP politicians, and was appointed vice president by its leader Hüsamettin Cindoruk
Hüsamettin Cindoruk
Hüsamettin Cindoruk is a Turkish politician and the 17th Speaker of the Parliament of Turkey between 1991-1995. He has also been the leader of two political parties, notably of the True Path Party.-Biography:...
. He served as minister in the coalition cabinets from 1996 to 1998. However, he returned to DYP on November 24, 2001. Finally, he joined in 2003 the Liberal Democratic Party
Liberal Democratic Party (Turkey)
The Liberal Democratic Party is a liberal party in Turkey. LDP was founded in 1994 as Liberal Parti by Turkish entrepreneur Besim Tibuk. Besim Tibuk was the consultant of Turgut Özal till he died in 17 April 1993...
(LDP), a small party with leadership problems at that time.
Illness and death
Diagnosed with pancreatic cancerPancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer refers to a malignant neoplasm of the pancreas. The most common type of pancreatic cancer, accounting for 95% of these tumors is adenocarcinoma, which arises within the exocrine component of the pancreas. A minority arises from the islet cells and is classified as a...
in February 2007, he decided to undergo a P53-based
P53
p53 , is a tumor suppressor protein that in humans is encoded by the TP53 gene. p53 is crucial in multicellular organisms, where it regulates the cell cycle and, thus, functions as a tumor suppressor that is involved in preventing cancer...
gene therapy
Gene therapy
Gene therapy is the insertion, alteration, or removal of genes within an individual's cells and biological tissues to treat disease. It is a technique for correcting defective genes that are responsible for disease development...
, which is applied in more than hundred hospitals in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
since 2004. For this purpose, he traveled the next month to China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, where he stayed until August.
Yıldırım Aktuna died on September 29, 2007 in the German Hospital, Istanbul, where he was brought from Bodrum
Bodrum
Bodrum is a port city in Muğla Province, in the southwestern Aegean Region of Turkey. It is located on the southern coast of Bodrum Peninsula, at a point that checks the entry into the Gulf of Gökova. The site was called Halicarnassus of Caria in ancient times and was famous for housing the...
, Muğla
Mugla
Muğla is a city in south-western Turkey. It is the center of the district the same name, as well as of Muğla Province, which stretches along Turkey´s Aegean coast. Muğla center is situated inland at an altitude of 660 m and lies at a distance of about from the nearest seacoast in the Gulf of...
twelve days before. He was laid to rest at the Zincirlikuyu Cemetery
Zincirlikuyu Cemetery
The Zincirlikuyu Cemetery is a modern burial ground at the European part of Istanbul, Turkey. It is administered by the Metropolitan Municipality. Many prominent figures from the world of politics, business, sports and arts rest here....
on October 2.
He was succeeded by his son Oğul Aktuna and his divorced wife Zeliha Berksoy, a theatre actress and the daughter of Turkish prima donna
Prima donna
Originally used in opera or Commedia dell'arte companies, "prima donna" is Italian for "first lady." The term was used to designate the leading female singer in the opera company, the person to whom the prime roles would be given. The prima donna was normally, but not necessarily, a soprano...
Semiha Berksoy
Semiha Berksoy
Semiha Berksoy was one of the first Turkish opera singers, the prima donna of the Turkish opera, a painter, and an internationally acclaimed artist....
.