Mehmet Mehdi Eker

Mehdi Eker
Minister of Food, Agriculture and Livestock
In office 2 June 2005 – 28 August 2015
Prime Minister	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Ahmet Davutoğlu
Preceded by	Sami Güçlü
Succeeded by	Kutbettin Arzu
Member of the Grand National Assembly
Incumbent
Assumed office 8 July 2018
Constituency	Diyarbakır (2018)
In office 19 November 2002 – 7 June 2015
Constituency	Diyarbakır (2002, 2007, 2011)
Personal details
Born	(1956-01-01) 1 January 1956 (age 68) Bismil, Diyarbakır, Turkey
Political party	Justice and Development Party
Spouse	Yasemin Eker
Alma mater	Ankara University

Mehmet Mehdi Eker is a Turkish politician who served as the Minister of Food, Agriculture and Livestock of Turkey from 2005 until 2015.^[1][2] He was elected a Member of Parliament for the electoral district of Diyarbakır for Democratic People's Party in 2002.^[3] He was re-elected in 2007^[4] and 2011^[5] for the Justice and Development Party (AKP). He was again elected as an MP in 2018.^[6]

A veterinarian and agro-economist he had a career as a civil servant in the ministry of agriculture before entering politics at the age of 46.

As minister of Agriculture he has had to deal with issues including:

• The bird flu epidemic of 2005, in which he made a statement that it was safe to eat cooked chicken and then famously refused to do so on television.^[7]
• Adjusting food control regulations to comply with EU norms, including recategorising pork and horse meat as suitable for human consumption.^[8]

References

• v
• t
• e

First Erdoğan Cabinet (2003–2007)

• Cabinet

Prime Minister

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (2003–2014)

Deputy Prime Ministers

• Abdullah Gül (2003–2007)
• Mehmet Ali Şahin (2003–2007)
• Abdüllatif Şener (2003–2007)

Minister of State

• Ali Babacan (2003–2007)
• Güldal Akşit (2003-2005)
• Nimet Çubukçu (2005–2007)
• Mehmet Aydın (2003–2007)
• Kürşad Tüzmen (2003–2007)
• Beşir Atalay (2003–2007)

Minister of Justice

• Cemil Çiçek (2003–2007)
• Fahri Kasırga (2007)

Minister of National Defense

• Mehmet Vecdi Gönül (2003–2007)

Minister of the Interior

• Abdülkadir Aksu (2003–2007)
• Osman Güneş (2007)

Minister of Foreign Affairs

• Abdullah Gül (2003–2007)

Minister of Finance

• Kemal Unakıtan (2003–2007)

Minister of National Education

• Hüseyin Çelik (2003–2007)

Minister of Public Works and Settlement

• Zeki Ergezen (2003-2007)
• Faruk Nafız Özak (2005–2007)

Minister of Health

• Recep Akdağ (2003–2007)

Minister of Transport and Communication

• Binali Yıldırım (2003–2007)
• İsmet Yılmaz (2007)

Minister of Agriculture

• Sami Güçlü (2003–2005)
• Mehmet Mehdi Eker (2005–2007)

Minister of Labour and Social Security

• Murat Başesgioğlu (2003–2007)

Minister of Industry and Commerce

• Ali Coşkun (2003–2007)

Minister of Energy and Natural Resources

• Mehmet Hilmi Güler (2003–2007)

Minister of Culture and Tourism

• Erkan Mumcu (2003–2005)
• Atilla Koç (2005–2007)

Minister of Environment and Forestry

• Osman Pepe (2003–2007)