Read about Binali Yıldırım net worth, age, wife, children, height, family, parents, salary, and politics as well as other information you need to know.
Introduction
Binali Yıldırım is a Turkish politician who served as the 27th and last Prime Minister of Turkey from 2016 to 2018 and Speaker of the Grand National Assembly from 2018 to 2019. He was the Leader of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) from 2016 to 2017, then became parliamentary leader until 2018. Yıldırım served as chairman of the board of Directors of İstanbul Fast Ferries Company (İDO) from 1994 to 2000 before being elected as an AKP Member of Parliament for İstanbul’s first electoral district during the 2002 general election.
Yıldırım was appointed as Minister of Transport by Prime Minister Abdullah Gül and continued in office after Erdoğan became Prime Minister in 2003. As Transport Minister, he presided over numerous projects such as Marmaray, high-speed rail lines and an expansion in the country’s airport and road facilities, though received heavy criticism and calls for his resignation following the Pamukova train derailment in 2004. In 2011, the portfolios of Maritime and Communications were merged with the Ministry of Transport, with Yıldırım becoming the Minister of Transport, Maritime and Communication.
Leaving office in a cabinet reshuffle in 2013, Yıldırım ran as the AKP candidate for Mayor of İzmir in the 2014 local elections but lost to the incumbent Republican People’s Party (CHP) candidate Aziz Kocaoğlu. He was appointed as special advisor to Erdoğan in June 2014 and left Parliament in the June 2015 general election due to the AKP’s three-term rule for its sitting MPs. He was re-appointed as Transport Minister by Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu after being reelected to Parliament in the November 2015 general election.
Following Davutoğlu’s resignation as party leader due to a breakdown in relations with President Erdoğan on 5 May 2016, Yıldırım was announced as the AKP’s next leader by the Central Executive Committee on 19 May and was elected unopposed during the party’s 2nd Extraordinary Congress on 22 May 2016. He formed the country’s 65th government and became Prime Minister on 24 May 2016. Factions of the Turkish Army in discontent with his policies attempted to oust him in a failed military coup d’état attempt on 15 July 2016.
As a staunch supporter of Erdoğan, Yıldırım was referred to as a ‘low-profile’ Prime Minister and expected to spearhead a transition from a parliamentary system of government to an executive presidency, which would delegate greater powers to Erdoğan and the presidency. Following the declared victory of the ‘Yes’ vote in the 2017 constitutional referendum despite electoral irregularities, Yıldırım resigned as AKP Leader in place of Erdoğan, who was elected as his successor during the 3rd AKP extraordinary Congress on 21 May 2017.
Binali Yıldırım was subsequently elected as the AKP’s parliamentary leader by 300 votes on 24 May. The office of the Prime Minister of Turkey was abolished as a result of the 2017 constitutional referendum. In 2013, Yıldırım was implicated in a government corruption scandal, with the financial and social activities of his family members also coming under scrutiny. He has caused controversy over his defense of greater government surveillance and comments favouring sex segregation. He was the AKP nominee for Mayor of Istanbul in both the March 2019 and June 2019 Istanbul mayoral elections (the latter of which occurred after the Supreme Election Council annulled the March election), losing both to CHP nominee Ekrem İmamoğlu, to whom he conceded defeat and congratulated following the June 2019 election.
Early life
| Name | Binali Yıldırım |
| Net Worth | $5 million |
| Occupation | Politician |
| Age | 66 years |
| Height | 1.71m |
Binali Yıldırım was born on December 20, 1955 (age 66 years) in Refahiye, Erzincan Province, Turkey. His name, Binali, means son of Ali in Arabic (بن علي). An Alevi neighbour of his family gave him the name. His surname, Yıldırım, means “lightning bolt” and has often been attributed by the pro-government press to embody the rapid growth of transport infrastructure during his tenure as Minister of Transport.
Yıldırım’s origins have been frequently questioned due to contradictory claims by himself, his family, and other people. At a political rally in Hakkari and Van, while asking Kurds to vote for his party, he mentioned that his origins are Kurdish; however, his cousin stated that their family is not Kurdish. Many see Binali Yıldırım’s mention of his supposed Kurdish origins as an attempt to appear cute for the voters of pro-Kurdish parties.
He also claimed that he is from Şanlıurfa while addressing citizens from Şanlıurfa, although it is known that he is from Erzincan. As a result, many authors started theorizing about his origins. Macit Gürbüz, a Turkish author, claims that his family migrated to Urfa from Raqqa and then to Ağrı. Afterward, the family ended up in a village in Gümüşhane and lastly in Erzincan. Likewise, some people from Ağrı assume Binali Yıldırım is a fellow Kurd from Ağrı, while people from Erzincan claim him to be a Turk.
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Yıldırım was educated at the İstanbul Technical University’s School of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering, studying Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering and later received his master’s degree from the same department. While serving in numerous managerial positions in the General Directorate of the Turkish Shipping Industry and the Camialtı Shipyard, he received specialized training regarding Maritime Safety and Environmental Protection from the International Maritime Organisation’s World Maritime University in Sweden. While at the World Maritime University, he spent six months working with maritime administration professionals at Scandinavian and European ports.
After graduation, Binali Yıldırım served as the director general of the İstanbul Fast Ferries Company (İDO) from 1994 to 2000 while Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was Mayor of İstanbul. In attempts to make greater use of sea travel to ease transport congestion in İstanbul, Yıldırım established the İstanbul-Yalova and İstanbul-Bandırma ferry routes and oversaw the establishment of 29 ferry terminals, the commission of 22 passenger and 4 car ferries, making İDO the largest commercial maritime transportation company of its time.
In 1999, he was awarded a quality medal by the Skål International group for his contributions to the modernization of the maritime transportation and tourism industries. He was removed from office by Erdoğan’s successor, Mayor Ali Müfit Gürtuna, following allegations of misconduct, having been accused of hiring out buffets to a firm run by members of his close family.
Political career
As the Director of İDO, Binali Yıldırım established a close relationship with Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who served as İstanbul’s Mayor from 1994 to 1998. When the latter led efforts to establish a new moderate conservative democratic political party in August 2001, Yıldırım joined Erdoğan to become a founding member of the Justice and Development Party (AKP). He was subsequently fielded as a parliamentary candidate for İstanbul’s first electoral district in the 2002 general election and was elected following the party’s landslide victory.
Binali Yıldırım was elected as a Member of Parliament for İstanbul’s first electoral district in the 2002 general election, he was re-elected as an MP in the 2007 general election as a candidate from his home province of Erzincan. In 2006, he stated that his name was of Alevi origin and that he would work hard for the AKP to field Alevi candidates in the upcoming electi on, in response to criticism that the party was discriminating against the Alevi minority in Turkey due to its Sunni Islam political origin.
In the 2011 general election, Yıldırım was elected for a third consecutive time from İzmir’s second electoral district. Due to the AKP’s three-term limit on its MPs, Yıldırım was unable to seek re-election for a fourth time in the June 2015 general election. However, he re-entered Parliament from İzmir’s first electoral district during the November 2015 snap general election seven months later.
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On February 18, 2019, the speaker of the Turkish Parliament Binali Yildirim announced that he would resign due to the fact that he would run for mayor of Istanbul in the local elections to be held in Turkey on March 31, 2019. Binali Yıldırım stands at an appealing height of 1.71m and has a good body weight which suits his personality.
Who is Binali Yıldırım wife?
Binali Yıldırım has been married to his wife Semiha Yıldırım who is a retired teacher. The couple held their marriage ceremony in 1976 and they have three children, Erkan, Ahmet and Baran. A primary school established by their three children in Çekmeköy, İstanbul was named after his wife, ‘Öğretmen Semiha Yıldırım İlkokulu’, and was opened on 24 November 2012. Semiha Yıldırım is also active in the Justice and Development Party, having been seen at the establishment of the g overnment’s ‘Soul Mountain’ (Gönül Dağı) Project on 17 May 2016 sitting next to President Erdoğan’s wife Emine Erdoğan. He speaks Turkish, English and French.
Binali Yıldırım net worth
How much is Binali Yıldırım worth? Binali Yıldırım net worth is estimated at around $5 million. His main source of income is from his primary work as a politician. Binali Yıldırım’s salary per month and other career earnings are over $400,000 dollars annually. His remarkable achievements have earned him some luxurious lifestyles and some fancy car trips. He is one of the richest and most influential politicians in Turkey.