List of prime ministers of Turkey facts for kids

The Prime Minister of Turkey was a very important leader in the country's government. This job was created in 1920, during Turkey's fight for independence. The Prime Minister, along with their team (called the Cabinet), was in charge of running the country's daily affairs.

However, things changed after a vote in 2017. The role of Prime Minister was removed, and the President became the main leader of the government after the 2018 elections.

• Top left: İsmet İnönü was Turkey's first Prime Minister and served the longest.
• Top right: Süleyman Demirel led the most governments in Turkey.
• Bottom left: Tansu Çiller was Turkey's first and only female Prime Minister.
• Bottom right: Binali Yıldırım was Turkey's last Prime Minister.

Early Leaders (1920–1923)

Before Turkey became a republic, its first leaders were called "Heads of the Executive Ministers." They led the government during the Turkish War of Independence.

No.	Portrait	Name	Term of office	Political party	Cabinet	Speaker of the Grand National Assembly
1	Mustafa Kemal Atatürk	Mustafa Kemal Atatürk	3 May 1920 – 24 January 1921	Association for Defence of National Rights	Atatürk	Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
2	Fevzi Çakmak	Fevzi Çakmak	24 January 1921 – 9 July 1922	Association for Defence of National Rights	Çakmak I Çakmak II
					3		Rauf Orbay	Rauf Orbay	12 July 1922 – 4 August 1923	Association for Defence of National Rights	Orbay
4	Fethi Okyar	Fethi Okyar	14 August 1923 – 27 October 1923	Association for Defence of National Rights	Okyar

Prime Ministers of the Republic of Turkey (1923–2018)

After Turkey became a republic in 1923, the leaders were officially called Prime Ministers. They worked closely with the President.

Status

     Denotes acting prime minister

No.	Portrait	Name	Term of office	Political party	Cabinet	President
1	İsmet İnönü	İsmet İnönü	30 October 1923 – 22 November 1924	Republican People's Party	İnönü I İnönü II	Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
					2		Fethi Okyar	Fethi Okyar	22 November 1924 – 6 March 1925	Republican People's Party	Okyar
(1)	İsmet İnönü	İsmet İnönü	6 March 1925 – 1 November 1937	Republican People's Party	İnönü III İnönü IV İnönü V İnönü VI İnönü VII
					3		Celâl Bayar	Celâl Bayar	1 November 1937 – 25 January 1939	Republican People's Party	Bayar I Bayar II	İsmet İnönü
											4		Refik Saydam	Refik Saydam	25 January 1939 – 8 July 1942	Republican People's Party	Saydam I Saydam II
					5		Şükrü Saracoğlu	Şükrü Saracoğlu	8 July 1942 – 7 August 1946	Republican People's Party							Saracoğlu I Saracoğlu II
											6		Recep Peker	Recep Peker	7 August 1946 – 9 September 1947	Republican People's Party	Peker
7	Hasan Saka	Hasan Saka	9 September 1947 – 16 January 1949	Republican People's Party	Saka I Saka II
					8		Şemsettin Günaltay	Şemsettin Günaltay	16 January 1949 – 22 May 1950	Republican People's Party	Günaltay
9	Adnan Menderes	Adnan Menderes	22 May 1950 – 27 May 1960	Democrat Party	Menderes I Menderes II Menderes III Menderes IV Menderes V	Celâl Bayar
					10		Cemal Gürsel	Cemal Gürsel	27 May 1960 – 27 October 1961	Military	Gürsel I Gürsel II		National Unity Committee
											(1)			İsmet İnönü	İsmet İnönü	27 October 1961 – 20 February 1965	Republican People's Party	İnönü VIII İnönü IX İnönü X	Cemal Gürsel
					11		Suat Hayri Ürgüplü	Suat Hayri Ürgüplü	20 February 1965 – 27 October 1965	Justice Party		Ürgüplü
					12		Süleyman Demirel	Süleyman Demirel	27 October 1965 – 26 March 1971	Justice Party		Demirel I Demirel II Demirel III	Cevdet Sunay
13	Nihat Erim	Nihat Erim	26 March 1971 – 17 April 1972	Independent		Erim I Erim II
						14					Ferit Melen	Ferit Melen		17 April 1972 – 15 April 1973	Republican Reliance Party	Melen
15	Naim Talu	Naim Talu	15 April 1973 – 25 January 1974	Independent	Talu	Fahri Korutürk
16	Bülent Ecevit	Bülent Ecevit	25 January 1974 – 17 November 1974	Republican People's Party	Ecevit I
17	Sadi Irmak	Sadi Irmak	17 November 1974 – 31 March 1975	Independent	Irmak
(12)	Süleyman Demirel	Süleyman Demirel	31 March 1975 – 21 June 1977	Justice Party	Demirel IV
(16)	Bülent Ecevit	Bülent Ecevit	21 June 1977 – 21 July 1977	Republican People's Party	Ecevit II
(12)	Süleyman Demirel	Süleyman Demirel	21 July 1977 – 5 January 1978	Justice Party	Demirel V
(16)	Bülent Ecevit	Bülent Ecevit	5 January 1978 – 12 November 1979	Republican People's Party	Ecevit III
(12)	Süleyman Demirel	Süleyman Demirel	12 November 1979 – 12 September 1980	Justice Party	Demirel VI
18	Bülend Ulusu	Bülend Ulusu	21 September 1980 – 13 December 1983	Military	Ulusu	National Security Council
						Kenan Evren
19	Turgut Özal	Turgut Özal	13 December 1983 – 9 November 1989	Motherland Party	Özal I Özal II
					20		Yıldırım Akbulut	Yıldırım Akbulut	9 November 1989 – 23 June 1991	Motherland Party	Akbulut	Turgut Özal
21	Mesut Yılmaz	Mesut Yılmaz	23 June 1991 – 20 November 1991	Motherland Party	Yılmaz I
(12)	Süleyman Demirel	Süleyman Demirel	20 November 1991 – 16 May 1993	True Path Party	Demirel VII
22	Tansu Çiller	Tansu Çiller	25 June 1993 – 6 March 1996	True Path Party	Çiller I Çiller II Çiller III	Süleyman Demirel
					(21)		Mesut Yılmaz	Mesut Yılmaz	6 March 1996 – 28 June 1996	Motherland Party	Yılmaz II
					23		Necmettin Erbakan	Necmettin Erbakan	28 June 1996 – 30 June 1997	Welfare Party	Erbakan
(21)	Mesut Yılmaz	Mesut Yılmaz	30 June 1997 – 11 January 1999	Motherland Party	Yılmaz III
(16)	Bülent Ecevit	Bülent Ecevit	11 January 1999 – 18 November 2002	Democratic Left Party	Ecevit IV Ecevit V		Ahmet Necdet Sezer
					24			Abdullah Gül	Abdullah Gül	18 November 2002 – 14 March 2003	Justice and Development Party	Gül
25	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan	14 March 2003 – 29 August 2014	Justice and Development Party	Erdoğan I Erdoğan II Erdoğan III			Abdullah Gül
					26	Ahmet Davutoğlu	Ahmet Davutoğlu		29 August 2014 – 24 May 2016	Justice and Development Party	Davutoğlu I Davutoğlu II Davutoğlu III	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
								27			Binali Yıldırım		Binali Yıldırım	24 May 2016 – 9 July 2018	Justice and Development Party	Yıldırım

Timeline of Prime Ministers

More About Turkey's Government

• Prime Minister of Turkey
  • List of prime ministers of Turkey by time in office
• President of Turkey
  • List of presidents of Turkey
• Vice President of Turkey
• List of cabinets of Turkey