Efkan Ala

Efkan Ala MP
Minister of the Interior
Incumbent
Assumed office 24 November 2015
Prime Minister	Ahmet Davutoğlu
Preceded by	Selami Altınok
In office 25 December 2013 – 7 March 2015
Prime Minister	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Ahmet Davutoğlu
Preceded by	Muammer Güler
Succeeded by	Sebahattin Öztürk
Member of the Grand National Assembly
Incumbent
Assumed office 7 June 2015
Constituency	Erzurum (June 2015) Bursa (Nov 2015)
Undersecretary to the Prime Minister of Turkey
In office 10 October 2007 – 25 December 2013
Prime Minister	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Preceded by	Mehmet Emin Zararsız
Succeeded by	Fahri Kasırga
Governor of Diyarbakır
In office 14 September 2004 – 10 September 2007
Preceded by	Nusret Miroğlu
Succeeded by	Hüseyin Avni Mutlu
Governor of Batman
In office 2003 – 14 September 2004
Preceded by	İsa Parlak
Succeeded by	Haluk İmga
Personal details
Born	1965 (age 50–51) Oltu, Erzurum Province, Turkey
Nationality	Turkish
Alma mater	Istanbul University
Occupation	Politician, civil servant
Cabinet	61st, 62nd, 64th

Efkan Ala (born 1965) is a Turkish politician who currently serves as the Minister of the Interior since November 2015; previously he held the same post from 2013 to June 2015 despite not being a member of parliament at the time. He served as Governor of Batman from 2003 to 2004, as Governor of Diyarbakır from 2004 to 2007, and as Undersecretary to the Prime Minister from 2007 to 2013.

Early life

Efkan Ala was born in the township of Oltu in Erzurum Province in 1965. He studied Political Science at Istanbul University, graduating in 1987.^[1] He went to Torqey language school in England in 1989-1990.

Career

Civil service

In 1988, he began his civil service career as a district governor trainee. After working two years at the governor's office in Sakarya Province, and a one-year professional study in the United Kingdom, he became a district governor, and served two years in each townships of Dernekpazarı, Trabzon and Kabataş, Ordu. Ala was appointed Deputy Province Governor in Tunceli.^[1][2]

After serving at various positions in different ministries, he was made the Governor of Batman Province in 2003, where he served one year. On 14 September 2004, he was appointed as the Governor of Diyarbakır Province, remaining in that post until 2007.^[1][2]

On 10 September 2007, Ala became the Undersecretary to the Prime Minister.^[1][2]

Minister of the Interior

On 25 December 2013, Minister of the Interior Muammer Güler stepped down along with two of other cabinet members following a corruption investigation, which involved his son.^[3] The same day, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced a cabinet reshuffle with ten new names.^{[3][4][5][6][7]} The next day, on 26 December, Efkan Ala assumed office as the Minister of the Interior^[1][2][6] as a non-member of the parliament, a move that was sharply criticized by some MPs of the prime minister's own Justice and Development Party (AKP) as well as by the leadership of the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP).^[4][8]

References

1. "Oltulu Efkan Ala İçişleri Bakanı Oldu!". Oltu Medya (in Turkish). 2013-12-26. Retrieved 2013-12-26.
2. "İşte yeni bakanların özgeçmişi". Radikal (in Turkish). 2013-12-26. Retrieved 2013-12-26.
3. "Üç bakan istifa etti". Hürriyet (in Turkish). 2013-12-25. Retrieved 2013-12-26.
4. "Turkish prosecutor taken off graft case that has shaken government". The National. 26 December 2013. Retrieved 27 December 2013.
5. Yılmazi Turan & Esra Kaya (2013-12-26). "Kabinede 10 değişiklik". Hürriyet (in Turkish). Retrieved 2013-12-28.
6. "PM Erdoğan announces new Cabinet with 10 changes amid graft probe". Hürriyet Daily News. 2013-12-25. Retrieved 2014-01-30.
7. "PM Erdoğan announces 10 new names in major Cabinet reshuffle". Today's Zaman. 2013-12-25. Retrieved 2014-01-30.
8. "AKP'de dışardan atanan bakana 'içerden' sert tepki". Radikal (in Turkish). 2013-12-26. Retrieved 2013-12-26.