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 | |
| Assumed office 8 July 2018 | |
| Constituency | Diyarbakır (2018) |
| In office 19 November 2002 – 7 June 2015 | |
| Constituency | Diyarbakır (2002, 2007, 2011) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1 January 1956 Bismil, Diyarbakır, Turkey |
| Political party | Justice and Development Party |
| Spouse | Yasemin Eker |
| Alma mater | Ankara University |
Mehmet Mehdi Eker is a Kurdish-Turkish politician who served as the Minister of Food, Agriculture and Livestock of Turkey from 2005 until 2015. He was elected a Member of Parliament for the electoral district of Diyarbakır for Democratic People's Party in 2002. He was re-elected in 2007 and 2011 for the Justice and Development Party (AKP). He was again elected as an MP in 2018.
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.
- Adjusting food control regulations to comply with EU norms, including recategorising pork and horse meat as suitable for human consumption.