36 Notable alumni of Gazi University
Updated: June 07, 2026 EliteDegrees
Gazi University is 738st in the world, 1st in North America, and 7st in the United States by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 36 notable alumni from Gazi University sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff. Many individuals affiliated with Gazi University won Nobel Prizes for Peace, in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, and Economics.
1. Nevin Halıcı
1941-. (aged 85)
cookbook writer
writer
Nevin Halıcı is a Kurdish writer, cultural anthropologist and lecturer on Turkish cuisine. Her book "Nevin Halici's Turkish Cookbook" was the first published cookbook translated from Turkish to English. She has published many cookbooks mostly in Turkish. Those translated into English included books on Sufi cuisine, a type of Islamic cooking. She also writes about regional Turkish cooking, and Ottoman...
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2. Bekir Karayel
1982-. (aged 44)
marathon runner
Bekir Karayel is a Turkish middle and long-distance runner, who later specialized in marathon. The 172 cm (5 ft 8 in) tall athlete at 62 kg (137 lb) is a member of İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyesi S.K., where he is coached by Satılmış Atmaca. He studied at Gazi University.
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3. Gülçin Yahya Kaçar
1966-. (aged 60)
academic
musician
Gulçin Yahya Kaçar is a Turkish musician, Oud master, composer, singer, and academic. Member of the Republic of Turkey Presidential Culture and Art Policies Board.
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4. Hasan Yükselir
1955-. (aged 71)
composer
singer
Hasan Yükselir is a Turkish singer and composer, who predominantly performs Turkish folk songs (Türkü).
5. İnci Aral
1944-. (aged 82)
writer
İnci Aral is a well-known Turkish writer of novels and short stories who has works published around the world. She was born in 1944 in Denizli, Turkey, a city in the southwestern part of Turkey. She currently lives in Istanbul, Turkey with her husband and two children. One of her popular stories was Ölü Erkek Kuşlar. Her novel Ağda Zaman...
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6. Mevlüt Karakaya
1963-. (aged 63)
politician
Mevlüt Karakaya is a Turkish politician from the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), who has served as a Member of Parliament for Adana since 7 June 2015.
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7. Güldeniz Önal
1986-. (aged 40)
volleyball player
Güldeniz Önal Paşaoğlu is a Turkish volleyball player. She is 183 cm and plays as outside hitter.
8. Metin Yurdanur
1951-. (aged 75)
sculptor
Metin Yurdanur is a sculptor based in Turkey, who was awarded the title State Artist of Turkey.
9. Binnaz Uslu
1985-. (aged 41)
athletics competitor
Binnaz Uslu is a retired Turkish middle-distance and long-distance runner. She was banned from sport for life in 2014, after her second doping violation.
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10. Candan Yüceer
1973-. (aged 53)
politician
physician
Candan Yüceer is a Turkish politician from the Republican People's Party (CHP). She is the current Mayor of Tekirdağ and President of Union of Municipalities of Thrace. Also, she has served as a Member of Parliament for Tekirdağ from 28 June 2011 to 14 May 2023.
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11. Ayşenur İslam
1958-. (aged 68)
university teacher
writer
politician
Ayşenur İslam is a Turkish university lecturer and politician. On 25 December 2013, she was appointed as the Minister of Family and Social Policy in the third cabinet of Erdoğan and served until 28 August 2015.
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12. Tarık Daşgün
1973-. (aged 53)
association football player
association football coach
Tarık Daşgün is a Turkish football manager and former player. In 2005 he was found guilty of doping.
13. Erdem Gül
1967-. (aged 59)
journalist
Erdem Gül is a Turkish politician serving as the mayor of the Princes' Islands since 2019. He was the chief of the Ankara bureau of Turkish secularist newspaper Cumhuriyet between 2010 and 2018. He was arrested in November 2015 after his newspaper published footage purportedly showing the National Intelligence Organization of Turkey (MİT) sending weapons to Syrian Islamist fighters.
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14. Seda Aslanyürek
1986-. (aged 40)
volleyball player
Seda Aslanyürek Tokatlıoğlu is a Turkish volleyball player. She is 192 cm tall and plays as an outside spiker. However, she played as an opposite both in Turkey women's national volleyball team and Beijing from China. Tokatlıoğlu has a block height of 304 cm and spike height of 312 cm and played more than 200 times for the national team....
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15. Zafer Çağlayan
1957-. (aged 69)
engineer
politician
Mehmet Zafer Çağlayan is a Turkish politician and former Minister. He is a member of parliament from the ruling Justice and Development Party and the former Minister of Economic Affairs under Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
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16. İlhan Cihaner
1968-. (aged 58)
politician
İlhan Cihaner, is a Turkish leftist politician and a former prosecutor. He's a parliamentary deputy for the Republican People's Party (CHP) since 2011. He was the Chief Public Prosecutor of Erzincan from 2007; he resigned in 2011 in order to stand for election. He is a suspect in the Ergenekon trials. He is a columnist for the soL newspaper.
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17. Şamil Tayyar
1965-. (aged 61)
politician
writer
journalist
Şamil Tayyar is a Turkish journalist, author, and deputy for the Justice and Development Party (AKP) since 2011. He is a columnist with the daily Star and has contributed to Yeni Şafak, Milliyet and Sabah. He has published a book on the Ergenekon trials, Operation Ergenekon.
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18. Ali Palabıyık
1981-. (aged 45)
association football referee
Ali Palabıyık is a Turkish football referee who officiates in the Süper Lig. He has been a FIFA referee since 2015, and is ranked as a UEFA first category referee.
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19. Eşref Apak
1982-. (aged 44)
hammer thrower
athletics competitor
Eşref Apak is a Turkish hammer thrower. Apak was a member of Fenerbahçe Athletics in Istanbul then transferred to Enkaspor, where he was coached by Artun Talay. The 185 cm (6 ft 1 in) tall athlete at 115 kg (254 lb) was a student of physical education and sports at Gazi University in Ankara.
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20. Zeki Sezer
1957-. (aged 69)
politician
Mehmet Zeki Sezer is a Turkish politician and former chairman of the Democratic Left Party (Demokratik Sol Parti, DSP), he was elected in the 6th ordinary party congress in 2004 after the resignation of Bülent Ecevit.
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21. Müsavat Dervişoğlu
1960-. (aged 66)
politician
Dursun Müsavat Dervişoğlu is a Turkish businessman, politician and the leader of the Good Party.
22. Nihat Özdemir
1950-. (aged 76)
sports executive
engineer
businessperson
Nihat Özdemir is a Turkish business man, owner of Limak holding and former president of the Turkish Football Federation. He was the Deputy President and Press Spokesman for Turkish Süper Lig football club Fenerbahçe SK.
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23. Kamer Genç
1940-2016 (aged 76)
politician
Kamer Genç was a Turkish politician, elected a member of parliament for the Republican People's Party in the 1987 and 1991 elections, for the True Path Party in the 1995 and 1999 elections, as an independent candidate in the 2007 elections, returning to the Republican People's Party on 1 June 2010, for which he was reelected in the 2011 elections.
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24. Ferman Akgül
1979-. (aged 47)
singer
songwriter
composer
İbrahim Ferman Akgül is a Turkish singer, songwriter, TV host and actor. He is the lead singer of Turkish rock band maNga. In 2015 he opened the independent record label 06 Records and released his first solo single "İstemem Söz Sevmeni" in early 2016.
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25. Tuncay Özkan
1966-. (aged 60)
politician
writer
journalist
Ahmet Tuncay Özkan is a Turkish journalist, writer and politician. He was arrested on September 27, 2008, in relation to the odatv case of the Ergenekon trials, and in August 2013 he was sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment and released a year later.
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26. İsmail Küçükkaya
1970-. (aged 56)
journalist
İsmail Küçükkaya is a Turkish journalist, news anchor and writer.
27. Jülide Sarıeroğlu
1979-. (aged 47)
economist
politician
trade unionist
Jülide Sarıeroğlu is a Turkish labour economist, trade unionist, non-fiction writer and politician who served as the Minister of labour and social security from 19 July 2017 to 10 July 2018 in the Cabinet of Yıldırım.
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28. Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu
1948-. (aged 78)
economist
politician
bureaucrat
Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, also referred to by his initials KK, is a Turkish politician who served as the leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP) from 2010 to 2023. He was Leader of the Main Opposition in Turkey between 2010 and 2023. He served as a member of parliament for Istanbul's second electoral district from 2002 to 2015, and as an...
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29. Aziz Yıldırım
1952-. (aged 74)
architect
businessperson
ship-owner
civil engineer
engineer
Aziz Yıldırım is a Turkish businessman and civil engineer who served as the 36th chairman of the Turkish multi-sport club Fenerbahçe SK. He lost the election held on 3 June 2018 to Ali Koç which made him the 37th president of the Turkish club. He served the club as the president from 1998 to 2018. He has a degree in...
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30. Melih Gökçek
1948-. (aged 78)
politician
İbrahim Melih Gökçek is a Turkish politician who served as the mayor of Ankara from 1994 to 2017. From 1991 to 1994, he was an MP. Gökçek has won municipal elections in 1994, 1999, 2004, 2009, and was controversially also declared the winner in 2014. He is a member of the governing AK Party.
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31. Abdüllatif Şener
1954-. (aged 72)
university teacher
politician
Abdüllatif Şener is a Turkish politician. He was Minister of Finance of Turkey from 1996 to 1997 and Deputy Prime Minister from 2002 to 2007, under Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
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32. Ömer Çelik
1968-. (aged 58)
journalist
politician
Ömer Çelik is a Turkish journalist and politician. Between 24 January 2013 and 28 August 2015 he served as Minister of Culture and Tourism. He served as the Minister of European Union Affairs and as the Chief Negotiator for Turkish Accession to the European Union between 2016–2018.
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33. Neslihan Demir
1983-. (aged 43)
beach volleyball player
volleyball player
Neslihan Demir is a retired Turkish volleyball star. She is one of the most successful athletes of Turkey and has been among FIVB Heroes. She represented her country as the flag bearer at the 2012 Summer Olympics and the official advertisement face of Turkey for the 2020 Summer Olympics candidateship along with basketballer Hedo Türkoğlu. She was a left-handed opposite...
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34. Müslüm Doğan
1959-. (aged 67)
politician
Müslüm Doğan is a Turkish politician of Kurdish origin who served as the Minister of Development in the interim election government formed by Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu on 28 August 2015. He was elected as a Member of Parliament for İzmir's second electoral district in the June 2015 general election. He is a member of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP)....
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35. Ümit Özdağ
1961-. (aged 65)
university teacher
author
politician
Ümit Özdağ is a Turkish politician who serves as the leader of the Victory Party since 2021.
36. Mustafa Balel
1945-. (aged 81)
novelist
writer
linguist
children's writer
translator
Mustafa Balel is a Turkish short story writer and novelist.