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 (1956-01-01) 1 January 1956
Bismil, Diyarbakır, Turkey
Political party Justice and Development Party
Spouse(s) Yasemin Eker
Alma mater Ankara University

Mehmet Mehdi Eker is a Turkish politician who served as the Minister of Food, Agriculture and Livestock of Turkey from 2005 to 2015. He was a Member of Parliament for the electoral district of Diyarbakır from the Justice and Development Party (AKP) between 2002 and 2015.

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.[1]
  • Adjusting food control regulations to comply with EU norms, including recategorising pork and horse meat as suitable for human consumption.[2]

References

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