Numan Kurtulmuş is currently the speaker of the Turkish Grand National Assembly, and as such also chairs the “National Solidarity, Brotherhood, and Democracy Commission” formed to seek a solution to the Kurdish question. But if we were to borrow the rhetorical style of MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli, we might ask: “Who is Kurtulmuş, where did he come from, and where is he heading?”
Like Tayyip Erdoğan, Kurtulmuş comes from Necmettin Erbakan’s “National View” political tradition. When Erbakan’s Refah Party was shut down, Erdoğan—together with his Istanbul-based team—was preparing to establish a new party. At that very moment, Erbakan appointed Kurtulmuş as Istanbul provincial chair of Refah in an attempt to pit the two against each other. While Erdoğan went on to found the AKP and come to power alone, Kurtulmuş stayed with Erbakan. Later, he fell out with Erbakan’s inner circle but did not join the AKP.
PEOPLE’S VOICE PARTY
In 2010, Kurtulmuş founded the HAS Party (People’s Voice Party). A side note is useful here: nationalist-conservative right-wing parties in Turkey traditionally do not include the word “people” in their names. It is found instead in leftist, socialist, social democratic, and—since the 1990s—Kurdish political parties. With figures like Mehmet Bekaroğlu—who could be described as part of the “Muslim Left”—Kurtulmuş entered the 2011 elections under the HAS Party banner. But the party drew less than 1% of the vote.
WHO IS NUMBER ONE?
Up to this point, this is the story of Kurtulmuş’s effort to become “number one” man. He mounted a serious challenge to Erdoğan within his own political neighborhood and across Turkey. Yet once it became clear—especially through election results—that his chances of becoming the top figure were gone, he changed course.
In 2012, he shut down his party and joined the AKP. This reinforced the perception that “as long as Erdoğan exists, no one else in right-wing politics can be number one.” Perhaps this is true worldwide, but in Turkey, the “first man” question carries particular weight. The prominent Kemalist writer Şevket Süreyya Aydemir titled his biography of Atatürk “The Single Man,” and his book on second president İsmet İnönü “The Second Man.”
Although Turkey was among the earliest countries to grant women the right to vote and to be elected, the continued absence of women’s names in this narrative remains a glaring anomaly.
HIS FATHER’S PRESTIGE
Before Numan himself, the Kurtulmuş name was already known in conservative circles. His father İsmail Niyazi Kurtulmuş was a physician but, more importantly, a founding figure of institutions highly respected in the conservative world, such as the Society for the Dissemination of Knowledge (İlim Yayma Cemiyeti). He strongly supported initiatives to expand Imam Hatip schools and was a close friend of Necmettin Erbakan.
REZA ZARRAB TEST
After joining the AKP, while Turkey was still under a parliamentary system, Kurtulmuş became deputy prime minister. His term began with misfortune. Iranian businessperson Reza Zarrab—accused of evading U.S. sanctions on Iran—was still in Turkey. At an event honoring successful businesspeople, which Erdoğan also attended, Kurtulmuş was tasked with handing Zarrab his award. The photo haunted him: “You were someone untainted by money or corruption. Why did you allow this photo? It will follow you for life,” critics said.
Kurtulmuş defended himself: “We did not know to whom we would be giving awards. I had never met or seen this man before. It was a coincidence. Had the organizers told us beforehand, I would not have been in that picture. This photo has upset me most of all. I wish I had not been in it.”
It is known he also voiced these complaints directly to then-Prime Minister Erdoğan but received little response. Zarrab later went to the United States and was tried in American courts.
A CONCILIATORY FIGURE
Whoever was the speaker would have chaired the commission on the Kurdish question. Yet it is fair to say that Kurtulmuş’s presence brings certain advantages to such a heavy, bloody issue. He is an academic. Within both his own party and the government, he is known as a figure who favors consensus and mutual dialogue.
Coming from Ordu in the eastern Black Sea—one of the regions farthest removed from the Kurdish issue—he embodies a paradoxical advantage: though from the Black Sea, he has consistently advocated for resolving the Kurdish question. Of course, the final decisions will rest with Erdoğan and Bahçeli, but in a time when political tensions are high and the CHP claims it is being targeted, Kurtulmuş may yet write a story beyond expectations.
Why not?
There is no rule that every problem must be solved by the first man.
