Kemal Kurdaş
| Mustafa Kemal Kurdaş | |
|---|---|
Kemal Kurdaş
|
|
| Born | 1920 Bursa, Turkey |
| Died | April 19, 2011 (aged 91) |
| Nationality | Turkish |
| Education | Economics |
| Alma mater | Ankara University |
Mustafa Kemal Kurdaş (1920 – April 19, 2011) was a Turkish economist who served as Turkish Minister of Finance, the IMF’s adviser to Latin American governments, president of the Middle East Technical University and deputy head of the Turkish Treasury.
He is best remembered for his work to develop Middle East Technical University (Turkish: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, ODTÜ), build a distinctive campus for it and create a forest in what was arid, eroding land. He helped found and expand a number of businesses. At the same time, he initiated archeological excavations, led the effort to salvage historical artifacts and monuments from flooding by the Keban Dam and supported the publication of findings that throw light on the Neolithic revolution. On the side, he wrote articles and books on economic policy.
His interests span archeology, architecture, business, economics, education and forestry. Kurdaş not only pursued these diverse interests but made a contribution in each area.
His parents were descendents of Turkish settlers in Macedonia. The ancestors had arrived in the Balkans with Ottoman armies several centuries ago, and established themselves in farming and trade. They belonged to a culturally distinct group, different from the Christians among whom they lived but highly westernized compared to the Turkish population that remained in Anatolia.
In 1912, Kemal’s parents fled the Balkan Wars, leaving behind their home, land and business. They moved back to Anatolia with little to their name, ending up in the old city of Bursa, where he was born. To the end of his life, after traveling all over the world and living in different continents, he remained enthralled by Bursa with its old bridges and vistas to Uludağ, the majestic mountain known as Olympos in ancient times.
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Wikipedia