Zehra Zümrüt Selçuk

Zehra Zümrüt Selçuk (born 1979) is the current minister of Family, Labour and Social Services of Turkey.

Zehra Zümrüt Selçuk
Minister of Family, Labour and Social Services
Incumbent
Assumed office July 10, 2018
President	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Preceded by	Jülide Sarıeroğlu (as minister of Labour and Social Security) Fatma Betül Sayan Kaya (as minister of Minister of Family and Social Policy)
Personal details
Born	1979 (age 41–42) Ordu, Turkey
Parents	Atilla Koç (father)
Education	Economics
Alma mater	Bilkent University University of Michigan Texas State University

Private life

Zehra Zümrüt Selçuk was born in Ordu, Turkey in 1979. She is the daughter of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) politician and former Minister of Culture and Tourism Atilla Koç (in office 2005–2007).[1]

After completing her secondary education at Ankara Atatürk Anadolu High School, she studied on full scholarship at Bilkent University earning a Bachelor's degree in Economics. She went to the United States and attended University of Michigan for a doctoral thesis. She continued her studies at Texas State University, and received a Master's degree in Accounting and Information Resources Management. Between 2003 and 2007, she served as a research assistant at the same university.[1]

In 2007, she joined the Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) as a senior research specialist, and became later director of the Department for Statistics and Information. During this time, her working fields were gender, demography, workforce, multi dimensional measurement of poverty, education and innovation, knowledge performance systems, banking and finance, development aid. She coordinated many projects aimed at Sustainable Development Goals and programs for capacity building.[1]

She married to Ali Aydın Selçuk in Ankara on April 12, 2008.[2]

Selçuk is member of various associations like "Women's Union Platform" (Turkish: Kadın Birliği Platformu) and Bilkent University Alumni, as well as she is on the board of the Ankara Office of the "Women and Democracy Association" (Kadın ve Demokrasi Derneği, KADEM) and the "I Grow Up With Chess Association" (Satrançla Büyüyorum Derneği).[1]

Political career

On July 9, 2018, the newly elected President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced his cabinet of the new Turkish political system. Zehra Zümrüt Selçuk was appointed Minister of Family, Labour and Social Services, which combines two former ministries Labour and Social Security and Family and Social Policy.[3]

References

1. "Sosyal Hizmetler ve Aile Bakanı Zehra Zümrüt Selçuk kimdir? İşte Zehra Zümrüt Selçuk hakkında bilgiler". Hürriyet (in Turkish). 2018-07-10. Retrieved 2018-07-14.
2. "Koç kızını evlendirdi, tazminat parası yetişmedi". Hürriyet (in Turkish). 2008-04-12. Retrieved 2018-07-14.
3. "İşte Erdoğan'ın açıkladığı kabine listesi". Cumhuriyet (in Turkish). 2018-07-10. Retrieved 2018-07-14.