Prof. Dr. Vedat BİLGİN

Minister of Labor and Social Security

Vedat Bilgin completed his primary, secondary and high school education in Bayburt, the city he was born in. Enrolling at Hacettepe University’s Social and Administrative Sciences Faculty in 1975, Mr. Bilgin received his undergraduate degree with distinction. He obtained his postgraduate and doctoral degrees from Istanbul University’s Economics Faculty.

As a student, he penned pieces for the Genç Arkadaş magazine. He was one of the founders of the Türkiye Günlüğü magazine. He continued to write a regular column for the Akşam daily until he was appointed as Minister.

Having succeeded in the exam for assistant in 1982, he became an assistant to Prof. Erol Güngör at Selçuk University. Mr. Bilgin, who started to work as a research assistant at the Labor Economics Department of Gazi University’s Financial and Administrative Sciences Faculty in 1984 following the passing of Prof. Güngör, continued to serve as a member of the said faculty until 2015.

While carrying on with his academic life at the Labor Economics Department of Gazi University’s Financial and Administrative Sciences Faculty, Mr. Bilgin carried out post-doctorate studies in 1995 at York University in the UK. He was at Michigan University as a visiting academic in 2006.

Vedat Bilgin acted as the Head of Labor Economics Department of Gazi University’s Financial and Administrative Sciences Department between 2011-2015.

After serving as an Advisor to the Prime Ministry in 2000, he became Director General of the Turkish State Railways TCDD.

He was a Senior Advisor to the Prime Ministry between 2014-2015. Mr. Bilgin was elected as a Member of the Parliament for Ankara from AK Party in the general elections of June 2015 and as a Member of the Parliament for Ankara’s second region from AK Party in the general elections of November 2015. He was a member of the Human Rights Inquiry Committee at the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. Mr. Bilgin served as the Head of OCSE PA’s Turkish Delegation during the 26th term.

Having served as the Deputy Chair of Social Policies Board and as Chief Advisor to the President, Mr. Bilgin was appointed as Minister of Labor and Social Security on April 21, 2021.

In addition to a vast number of technical researches on political economy and working life, Mr. Bilgin has a book titled “Türkiye’de Değişimin Dinamikleri: Köylülükten Çıkış Yolları”, which he penned for intellectuals.