Former Finance Minister Kemal Unakıtan died at the age of 70 at an İstanbul hospital on Wednesday morning where he had been receiving treatment for a number of health problems for some time.
Unakıtan, who was first elected to Parliament from the ranks of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in 2002, served as finance minister for three consecutive terms until 2009, when he handed over his post to the AKP’s Mehmet Şimşek.
Unakıtan had been battling health problems for years. He had bypass surgery at the Cleveland Clinic in the US in 2009 and a kidney transplant in Turkey in 2013.
Unakıtan was known for his and his son’s commercial activities, with some accusing him of using his influence as a minister for his family’s financial interests.
He is survived by a wife and three children.