Halil Mutlu (politics)
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Halil Mutlu | |
|---|---|
| Chairman of AK Party USA | |
| Assumed office February 25, 2022 | |
| President | Recep Tayyip Erdoğan |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Halil Mutlu 1971 (age 54-55) |
| Party | Justice and Development Party |
| Relatives | Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (cousin) |
| Education | Selçuk University Faculty of Medicine (MD) |
| Occupation | Physician |
Halil Mutlu (born 1971) is a Turkish-born physician, political lobbyist and community activist living in the United States of America. Mutlu is currently serving as Chairman of AK Party Representative to the United States, who is the first representative for the party in the United States. Previously, he was co-chair of Turkish American Steering Committee (TASC)[1] and is a former chair of the Türken Foundation[2].
Mutlu was born in Guneysu, Rize, in 1971. His father, Kemal, is the brother of Tenzile Erdoğan (née Mutlu; 1924–2011), the mother of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, making Mutlu a cousin of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.[3]. Mutlu completed elementary and middle school in Kasimpasa and high school at Kabatas Erkek Lisesi.[4] He attended Selcuk University Medical School in Konya. After graduation, he completed his mandatory service and entered emergency medicine. During an academic visit to the United States, he passed the United States Medical Licensing Examinations and became eligible to practice medicine in the United States. He completed an internal medicine residency at Berkshire Medical Center, affiliated with the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Since 2010, Mutlu has been working at the Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Community involvement
By the mid-2010s, Mutlu had become involved in Turkish-American community institutions and advocacy networks, serving in leadership roles in the Turkish American National Steering Committee (TASC), including as co-chair during some periods. A public TASC announcement cited by external reporting states that TASC accepted his resignation as co-chair in March 2022. Mutlu has also been linked to the leadership of the Türken Foundation, providing student housing and faith-friendly housing for Muslim and Turkish students.
In July 2016, immediately after the coup attempt in Turkey, Mutlu drove to Saylorsburg with a carload of friends and joined a protest outside the residence of political figure Fethullah Gülen, who was accused by the Turkish government of being behind the coup attempt.[5]