Kamer Genç is a Turkish politician of Zaza origin. He was a member of parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 as a member of the Republican People's Party

Republican People's Party

Republican People's Party may be:*Republican People's Party *Republican People's Party *Republican Popular Party See also:* Russian Republican People's Party...

 in the 18th, 19th, and 23rd election cycles, and in the 20th and 21st as a member of the True Path Party

True Path Party

The Democratic Party , abbreviated to DP, is a centre-right, conservative Turkish political party, established by Suleyman Demirel in 1983 as the Right Path Party...

.

Life

Genç was born in 1940 in Ramazanköy, a village in Nazimiye

Nazimiye

DISTRICTS IN GENERAL INTRODUCTIONa) Historical and Geographical StructureAD 500 to 600 years under the rule of the Byzantines, while the settlement is believed to have been among the county, other districts of TUNCELI province in conjunction with the Byzantine, Arab, Mongol, Seljuk, Akkoyunlu,...

 in Tunceli Province

Tunceli Province

The Tunceli Province is a province in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey. The province was named Dersim Province and was changed to Tunceli Province on January 4, 1936. with the "Law on Administration of the Tunceli Province" , no...

. Raised in a poor Alevi

Alevi

The Alevi are a religious and cultural community, primarily in Turkey, constituting probably more than 15 million people....

 family, as a young man he spent summers with his father, Ali Genç, in Silahtarağa, Istanbul

Istanbul

Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...

 doing manual labor.

He was a successful student, and in 1960 he was accepted as a boarder at the Financial School in Ankara. However, when the school was closed for repairs, he had to continue his education at Tunceli High School for a time. Afterward he returned to the Financial School.

When his brother Hıdır was dying of measles, Kamer went to work with his father. In 1966, he graduated from Ankara Financial and Commercial Science Academy (now the Economic and Managerial Sciences branch of Gazi University

Gazi University

Gazi University is a public university primarily located in Ankara, Turkey.It was established in 1926 by Kemal Atatürk as Gazi Teacher Training Institute...

). When he finished school, he began an internship at the Ministry of Finance and was appointed as a tax official in Bingöl

Bingöl

Bingöl is a city in Eastern Turkey. It is also known as Çabakcur , which means violent water in Armenian. It is surrounded by mountains and a large number of glacier lakes, hence the name . Lately, the town has become a popular tourist destination...

.

Political career

In 1966 he was the only candidate to pass the State Council (the highest Turkish administrative court) Exam. He lived in Paris from 1974-1976. He served in the State Council Enquiry Judgeship and the Office of the Attorney General. After the 1980 Turkish coup d'état, he left the State Council and was elected to the Tunceli City Council.

In 1983 the newly returned Genç participated actively in party life and, deciding to go into politics, choose to run as an independent candidate from Tunceli. However, the his candidacy was rejected by the city council. From 1983-87 he served as a public accountant. After he was elected a member of parliament for four terms. From 1993-99 and between 2001-02 he served as vice president of the Turkish Grand National Assembly. Afterward, in the Turkish general election, 2002

Turkish general election, 2002

Turkey's 15th general election was held on November 3, 2002 following the collapse of the DSP-MHP-ANAP coalition led by Bülent Ecevit. It was won by the Justice and Development Party , led by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, producing a crushing majority in spite of their winning just 34.3% of the national vote...

, he ran under the True Path Party

True Path Party

The Democratic Party , abbreviated to DP, is a centre-right, conservative Turkish political party, established by Suleyman Demirel in 1983 as the Right Path Party...

, and thus was not reelected to parliament. He joined the 2007 elections

Turkish general election, 2007

Turkey's 16th general election was held on July 22, 2007 and resulted in a resounding victory for the incumbent Justice and Development Party...

 as an independent and was elected. On June first, 2010, he returned to his former party, the Republican People's Party

Republican People's Party

Republican People's Party may be:*Republican People's Party *Republican People's Party *Republican Popular Party See also:* Russian Republican People's Party...

. He is currently serving his term in office.

Personal life

In 1966, when he returned to his village after passing the State Council exam, he requested permission to marry Sevim Genç, whom he'd known since primary school and studied with in Tunceli High School, from her family. However, her wealthy landlord father didn't think even the new judge was worthy of his daughter. Sevim was studying in Solfasol village, and opposed her father to accept the proposal. Kamer and Sevim have two children, Seçkin and Seçil.