His family originates from the
Derinsu village of the
Pazar district of
Rize. He attended
Kabataş Boys High School from 1980 to 1983, and met later president
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who lived in the same
neighborhood during this period. He later attended and graduated from
Istanbul Technical University, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in 1987. During his university years, he managed the football team
Esenler Erokspor, and participated in election preparations for the
Welfare Party alongside Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. In 1988, he moved to
London, later beginning his
postgraduate on Business Management and Industrial Engineering at the
University of Nottingham, during which he worked as a
football referee in
Nottingham for two years. In 1992, he completed his postgraduate and returned to
Turkey, beginning his
doctorate at
Istanbul Technical University, Institute of Science on Industrial Engineering. He served as a member of the Executive Board of the
Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey and the Turkish-Iranian Business Council. He has also served as a Council Member at the
Istanbul Chamber of Commerce and served as General Secretary, President, and Board Member in various sports clubs. ==Political career==