Businessman,
politician, photograph artist. He was born in Istanbul on September 23, 1955. After he completed his studies at Robert
College, he graduated from Boğaziçi University, Faculty of Management in
1978. He married twice. In 1978, he was appointed CEO of Altinyildiz Holding, a
family business. He served as the president of TÜSİAD (Turkish Association of
Industrialists and Businessmen) between 1989 and 1990.
In the 1990s, Boyner was engaged in politics by leading the
Yeni Demokrasi Hareketi , a
liberal movement between 1994 and 1997.Yeni Demokrasi Hareketi, supporting liberal values such as open society,
pluralism, free market, and freedom, was co-founded by Cem Boyner, as the
leader, and by various industrialists, businessmen, writers, and academics such
as Asaf Savaş Akat, Cengiz Çandar, Can Paker, Etyen Mahçupyan, Kemal Anadol,
Mehmet Altan, and Kemal Derviş on December 22nd 1994. Although the
movement received great support by the media, it failed in the General
Elections of 1995 in
spite of this interest. The party could only get 133.899 votes, with a 0.48%
voting rate. Following this failure, by stating that he thought that the party had
completed its mission, the General President Cem Boyner declared that he
resigned from the party. After his resignation, Hüseyin Ergün was elected as
the general president; however, the party was not able to continue its
political existence, and abolishing itself in November 1997, the party joined
the Peace Party.
After he quit politics, he was engaged in business life
again intensely. Following in-group transformations, he changed the name of Çarşı Mağazaları
to the Boyner brand name. He became the CEO of Boyner Holding and Beymen, and
encompassed the Benetton brand in Turkey. He has tried to enter the world
market by opening stores in other countries such as Egypt
and Russia.
In addition to his success in business life, Cem Boyner is mostly
mentioned with his hobbies. He has advanced his photography skills, which he
took up in the high school years as an amateur. Right after he left politics in
1996, he developed a passion for underwater photography on his trip to Indonesia.
When he returned to Turkey,
he became a licensed diver. In 1999,
he organized ‘Sualtı’, his first personal exhibition, with the photos he took
underwater in Fethiye, Bodrum, Datça, the Philippines,
the Red Sea, Maldives and Indonesia. In
the following years, he continued to hold personal exhibitions. In 2005, he
organized an exhibition titled 'Yakındaki Uzak/Uzaktaki Yakın' in Darphane-i
Amire Buildings in Istanbul.
Apart
from diving and photography, Boyner is also interested in kick-box and his
children also have diving licenses. He has four
children, three of whom are from his first wife Bilgün Sazak,
and one of whom is from his second wife Ümit Boyner.
REFERENCE:
İhsan Işık / Encyclopedia of Turkey’s Famous People
(2013).
