Western turkey

Prime minister of Turkey. Name variations: Ciller. Pronunciation: (CHILL-air). Born in Istanbul, Turkey, in 1946; attended American College for Girls, Istanbul; graduated from Robert College, 1967, with a degree in economics; graduated University of New Hampshire, master's degree in economics; graduated University of Connecticut, doctorate in economics; attended Yale University, post-doctoral studies, 1971; married banker and businessman Ozer Çiller (who took his wife's surname at the behest of her father, who did not have a son), in 1963; children: two sons.

Tansu Çiller, a United States-trained economist and former university professor, became the first woman prime minister of Turkey on June 14, 1993, following Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan and Khaleda Zia of Bangladesh as the third woman to head a predominantly Muslim country.

Çiller, a member of the moderate-right True Path Party, is often compared to Margaret Thatcher . To many young Turkish wome