İsmail Cem (born İsmail Cem İpekçi, 15 February 1940 – 24 January 2007) was a Turkish centre-leftist politician, intellectual, writer, author and journalist who served as the Minister of Culture of Turkey from July 7 to October 26, 1995, and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey from June 30, 1997 to July 11, 2002. Background İsmail Cem finished high school at Robert College in İstanbul in 1959 and graduated from the Law School at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland in 1963. He had his master's degree in sociology of politics at the École Libre des Sciences Politiques in 1983, Paris, France. He was an exchange student with AFS Intercultural Programs at Piedmont High School, Piedmont California for one year during his high school years after Işık Koleji. Cem was the cousin of murdered liberal-leftist journalist, intellectual and human rights activist Abdi İpekçi, the editor in chief for then centre-leftist Milliyet newspaper. Cem was the son of İhsan İpekçi (1901-1966), who was one of the pioneers of the Turkish cinema industry, as the founder and partner of İpek Film, and several popular Istanbul movie theaters including Yeni Melek and İpek and his mother Zerife. İsmail Cem was an avid photographer, and held four photo exhibits in his lifetime, and published a book Mevsim, Mevsim (Seasons, Seasons). Journalism Returning home in 1963, Cem started his professional career as a journalist. He worked in some major newspapers who published articles and became a columnist for Milliyet, Cumhuriyet and Politika, where he served as the editor in chief for the second newspaper from 1964 until 1966. Between 1971 and 1974, he served as the chief of the Istanbul office within the Turkish Newspaper Workers Union. In 1974–1975, he acted as the general manager of the state-owned Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) under the 37th and 38th governments. Cem's tenure as the general manager of TRT, then the only TV station in Turkey, created some controversy. The conservatives and prominent right-wing figures like future President of Turkey Süleyman Demirel used their political and social influence to remove İpekçi from his post in several attempts, which have all proven fruitless. Writing career Among with his political and journalistic successes, İpekçi is also known as one of the ideologists of social democracy in Turkey, and was counted among the prominent figures within the Turkish centre-left. İpekçi, who advocated a moderate agenda in a time of political