was the founding chairman and leading founding member of Basın Enstitüsü Derneği (the National Committee of International Press Institute) (IPI). Political career In 1961, Oktay Ekşi was elected as a member of the press to the Constituent Assembly which drafted and passed the Turkish Constitution of 1961. In 1983 until 1984, Ekşi served as vice chairman and founding member of the Social Democratic Party (SODEP). Oktay Ekşi was elected as a member of Parliament for the Republican People's Party in the 2011 general election. He chaired the opening session of the 24th parliamentary term as the oldest Member of Parliament. Awards Oktay Ekşi received numerous awards from various journalistic associations. In addition, he was awarded the Paul Harris Award by the 2430 Region of Rotary International in 1997. In 2003, Istanbul University gave Oktay Ekşi an honorary doctorate, in 2006 Ekşi was given a Distinguished Service Award by Middle East Technical University, and in 2012 he was awarded the "Atatürk Award" by the Atatürk Society of America. Personal life Oktay Ekşi graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Ankara (1967). Ekşi founded the first local direct democracy platform in 1991 in Mesüdiye. The "Mesüdiye Convention", which has convened four times per annum for more than 25 years, is a forum for citizens to discuss challenges, solutions and development plans for Mesüdiye. Oktay Ekşi established the largest village library in Turkey (with 20,978 books as of March 2018). He is also the author of “Parlamento mu, Kanun Fabrikasi mı” (“Is it a Parliament, or a Law Making Factory”) published in 2013 and “Gazetecilikte Geçen O YILLAR” (“My life as a journalist in THOSE years”) published in 2017. His book “AYSEL, Bir Atatürk Kızının Hikayesi” (“AYSEL, The Story of a Daughter of Ataturk”) was published in March 2018. Oktay Ekşi was married to Professor Dr. Aysel Ekşi. He has two sons Mehmet and Özgür and two grandchildren Sibel and Sinan. References 1932 births Living people 20th-century Turkish journalists Republican People's Party (Turkey) politicians Hürriyet people Güneş (newspaper) people Ankara University Faculty of Law alumni Turkish columnists Deputies of Istanbul Social Democracy Party (Turkey) politicians 20th-century Turkish politicians Members of the 24th Parliament of Turkey 21st-century Turkish journalists