Fahrettin Koca

Fahrettin Koca — Biography

Fahrettin Koca is a Turkish physician and bureaucrat, born on 2 January 1965 in Ömeranlı, in the Kulu district of Konya. After completing secondary school at Bursa Boys' High School, he studied medicine in the Department of Pediatrics at the Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine of Istanbul University.

Over the course of his career in the health sector he served as a physician and medical director at various institutions, and was among the founders of Medipol Hospital, Istanbul Medipol University and the Türkiye Education and Health Research Foundation. He also held membership and leadership roles in organizations such as the Turkish Pediatrics Institution and the Pediatric Metabolism and Nutrition Association, among other health-sector bodies.

Appointed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Koca took office as Turkey's 59th Minister of Health on 10 July 2018, becoming a nationally recognized figure during the country's response to the Covid-19 pandemic; he continued in the post until 2024. Married to Hale Koca and the father of four children, he is now referred to as a former Minister of Health.