Mr. Akyel was born on 16 August 1965 in Şenkaya, Erzurum. He grew up in Kırşehir and completed his primary, middle, and high school education in Kırşehir. He graduated from the Department of Public Administration at the Faculty of Political Sciences, Ankara University, in 1987. He received his master’s degree in Public Administration at the Graduate School of Social Sciences, Gazi University, and his PhD degree in Business Administration at the Graduate School of Social Sciences, Çukurova University. In 2012, he received the title of associate professor in management and strategy in the Department of Business Administration. Additionally, the Polytechnic University of Tirana (UPT), Albania, awarded him an “honorary doctorate”. He has taught undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral courses at various universities and has written articles, papers, and books on professional topics.
In 1988, he worked as a contracted official at Yem Sanayii Türk Inc. General Directorate. In 1989, he began his civil administration service as a candidate district governor in Eskişehir for the Ministry of Interior. He was sent to the United Kingdom for one year by the Ministry of Interior for professional development and to learn English under a language programme. Between 2001 and 2003, he took a break from public service to work in the private sector, focusing on human resources and quality management systems. As a district governor, he served in various districts respectively: Pozantı/Adana, İscehisar/Afyonkarahisar, Çamoluk/Giresun, Solhan/Bingöl, Gölyaka/Düzce, İmamoğlu/Adana, Kızıltepe/Mardin, and Elbistan/Kahramanmaraş. He held the position of governor of Tokat between 2007 and 2009, during which he also presided over the Kelkit Basin Development Union.
He was elected as the President of the Court of Accounts by the Plenary of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye on 26 June 2009. He served as the President of the Court of Accounts for seven years and continued as a member of the Court of Accounts following his presidency. During his tenure as President of the Court of Accounts, he held the position of Vice-President of the European Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (EUROSAI), was a member of the Governing Board and the Audit Committee of the Asian Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (ASOSAI), and chaired the Economic Co-operation Organization Supreme Audit Institutions (ECOSAI). Moreover, he was elected as the Chairman of the Public Officials Arbitration Board by the Cabinet for three terms covering the years 2012 to 2017. In 2013, he was awarded the “Order of State” by the President of Albania.
While serving as a member of the Court of Accounts, he was appointed as a chief advisor to the Presidency.
He was appointed as a Justice of the Constitutional Court by the President from amongst the senior administrators on 25 August 2016 and took office on 29 August 2016.
Mr. Recai Akyel, who is proficient in English, has two children.