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Volkan Bozkır
Volkan Bozkır April 2016 (26358127551) (cropped).jpg
Bozkır in 2016
President of the 75th UN General Assembly
In office
16 September 2020 – 14 September 2021
Preceded by Tijjani Muhammad-Bande
Succeeded by Abdulla Shahid
Minister of European Union Affairs
In office
24 November 2015 – 24 May 2016
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu
Deputy Ali Şahin
Preceded by Beril Dedeoğlu
Succeeded by Ömer Çelik
In office
29 August 2014 – 28 August 2015
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu
Deputy Alaattin Büyükkaya
Preceded by Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu
Succeeded by Ali Haydar Konca
Chief Negotiator for Turkish Accession to the European Union
In office
29 August 2014 – 28 August 2015
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu
Preceded by Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu
Succeeded by Beril Dedeoğlu
Member of the Grand National Assembly
Assumed office
12 June 2011
Constituency İstanbul (II) (2011, June 2015, Nov 2015, 2018)
Permanent Representative of Turkey to the European Union
In office
15 December 2005 – 21 October 2009
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer
Abdullah Gül
Preceded by Oğuz Demiralp
Succeeded by Selim Kuneralp
Ambassador of Turkey to Romania
In office
23 August 1996 – 17 August 2000
President Süleyman Demirel
Ahmet Necdet Sezer
Preceded by Yaman Başkut
Succeeded by Ömer Zeytinoğlu
Personal details
Born (1950-11-22) 22 November 1950 (age 73)
Ankara, Turkey
Political party Justice and Development Party (AKP)
Spouse Nazlı Bozkır
Children 2
Alma mater Ankara University

Volkan Bozkır (born 22 November 1950) is a Turkish diplomat and politician who served as the President of the United Nations General Assembly from 2020 to 2021. He served as Minister for European Union Affairs from November 2015 to May 2016 and previously held the same office from August 2014 to August 2015. He concurrently served as the Chief Negotiator for Turkish Accession to the European Union during the same time.

He was elected as the president of The United Nations General Assembly on 17 June 2020 for the 75th session, becoming the first-ever Turkish diplomat to hold this position.

Early life and education

Volkan Bozkır was born in Ankara, Turkey. He graduated from Faculty of Law at the Ankara University. He speaks fluent English and French.

Career

He has served as a Member of Parliament for İstanbul's second electoral district since the 2011 general election. Volkan Bozkır is a career diplomat and a defendant of the Turkish position regarding the Armenian genocide but also its anti-terror laws. While being the Turkish Minister for the European Union (EU) and also the leading negotiator in the Turkish accession talks to the EU denied there existed an Armenian genocide. After the EU issued a draft for the Turkey progress report in 2015 including a demand that Turkey accepts that there existed an Armenian genocide, he declared that Turkey wouldn't answer an EU report containing the term genocide. Also in 2015, he criticized Pope Francis for including the term Genocide in a sermon he held in a mass at the St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. As the EU demanded that Turkey adapts its anti-terror regulations according to EU normatives. Bozkır opposed the demand stating the anti terror laws regulations are already in line with the EU demands. As the EU Parliament voted for the accession talks to be suspended in march 2019, Bozkır, as the head of committee for foreign affairs in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey condemned the vote.

On the 17 June 2020, he was elected as the president of the 75th General Assembly of the United Nations, which is to take place September 2020 as the sole candidate with unanimous support from the 178 UN member states that were present in voting that was conducted by secret ballot. Armenia, Greece and Cyprus, while initially supportive, decided later to oppose the candidacy, allegedly due to diplomatic conflicts.

Timeline of career

Function Office Year
Vice-consul General Consulate in Stuttgart, Germany 1975–1978
Second Secretary & First Secretary Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq 1978–1980
Chief of Section Bilateral Economic Department 1980–1982
First Secretary & Counselor Permanent Delegation to the OECD in Paris 1982–1986
Deputy Head of Department Multilateral Economic Affairs 1986–1987
Foreign Policy Advisor Prime Minister Turgut Özal's Office 1987–1989
Consul General New York, United States 1989–1992
Chief of Cabinet & Chief Foreign Policy Advisor President Turgut Özal & President Süleyman Demirel 1992–1996
Ambassador Bucharest, Romania 1996–2000
Deputy Secretary General for EU Affairs Ministry of Foreign Affairs 2000–2003
Deputy Under Secretary Ministry of Foreign Affairs 2003–2005
Ambassador Permanent Representative of Turkey to the European Union 2005–2009
Secretary General for EU Affairs Ministry of Foreign Affairs 2009–2011
Minister of EU Affairs Ministry of EU Affairs 2014–2016
President of the 75th UN General Assembly United Nations headquarters in New York City 2020–2021

Honours and medals

Ribbon bar Award or decoration Country Date Place Note Ref.
Order of the Star of Romania - Ribbon bar.svg Order of the Star of Romania Romania &10000000019990000000000 1999 Bucharest The Order of The Star is the highest civil decoration of Romania.
ITA OMRI 2001 GC BAR.svg Knight of Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Italy &100000000201406020000002 June 2014 Ankara The Order of Merit is the highest ranking honour of the Republic of Italy.
Sitara-i-Imtiaz Pakistan.svg Crescent of Pakistan Pakistan &10000000020210528000000 28 May 2021 Islamabad Second highest civilian award of Pakistan

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Volkan Bozkır para niños

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