Bisera Turković

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Bisera Turković
2020 Bisera Turković (50399938273) (cropped).jpg
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Assumed office
23 December 2019
Prime MinisterZoran Tegeltija
Preceded byIgor Crnadak
Bosnia and Herzegovina Ambassdor to the United States
In office
3 October 2005 – 20 May 2009
Preceded byIgor Davidović
Succeeded byMitar Kujundžić
Minister for European Integration
In office
6 June 2000 – 22 January 2001
Prime MinisterSpasoje Tuševljak
Martin Raguž
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byDragan Mikerević
Personal details
Born
Bisera Rešić

(1954-12-08) 8 December 1954 (age 66)
Sisak, PR Croatia, FPR Yugoslavia
NationalityBosniak
Political partyParty of Democratic Action
Spouse(s)
Salih Turković
​
​
(m. 1973, died)​
Children3

Bisera Turković (née Rešić; born 8 December 1954) is a Bosnian diplomat and politician who is the current Minister of Foreign Affairs. She is also the current Vice-Chairwoman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, serving alongside Vjekoslav Bevanda. Turković is the first female foreign minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

She was also minister of European Integration and later on served as the Bosnia and Herzegovina Ambassdor to the United States as well.

Early life and education[]

Turković was born in Sisak, present-day Croatia, on 8 December 1954 to a Jewish mother and a Bosniak father. Her mother Katarina Kraus hails from Slovenia and her father Muharem Rešić hails from Prijedor. Her paternal grandfather Mehmedalija Rešić lived in the United States from 1909 to 1926, when he returned to Prijedor and married Bahta Mušić, her paternal grandmother. Mušić's family hailed from Užice, present-day Serbia, and resettled to Bosanska Kostajnica. Turković's parents separated when she was still a child and her mother moved to Australia. Turković lived with her paternal grandmother in Bosanska Kostajnica until she started school, when she moved to Zagreb where she lived with her father, simultaneously visiting her maternal grandparents Blanka Korez and Stefan Kraus, and her mother in Australia.[1]

Turković holds a degree in Law from the University of Sarajevo and a bachelor in Criminal Justice Administration from the Philip Institute of Technology in Melbourne.[2] She did her postgraduate studies in Criminology at LaTrobe University in Melbourne and holds a Ph.D. in International Relations from Pacific Western University that later transitioned into California Miramar University.

Career[]

In the early 1990s she worked as chief editor for Hayat TV. She was the first bilateral ambassador appointed in the history of independent Bosnia and Herzegovina.[citation needed] Her first assignments as ambassador were to Croatia (1993–1994), Hungary (1994–1996), and at Bosnia and Herzegovina's Permanent Mission to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in Vienna (1996 to 2000). From 2000 to 2001, Turković was appointed Minister for European Integration in the governments of Spasoje Tuševljak and Martin Raguž.[3]

From 2001 to 2004, she worked as an Executive Director of the Centre for Security Studies in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as a lecturer at the Faculty of Criminal Justice, University of Sarajevo. Turković has also given lectures at the University of Sarajevo, Webster University, the International University of Sarajevo and the University of Travnik as well as at George Washington university and at other major international universities.[3] From 2004 to 2005 she served at Bosnia and Herzegovina's Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Vienna and as Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization, and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization. From 2005 to 2009, she served as Bosnia and Herzegovina's ambassador to the United States, Mexico and Brazil.

Turković's next diplomatic postings were in Brussels as bilateral ambassador to Belgium and Luxembourg,[4] as well as in Qatar since September 2018.[3]

Minister of Foreign Affairs (2019–present)[]

Turković with Greek Minister for Foreign Affairs Nikos Dendias on 29 January 2021

On 23 December 2019, Turković was appointed by the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) as Minister of Foreign Affairs and also as vice-chairwoman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the government of Zoran Tegeltija.[5] She is the first woman to serve as foreign minister and vice-chairman of the country. In December 2020, Turković called for the abolishment of Republika Srpska, which was met with heavy criticism by Republika Srpska officials Radovan Višković and Željka Cvijanović who called her statement "hate speech".[6][7]

On 24 March 2021, she met with the Chinese ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo Ji Ping, who said that the Chinese Government had provided 50,000 COVID-19 vaccines for the COVID-19 pandemic for Bosnia and Herzegovina.[8]

In June 2021, Turković had a heated diplomatic exchange with Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya at a United Nations Security Council meeting in New York City.[9] The topic of the meeting was the political situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with focus being on the Office of the High Representative for the country, regarding if it's time for its closure after being created in 1995 following the Bosnian War.[10] Her address at the Security Council was heavily criticized by the Serb member of the Bosnian Presidency and also its Chairman Milorad Dodik, the presiding member of the Presidency, which collectively serves as the country's head of state.[11] Some days before, Dodik unsuccessfully tried to prevent Turković's Security Council address, even writing a letter to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov asking him for help.[12]

On 14 July 2021, she and the Bosnian Defence Minister Sifet Podžić met with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Brussels.[13] On 21 July 2021, Turković spoke in a telephone call with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and later the same day, also met with British Minister for European Neighbourhood and the Americas Wendy Morton.[14][15]

On 4 August 2021, Turković met with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Tehran and also attended his inauguration the following day.[16]

Other activities[]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Kukan, Mirela (13 June 2020). "Bisera Turković za "Azru" govori o majci Katarini, ocu Muharemu, baki Blanki, djedu Mehmedaliji". Azra Magazin (in Bosnian). Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  2. ^ "Bisera Turković". vijeceministara.gov.ba (in Bosnian). 13 June 2020. Archived from the original on 13 June 2020. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Ambassador". Embassy of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the State of Qatar. 12 October 2016. Archived from the original on 16 January 2019. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  4. ^ BiH Embassy Belgium
  5. ^ Er.M. (23 December 2019). "Počela sjednica o imenovanju Vijeća ministara BiH" (in Bosnian). Klix.ba. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  6. ^ ИН4С (12 December 2020). ""Bisera Turković je ekstremista koja neće odlučivati o sudbini Republike Srpske": Željka Cvijanović odgovorila na govor mržnje iz Sarajeva" (in Serbian). Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  7. ^ "Burne reakcija iz Republike Srpske na izjave ministrice Turković". Radio Slobodna Evropa (in Serbo-Croatian). Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  8. ^ D. Be. (24 March 2021). "Kinezi obećali Bosni i Hercegovini 50.000 vakcina protiv korone" (in Bosnian). Klix.ba. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  9. ^ G.M. (29 June 2021). "Žustrom raspravom Turković i ruskog predstavnika okončana debata o BiH u Vijeću sigurnosti UN-a" (in Bosnian). Klix.ba. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  10. ^ D.Be. (30 June 2021). "Pogledajte diplomatski duel Turković i ruskog ambasadora u New Yorku" (in Bosnian). Klix.ba. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  11. ^ "Dodik o sjednici Vijeća sigurnosti UN-a: Turković je prevazišla Biseru koja je donosila hurme" (in Bosnian). Klix.ba. 30 June 2021. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  12. ^ M.G. (1 July 2021). "Pročitajte Dodikovo pismo Lavrovu kojim je pokušao spriječiti obraćanje Bisere Turković u UN-u" (in Bosnian). Klix.ba. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  13. ^ M.G. (14 July 2021). "Turković i Podžić danas u sjedištu NATO-a o koracima BiH u okviru Akcijskog plana za članstvo" (in Bosnian). Klix.ba. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
  14. ^ "Turković zahvalila Zarifu na kontinuiranoj podršci i pomoći Irana BiH" (in Bosnian). Klix.ba. 21 July 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
  15. ^ S.M. (21 July 2021). "Ministrica Turković sastala se sa britanskom ministricom Morton" (in Bosnian). Klix.ba. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
  16. ^ "Turković se u Teheranu sastala s novoizabranim predsjednikom Irana Raisijem" (in Bosnian). Klix.ba. 4 August 2021. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  17. ^ Board of Governors World Bank.
  18. ^ Board of Governors Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), World Bank Group.

External links[]

Political offices
Preceded by
Igor Crnadak 		Minister of Foreign Affairs
2019–present 		Incumbent
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