Volkan Bozkır
Volkan Bozkır MP | |
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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 | |
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 | |
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 | |
Succeeded by | |
Personal details | |
Born | Ankara, Turkey | 22 November 1950
Political party | Justice and Development Party (AKP) |
Spouse(s) | Nazlı Bozkır |
Children | 2 |
Alma mater | Ankara University |
Volkan Bozkır (born 22 November 1950, Ankara) is a Turkish diplomat and politician who has served as the President of the United Nations General Assembly since 2020. 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,[1][2] 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.[3] 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.[4] 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.[5] As the EU Parliament voted for the accession talks to be suspended in march 2019,[6] Bozkır, as the head of committee for foreign affairs in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey condemned the vote.[7]
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.[8][9] Armenia, Greece and Cyprus, while initially supportive, decided later to oppose the candidacy, allegedly due to diplomatic conflicts.[10]
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 | ![]() |
1999 | Bucharest | The Order of The Star is the highest civil decoration of Romania. | [11] | |
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Knight of Order of Merit of the Italian Republic | ![]() |
2 June 2014 | Ankara | The Order of Merit is the highest ranking honour of the Republic of Italy. | [11] |
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Crescent of Pakistan | ![]() |
28 May 2021 | Islamabad | Second highest civilian award of Pakistan | [12][13] |
Criticism[]
Bozkır caused controversy in 2014 when he reported during a press conference that Turkey would no longer participate in the Eurovision Song Contest after Conchita Wurst's victory in Eurovision Song Contest 2014.[14][15] On September 5 the General Manager of TRT, İbrahim Şahin, officially announced that Turkey would not return to Eurovision Song Contest 2015 in Vienna.[16] Bozkır's comments during the press conference included "Each time I look at the Austrian who won the Eurovision Song Contest, I say 'Thankfully, we're not participating in this contest anymore.'"[17]
Pakistan, in May 2021, conferred its second highest civilian award Hilal-e-Pakistan to Volkan Bozkir when he was the visiting UN General Assembly President. During his visit to Pakistan, Volkan Bozkir said that it was Pakistan's duty to raise the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in the United Nations "more strongly" and also that there was a lack of political will to find a resolution to the Kashmir dispute compared to the Palestinian issue, even though both have been festering for an equally long period." A day later, the Ministry of External Affairs of India expressed strong opposition to Bozkir's remarks stating that "When an incumbent President of the UN General Assembly makes misleading and prejudiced remarks, he does great disservice to the office he occupies. The PGA's behaviour is truly regrettable and surely diminishes his standing on the global platform," [18]
References[]
- ^ "No: 123, 17 June 2020, Press Release Regarding Ambassador Volkan Bozkır's Election to the Position of the Presidency of the 75th Session of the United Nations General Assembly". mfa.gov. 17 June 2020.
- ^ "General Assembly of the United Nations". www.un.org. Retrieved 2021-05-29.
- ^ "Reaction from Bozkır to EP's Turkey Report". Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. 2016-04-15. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
- ^ "Turkey's EU Minister rejects Pope's 'genocide' remark". www.aa.com.tr.
- ^ "Turkey digs in heels over terrorism law, to EU's chagrin". Reuters. 2016-05-11. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
- ^ "Parliament wants to suspend EU accession negotiations with Turkey | News | European Parliament". www.europarl.europa.eu. 2019-03-13. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
- ^ "Turkey blasts European Parliament over call to suspend EU accession talks – T-VINE". Retrieved 2020-06-23.
- ^ "Turkish diplomat elected President of historic 75th UN General Assembly". UN News. 2020-06-17. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
- ^ "ELECTION OF THE 75TH PRESIDENT OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY". General Assembly of the United Nations. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
- ^ Antonopoulos, Paul. "Greece, Cyprus & Armenia make historical move by blocking Turkey from leading UN General Assembly". Greek City Times. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
- ^ a b "Minister for EU Affairs & Chief Negotiator Volkan BOZKIR". Ministry for EU Affairs of Turkey. 30 August 2014. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
- ^ "GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT WRAPS UP VISIT TO PAKISTAN". General Assembly of the United Nations. 28 May 2021. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
- ^ Sajid, Islamuddin (27 May 2021). "Pakistan gives UN General Assembly president high honor". Anadolu Agency. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
- ^ Granger, Anthony. "Turkey: "Will No Longer Participate" In Eurovision". Eurovoix. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
- ^ "Will Turkey participate finally?". eurovision.de.
- ^ Jiandani, Sanjay (5 September 2014). "Turkey: TRT confirms no return to Eurovision in 2015". EscToday.com.
- ^ "Turkey to return to Eurovision song contest in 2016: state TV". Hürriyet Daily News. 6 February 2014.
- ^ "India Slams UNGA President's Remarks on Kashmir During Pakistan Visit". The Wire. Retrieved 2021-05-30.
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- 1950 births
- Living people
- Justice and Development Party (Turkey) politicians
- Ambassadors of Turkey to the European Union
- Ambassadors of Turkey to Romania
- Deniers of the Armenian genocide
- Deputies of Istanbul
- Members of the 24th Parliament of Turkey
- Members of the 25th Parliament of Turkey
- Members of the 26th Parliament of Turkey
- Members of the 64th government of Turkey
- Ministers of European Union Affairs of Turkey
- Recipients of the Order of the Star of Romania
- Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
- Turkish diplomats
- Presidents of the United Nations General Assembly
- Recipients of Hilal-i-Pakistan