Serdar Kılıç (born 28 March 1958) is a Turkish

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

and the former

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Kılıç previously served as the ambassador to

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

from 2008 to 2010 and the ambassador to

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

from 2012 to 2014.

Biography

Kılıç was born in a city in north-central Turkey on the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

called

Samsun Samsun is a List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, city on the north coast of Turkey and a major Black Sea port. The urban area recorded a population of 738,692 in 2022. The city is the capital of Samsun Province which has a population of ...

, March 28, 1958. He graduated from

TED Ankara College TED Ankara College Foundation Schools is a group of private schools in Turkey. It consists of kindergarten, elementary, middle and high schools. Its İncek Campus, considered sizeable with 141,000 square meters of enclosed and over 309,000 square ...

and earned a bachelor's degree in political science from

Ankara University Ankara University () is a public university, public research university in Ankara, the capital of Turkey. It was the first higher education institution founded in Turkey after the History of the Republic of Turkey, formation of the Turkish republ ...

. In 1977, he started his professional career at the Turkish Ministry of Tourism and Culture. He then worked in the private sector as director of a construction company, Ekşioğlu Holding, from 1982. He worked at Turkey's

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

in 1984 and held various positions. His first assignment was to the Eastern Europe and Asia Department. In 1987, he was appointed Third Secretary at the Turkish Embassy in Kuwait. This represented his first assignment abroad. In 1989, he took up his first post in the US as Deputy Consul General in LA. He returned to his homeland in 1992 as second secretary and later as first secretary in the Gulf and Muslim Countries Division of the Ministry. From 2006 to 2008 he was the head of

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

relations in the ministry. Kılıç was the ambassador of Turkey to

from 2008 to 2010. He served as the Secretary-General of Turkish National Security Council from 2010 to 2012. Kılıç served as the ambassador of Turkey to Japan from 2012 to 2014. He then served as the ambassador of Turkey to United States from April 2014 to March 2021. In December 2021, it was announced that Kılıç would be Turkey's special envoy for the normalization of relations with

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

Personal life

Kılıç speaks fluent English. He is married to Zeliha Sinem Kılıç, with whom he has 3 children. His father (İlyas Kılıç) was a CHP member of parliament from Samsun. Kılıç is also a relative of AKP member of parliament from Samsun and former Minister of Youth and Sports

Çağatay Kılıç Çağatay is a Turkish masculine name. It is also used as a family name. Chagatai Khan ( Çağatay Han in Turkish) was a son of Genghis Khan. Chagatai ruled the Chagatai Khanate from 1226 to 1242 C.E. Given name * Akif Çağatay Kılıç (born 197 ...

References

Ambassadors of Turkey to Japan 1958 births Living people Ambassadors of Turkey to the United States {{Turkey-diplomat-stub