Ayşe Sinirlioğlu (born 4 April 1956) is a Turkish diplomat, who has been her country's ambassador to Romania and then to Spain and Andorra. She became Turkey's first woman Deputy Undersecretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 2015 she was the

Sherpa Sherpa may refer to: Ethnography * Sherpa people, an ethnic group in north eastern Nepal * Sherpa language Organizations and companies * Sherpa (association), a French network of jurists dedicated to promoting corporate social responsibility * ...

during Turkey's presidency and the Antalya summit of the

G20 The G20 or Group of Twenty is an intergovernmental forum comprising 19 countries and the European Union (EU). It works to address major issues related to the global economy, such as international financial stability, climate change mitigation, ...

group of countries.

Personal life

Ayşe Sinirlioğlu was born in

Nevşehir Nevşehir (from the Persian compound ''Now-shahr'' meaning "new city"), formerly Neapolis (Ancient Greek: Νεάπολις) and Muşkara, is a largely modern city and the capital district of Nevşehir Province in the Central Anatolia Region of Tur ...

, Turkey, on 4 April 1956. After earning a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

from the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Science at

Marmara University Marmara University ( Turkish: ''Marmara Üniversitesi'') is a public university in Istanbul, Turkey. The university is named after the Sea of Marmara and was founded as a university in 1982. However, it was created in 1883 under the name of ''H ...

in 1977, she received a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

European Integration European integration is the process of industrial, economic integration, economic, political, legal, social integration, social, and cultural Regional integration, integration of states wholly or partially in Europe or nearby. European integrat ...

Law from

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...

in 1988. In 1996, Sinirlioğlu was awarded a doctorate in political science from

Boğaziçi University Boğaziçi University ( tr, Boğaziçi Üniversitesi), also known as Bosphorus University, is a major research university in Istanbul, Turkey. Its main campus is located on the European side of the Bosphorus, Bosphorus strait. It has six facult ...

. She is married to Feridun Sinirlioğlu, diplomat and former

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

of Turkey.

Career

Sinirlioğlu entered the service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1984. After a brief service in the Department for Bilateral Economic Affairs, she was appointed vice consul to the General Consulate in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

, Netherlands, in 1985, where she served until 1988. Between 1988 and 1990, she was in

Aleppo )), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black". , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , image_map1 = ...

, Syria as vice consul and then as consul. Before she was assigned to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, United States, as consul in 1992, she served in the Ministry's West European and

OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate e ...

Countries Department and as First Secretary to the Prime Minister. In 1996, she returned home to become head of the section head of the Department for Balkan Countries. Later, she was promoted to the Head of Department for Central Asia and Caucasus. Between 1999 and 2002, Sinirlioğlu served as Counselor and then as First Counselor at Permanent Representation of Turkey to the UN Office in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

, Switzerland. From 2002 to 2004, she was First Counselor in the Turkish Embassy in

Amman Amman (; ar, عَمَّان, ' ; Ammonite language, Ammonite: 𐤓𐤁𐤕 𐤏𐤌𐤍 ''Rabat ʻAmān'') is the capital and largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of 4,061,150 a ...

, Jordan. After coming back to the Ministry, she served as Department Head and then as Deputy Director General, Minister-Plenipotentiary in the Department for Bilateral Economic Affairs. On 20 April 2008, she was appointed Ambassador to Romania serving in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

until 15 April 2011. Her next service was as Ambassador to Spain and Andorra from 12 May 2011 to 1 August 2014. From September 2014 on, Sinirlioğlu acted as Deputy Undersecretary for Economic Affairs at the Ministry and

of Turkey. It was the first time in the bureaucracy history of Turkish diplomacy that a woman was appointed to the post of a Deputy Undersecretary. Her spouse Feridun Sinirlioğlu was Undersecretary of the Ministry at that time.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sinirlioglu, Ayse Living people 1956 births People from Nevşehir Marmara University alumni University of Amsterdam alumni Boğaziçi University alumni Turkish women ambassadors Ambassadors of Turkey to Romania Ambassadors of Turkey to Spain 21st-century Turkish diplomats