Egemen Bağış () (born 23 April 1970) is a former Turkish politician of, former member of the

Turkish parliament The Grand National Assembly of Turkey ( tr, ), usually referred to simply as the TBMM or Parliament ( tr, or ''Parlamento''), is the unicameral Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by the Turkish Consti ...

, and the former minister for EU Affairs and chief negotiator of

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

in accession talks with the European Union. Currently, he serves as ambassador of Turkey to the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

Early life

Bağış was born in

Bingöl Bingöl ( diq, Çolig; ku, Çewlik; hy, Ճապաղջուր, translit=Chapaghjur) is a city in Eastern Turkey and the capital of Bingöl Province. Etymology One of the historical names for the city, ''Bingöl'' literally means ''thousand lake ...

, in 1970 into a family which originated from

Siirt Siirt ( ar, سِعِرْد, Siʿird; hy, Սղերդ, S'gherd; syr, ܣܥܪܬ, Siirt; ku, Sêrt) is a city in southeastern Turkey and the seat of Siirt Province. The population of the city according to the 2009 census was 129,188. History P ...

. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in

Human Resources Management Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...

as well as a Master of

Public Administration Public Administration (a form of governance) or Public Policy and Administration (an academic discipline) is the implementation of public policy, administration of government establishment (public governance), management of non-profit est ...

, both from the

Baruch College Baruch College (officially the Bernard M. Baruch College) is a public college in New York City. It is a constituent college of the City University of New York system. Named for financier and statesman Bernard M. Baruch, the college operates unde ...

of City University of New York.

Official responsibilities

* Turkish ambassador to the Czech Republic (Since November 2019) * Member of the

Turkish Parliament The Grand National Assembly of Turkey ( tr, ), usually referred to simply as the TBMM or Parliament ( tr, or ''Parlamento''), is the unicameral Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by the Turkish Consti ...

, representing Istanbul * Chairman, Turkey-USA Inter Parliamentary Friendship Caucus of the Turkish Parliament * Advisory Board Chairman, Istanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture Initiative. * Honorary board member of the Siirt Solidarity Foundation. As a top adviser to the Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Bağış played a key role in the Justice and Development Party's (AKP) policies.

Federation of Turkish American Associations

Bağış formerly served as the president of the

Federation of Turkish American Associations The Federation of Turkish American Associations is a non-profit organization established in 1956 for the purpose of uniting and supporting the Turkish American community within the United States. The Federation has evolved with the changing times a ...

, the New York-based umbrella organization of Turkish-Americans that sponsored his

green card A green card, known officially as a permanent resident card, is an identity document which shows that a person has permanent residency in the United States. ("The term 'lawfully admitted for permanent residence' means the status of having been ...

petition in the United States. He has also served as a member of the advisory board on Turkish Citizens Abroad, a government body. He was the manager of the Antik Bar at the Jolly Madison Hotel serving the Turkish American community. He also founded the Turkish Link, a New York-based translation agency specialized in the Turkish and English languages.

Controversies

Protests of 2013

During the

2013 protests in Turkey A wave of demonstrations and civil unrest in Turkey began on 28 May 2013, initially to contest the urban development plan for Istanbul's Taksim Gezi Park. The protests were sparked by outrage at the violent eviction of a sit-in at the park prote ...

, Bağış attracted criticism for his comments that "Everyone who enters

Taksim Square Taksim Square ( tr, Taksim Meydanı, ), situated in Beyoğlu in the European part of Istanbul, Turkey, is a major tourist and leisure district famed for its restaurants, shops, and hotels. It is considered the heart of modern Istanbul, with the c ...

will be treated like a terrorist." In an officially published statement, and despite claims and evidence presented by organizations such as Amnesty International, Bağış claimed that "There is no state violence in Turkey". In the same statement, he claimed that "Turkey has the most reformist and strongest government in Europe and the most charismatic and strongest leader in the world. Should anyone have a problem with this, then I am truly sorry. Only for those who feel overwhelmed is the leadership of Prime Minister Erdoğan a problem." Germany's Foreign Ministry summoned the Turkish ambassador to protest after Bağış accused German Chancellor

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German former politician and scientist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as Leader of the Opp ...

of "picking on" Turkey for domestic political gain before German elections, after Merkel criticized the crackdown as "much too strong". The accusation came after Germany blocked a decision to move forward the membership negotiations after the crackdown. Bağış said that if Merkel is looking for "internal political material" ahead of Germany's September elections, "this should not be Turkey". He also pointed to the election defeat last year of then-French President Nicolas Sarkozy, a fellow opponent of Turkish EU membership.

"Masturbation" remark

In January 2013 Bağış compared the campaign to recognize the

Assyrian genocide The Sayfo or the Seyfo (; see below), also known as the Assyrian genocide, was the mass slaughter and deportation of Assyrian / Syriac Christians in southeastern Anatolia and Persia's Azerbaijan province by Ottoman forces and some Kurdish ...

and

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily through t ...

in Sweden to "masturbation" . He later apologised for his remark.

Corruption scandal

As part of claims that Bağış, along with 3 other ministers, engaged in severely corrupt conduct, Bağış was the only one out of the four charged ministers who had not resigned on 25 December 2013. Despite Bağış claiming innocence, that evening, Prime Minister Erdoğan announced a major cabinet reshuffle, removing Bağış from his post as the Minister for European Union through his publicly unannounced official resignation.

Mocking the Quran

Voice recordings of Bağış mocking the

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...

, particularly Surah Al-Baqarah, were leaked. This caused major controversy. Bağış claimed that he never said such things, but the voice recordings were later proven to be authentic. Turkish religious leader Ahmet Mahmut Ünlü criticised Bağış, stating "He mocked Surah Al Baqarah, they

Ak Party The Justice and Development Party ( tr, Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, ; AKP), abbreviated officially AK Party in English, is a political party in Turkey self-describing as conservative-democrat. It is one of the two major parties of contempora ...

] still talk with him, sit and laugh with him. I wouldn't even look at his face, even if they gave me the whole world."

Ambassador

Bağış was appointed ambassador of Turkey to the Czech Republic by September 2019, replacing Ahmet Necati Bigalı.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bagis, Egemen 21st-century Turkish diplomats 1970 births Living people People from Bingöl Justice and Development Party (Turkey) politicians Baruch College alumni Deputies of Istanbul Members of the 24th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 23rd Parliament of Turkey Members of the 22nd Parliament of Turkey Ministers of European Union Affairs of Turkey Ministers of State of Turkey Members of the 60th government of Turkey Ambassadors of Turkey to the Czech Republic