Mehmet Ali İrtemçelik (born March 17, 1950, in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

) is the previous

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 sov ...

of the

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

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. He has also served as

member of parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

in the

Grand National Assembly of Turkey 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 as a

minister of state Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In o ...

in the Council of Ministers of Turkey. He graduated from

Galatasaray High School Galatasaray High School ( tr, Galatasaray Lisesi, french: Lycée de Galatasaray), established in what was then Constantinople and is now Istanbul, in 1481, is the oldest high school in Turkey. It is also the second-oldest Turkish educational in ...

and

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 ...

, both in Istanbul, Turkey.

Diplomatic career

He started his diplomatic career on March 4, 1975. He has served as Assistant Consul in the Consulate General of Turkey in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

(1977–1980, as second Attaché and head Attaché in the Embassy of Turkey in

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

(1980–1982), as head of section in the Multilateral Relations Bureau in the

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 ...

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

, Turkey (1982–1984), as Attaché and Director in the Permanent Representation of Turkey to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

(1984–1988), as a consultant to the Minister of Foreign Affairs between 1988 and 1991 (with the title of ambassador from 1989 onwards) and as a consultant to the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

in 1991. He became the youngest ambassador in the history of the Republic of Turkey when he was given that title in 1989 when he was thirty-nine years old. He was the Turkish ambassador 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 Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

between November 29, 1991, and July 31, 1995, and in

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

between July 31, 1995, and November 3, 1997. After his ambassadorship to Sofia terminated, he served as the assistant Director in the Bilateral Political Relations Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs until January 11, 1999.

Political career and return to diplomatic service

However, he left his diplomatic career to get into politics, and was elected as head of list from the Motherland Party ( tr, Anavatan Partisi - ANAP) from the third circonscription of Istanbul (covering all of the Asian side of the city) on April 18, 1999. He served as the Minister of State for

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

affairs and

Human Rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

issues between May 27, 1999, and May 6, 2000, while serving as the government spokesman during the same period. During his tenure as member of parliament, he served in the parliament's Foreign Relations Committee and in the Turkish delegation to the

European Council The European Council (informally EUCO) is a collegiate body that defines the overall political direction and priorities of the European Union. It is composed of the heads of state or government of the EU member states, the President of the E ...

's Assembly of Members of Parliament. After falling out with his former classmate from high school and party leader, Mesut Yılmaz, as well as with then-Prime Minister

Bülent Ecevit Mustafa Bülent Ecevit (; 28 May 1925 – 5 November 2006) was a Turkish politician, statesman, poet, writer, scholar, and journalist, who served as the Prime Minister of Turkey four times between 1974 and 2002. He served as prime minister in ...

after having accused him of not respecting, and trying to tinker with, the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

before the presidential elections of 2000, he resigned on May 6, 2000, both from his party and the government to become an independent in the parliament.http://hurarsiv.hurriyet.com.tr/goster/haber.aspx?id=145264 From the archives of Turkish daily Hürriyet He did not seek re-election in 2002 and returned to diplomatic service when was appointed the Turkish ambassador to Germany by the government of

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician serving as the List of presidents of Turkey, 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as prime minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as Lis ...

on October 16, 2003. He is currently serving at the Foreign Ministry. He is fluent both in

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

(having attended French-taught Galatasaray High School) as well as in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

(having attended English-taught Bosporus University). He is married and has three children.

References

External links

Biography of Mehmet Ali İrtemçelik from the web-site of the Turkish Embassy in BerlinTurkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Turkish Embassy in Berlin, Germany
{{DEFAULTSORT:Irtemcelik, Mehmet Ali 1950 births Diplomats from Istanbul Boğaziçi University alumni Government ministers of Turkey Living people Ambassadors of Turkey to Germany Galatasaray High School alumni Motherland Party (Turkey) politicians Ambassadors of Turkey to Jordan Ambassadors of Turkey to Bulgaria Deputies of Istanbul Members of the 21st Parliament of Turkey Members of the 57th government of Turkey Ministers of State of Turkey

Diplomatic career

Political career and return to diplomatic service

See also

References

External links