The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey is the

government minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, ...

who heads the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and is a member of the Cabinet of Turkey. The minister is responsible for overseeing the

international relations International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such a ...

of the government, though specific relations involving Turkey's accession negotiations with the

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 de ...

are handled by the Directorate for EU Affairs. The office was established in 1920 during the

Turkish War of Independence The Turkish War of Independence "War of Liberation", also known figuratively as ''İstiklâl Harbi'' "Independence War" or ''Millî Mücadele'' "National Struggle" (19 May 1919 – 24 July 1923) was a series of military campaigns waged by th ...

, after which Bekir Sami Kunduh became the first Minister to hold the office. The incumbent officeholder is

Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu (; born 5 February 1968) is a Turkish diplomat and politician who has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey since 24 November 2015. He previously served in the same position from August 2014 to August 2015. He is ...

, who took office on 24 November 2015 after Prime Minister

Ahmet Davutoğlu Ahmet Davutoğlu (; born 26 February 1959) is a Turkish academic, politician and former diplomat who served as the 26th Prime Minister of Turkey and Leader of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) from 2014 to 2016. He previously served as ...

formed his third government.

History of the office

Ottoman era

Before the establishment of the Turkish Republic, foreign affairs were handled by the 'Reis-ül Küttap' (Head Secretary) of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

until the 19th century. In 1836, the Head Secretariat was upgraded to a Ministry and became the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Ottoman Empire, with the last Reis-ül Küttap, Yozgatlı Akif Efendi, becoming the first minister responsible.

Republic era

With the establishment of 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 Const ...

during the War of Independence, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey was established on 3 May 1920 with Bekir Sami Kunduh becoming the first minister responsible, with the legislative Act No. 1154 in 1927 laying down the legal functions of the Foreign Ministry. The Turkish diplomatic service was significantly expanded after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

despite

ASALA Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA) was a militant organization active between 1975 and the 1990s whose stated goal was "to compel the Turkish Government to acknowledge publicly its responsibility for the Armenian genocide ...

terrorist attacks against Turkish diplomats occurring in the 1970s.

List of Ministers of Foreign Affairs

Since the office was established in 1920, there have been 43 Ministers of Foreign Affairs. Ministers are appointed by the Prime Minister of Turkey as part of his or her cabinet, after which the

President of Turkey The president of Turkey, officially the president of the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Cumhurbaşkanı), is the head of state and head of government of Turkey. The president directs the executive branch of the national govern ...

validates the appointment of the minister. The minister is usually a

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 o ...

, though Prime Ministers reserve the right to appoint ministers from outside parliament if they see fit. A notable example was the appointment of

as foreign minister in 2009 despite not being an MP.

References

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External links