Yaşar Yakış (born 1938,

Akçakoca Akçakoca is both a town and district of Düzce Province, in the Black Sea region of Turkey, located about 200 km east of Istanbul. The town was named after a Turkish chieftain of the 14th century CE who captured the area for the Ottoman ...

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 ...

) is a Turkish

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. He is a former

Foreign Minister A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

, and a former ambassador to the UN Office in Vienna,

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

, and

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

. From 2002 to 2011 he represented

Düzce Düzce is the capital city of Düzce Province, the eighty-first Province in Turkey. The population is 367,087 and in 2009 was 125,240, an increase from 61,878 in 1990. Overview Düzce is the eighty-first and the newest province of Turkey. ...

as an MP 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 ...

. He is a member of the Justice and Development Party, the leading political party in

at the moment and he is the chair of the European Union Harmonization Committee of the

. He received the French Légion d'Honneur (Officier Medal on December 2, 2009)

Early life and career

Yakış was born in

in 1938. He graduated in 1962 from

Ankara University Ankara University ( tr, Ankara Üniversitesi) is a public university in Ankara, the capital city of Turkey. It was the first higher education institution founded in Turkey after the formation of the republic in 1923. The university has 40 vocat ...

, with B.A. degree in political sciences.

Diplomatic career

He joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1962 and served at various posts at the Turkish Consulate General in Belgium and Turkish Embassy in Lagos, Nigeria. Attended the NATO Defense College in Rome, Italy. Appointed as the Counsellor at the Turkish Delegation in NATO Brussels, he later became the Counsellor at the Turkish Embassy in Damascus, Syria. From 1978 to 1988 he held various positions within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Turkey, becoming Head of the Personnel Department and the head of the NATO Department and Head of

COMCEC The Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation (COMCEC) is one of four standing committees of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). It was established in 1981 at the Third Islamic Summit Conference held in Mecca/Ta'if and ...

Coordination Office. In 1988, became the Ambassador of Turkey to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Appointed as the Deputy Under Secretary for Economic Affairs of the Ministry in 1992. In 1995, he became the Ambassador of Turkey to Cairo, Egypt. From 1998 to 2000 he served as the Permanent Representative of Turkey to the United Nations Office and other international organizations based in Vienna. In 2000, he was appointed as a Senior Policy Adviser at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 2000-2001 he lectured "Turkey's Foreign Policy" at

Bilkent University Bilkent University ( tr, Bilkent Üniversitesi) is a private university located in Ankara, Turkey. It was founded by Prof. İhsan Doğramacı in 1984, with the aim of creating a center of excellence in higher education and research. It is constan ...

and "Water Diplomacy and Turkey's Foreign Policy" at

Hacettepe University Hacettepe University is a leading state university in Ankara, Turkey. It was established on 8 July 1967. It is ranked first among the Turkish universities by URAP in 2021. The university has two main campuses. The first campus is in the old t ...

in Ankara. He speaks French, English and Arabic.

Political career

In August 2001, he became the founding member and Vice Chairman in charge of Foreign Affairs of the Justice and Development Party (AKP). He was elected as a Member of Parliament in the 2002 general election. He became the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the 58th government of Turkey led by

Abdullah Gül Abdullah Gül (; ; born 29 October 1950) is a Turkish politician who served as the 11th President of Turkey, in office from 2007 to 2014. He previously served for four months as Prime Minister from 2002 to 2003, and concurrently served as both ...

until the AKP party leader

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 ...

was elected to Parliament and became Prime Minister in March 2003. Gül succeeded Yakış as foreign Minister. As Foreign Minister, Yakış participated as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Convention to draft the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe in 2003. Reelected as a Member of Parliament in the 2007 general election, he served as the Chairman of the European Union Commission and the Chairman of the Friendship Group with France in the Turkish Parliament before standing down as an MP at the 2011 general election.

Awards

*Decoration of King Abdulaziz (1st degree) for his contribution to Turkish-Saudi relations -1992. *Decoration of "Ordine della Stella della Soliderietà Italiana – Commendatore-2007" by the President of the Republic of Italy. *Decoration of Légion d'honneur (Officier)

References

* Who is Who database
''Biography of Yaşar Yakış''
* Biyografi.net
''Biography of Yaşar Yakış''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yasar Yakis Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Turkey Yakis, Yasar Yakis, Yasar People from Akçakoca Justice and Development Party (Turkey) politicians Ambassadors of Turkey to Egypt Ambassadors of Turkey to Saudi Arabia Permanent Representatives of Turkey to NATO Members of the 23rd Parliament of Turkey Members of the 22nd Parliament of Turkey Deputies of Düzce