Şakir Özkan Torunlar (born; 1960) is a Turkish diplomat who has served in various capacities in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since joining in 1983. His diplomatic career spans several countries and includes roles such as Turkey's ambassador to Bangladesh, Consul General to Jerusalem, and ambassador to India. In 2022, he was appointed Turkey's ambassador to Tel Aviv, becoming the first ambassador to Israel from 2018 to October 2023 when the Turkish president recalled him over the humanitarian crisis during the

Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

Early life and education

Torunlar was born in 1960 in

Mersin Mersin () is a large city and port on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast of Mediterranean Region, Turkey, southern Turkey. It is the provincial capital of the Mersin Province (formerly İçel). It is made up of four district governorates ...

, Turkey. He graduated from

TED Ankara College TED Ankara College Foundation Schools is a group of private schools in Turkey. It consists of kindergarten, elementary, middle and high schools. Its İncek Campus, considered sizeable with 141,000 square meters of enclosed and over 309,000 square ...

in 1977 and later from

Ankara University Ankara University () is a public university, public research university in Ankara, the capital of Turkey. It was the first higher education institution founded in Turkey after the History of the Republic of Turkey, formation of the Turkish republ ...

Faculty of Political Science in 1982.

Career

Torunlar joined the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

(MFA) in 1983. He served as Attaché and Third Secretary in the Minister's Cabinet from 1983 to 1986 and North Africa, MFA, 2005 to 2007. He was also Deputy Director General for Security Affairs, MFA from 2007 to 2008. He served as the Ambassador of Turkey to Bangladesh from 2008 to 2010. During this time he was recognized as Ambassador to the Kingdom of Bhutan and served as the Chairman of the Governing Board of the

Islamic University of Technology Islamic University of Technology (), commonly known as IUT, is an international engineering technological research university located in Gazipur, Bangladesh. IUT offers undergraduate and graduate programs in engineering and technical education ...

(IUT),

Gazipur Gazipur () is a city in central Bangladesh. Located in Gazipur District in Dhaka Division, it is a major industrial city north of Dhaka. It is a hub for the textile industry in Bangladesh, with 75% of all garment industries situated there. ...

, Bangladesh. From 2010 to 2014, he served as Consul General in Jerusalem and held the role of Ambassador to Palestine. He has served as Director General of Bilateral Political Affairs (South Asia) in the Ministry of External Affairs since 2014. From January 2017 to May 2021, he served as the Ambassador of Turkey to India. As of 2021, he is a member of the Foreign Policy Advisory Board. In October 2022, he was appointed as Turkey's ambassador to Tel Aviv, making him the first ambassador to Israel since 2018. In October 2023 during the

, he was recalled by the Turkish president

Recep Tayyip Erdogan Recep is a Turkish name deriving from the Arabic name Rajab. It may refer to: People Surname * Aziz Recep (born 1992), German-Greek footballer * Sibel Recep (born 1987), Swedish pop singer Given name * Recep Adanır (1929–2017), Turkish fo ...

over the humanitarian tragedy caused by Israel's continued attacks on civilians in Gaza.

References

{{reflist 1960 births Living people People from Mersin Ankara University alumni Diplomats for Turkey Ambassadors of Turkey to Bangladesh Ambassadors of Turkey to India Ambassadors of Turkey to Israel