Basat Öztürk (born 7 December 1963) is a Turkish diplomat who served as the permanent representative of Turkey to NATO and as the Turkish ambassador to Afghanistan.

Early life

Basat Öztürk was born in Elazığ on 7 December 1963. He graduated 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 Sciences in 1985. In 1996 he enrolled into the

NATO Defense College NATO Defense College (NDC) is the international military college for NATO, North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries. It is located in Rome, Italy. History The idea of a NATO Defense College originated with General Dwight D. Eisenhower, t ...

Career

After graduating from university in 1985, he entered 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 ...

serving as the third secretary and attache in the NATO department. From 1989 and 1994 he served in the Turkish embassy in

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

and the consulate in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. He then served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in several NATO related positions until 2000. Öztürk served as Consul General in

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

between 2002 and 2004. From 2004 he was involved with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs assuming the position as its Deputy Director-General of Maritime and Aviation from 2007 to 2009. He became an ambassador to

Kabul Kabul 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. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

on 19 October 2009. On 17 November 2013, Öztürk replaced NATO Deputy Secretary General Hüseyin Diriöz, whose term of office expired in 2013. He was nominated but a German candidate was selected. He served as General Manager of Multilateral Political Affairs from 1 December 2013 and 15 March 2015 and has been General Manager of International Security Affairs from 15 March 2015 and 16 October 2016. On 17 October 2016, he served as the first civilian deputy undersecretary of the

Ministry of National Defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divide ...

until 9 July 2018. Öztürk became the Permanent Representative of Turkey to NATO on 15 November 2018. He was replaced by his successor, Zeki Levent Gümrükçü, on 16 January 2023.

Personal life

Öztürk speaks English. He is married and has two daughters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Öztürk, Basat Living people 1963 births Ankara University alumni Permanent representatives of Turkey to NATO Ambassadors of Turkey to Afghanistan People from Elazığ