Coşkun Kırca (27 March 1927 – 24 February 2005) was a Turkish diplomat, journalist and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. He served as the Turkish

Minister 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 foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

in 1995. He was at first a member of the

Republican People's Party The Republican People's Party (RPP; , CHP ) is a Kemalism, Kemalist and Social democracy, social democratic political party in Turkey. It is the oldest List of political parties in Turkey, political party in Turkey, founded by Mustafa Kemal ...

(CHP), then of the Republican Reliance Party (CGP), then of the True Path Party (DYP).

Biography

He was born in Istanbul,

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

in 1927. He attended the

Galatasaray High School Galatasaray High School (, ), established in Istanbul in 1481, is the oldest and Selective school, highly selective high school in Turkey. It is also the second-oldest Turkish educational institution after Istanbul University, which was establi ...

in Istanbul and graduated from the School of Law at

Istanbul University Istanbul University, also known as University of Istanbul (), is a Public university, public research university located in Istanbul, Turkey. Founded by Mehmed II on May 30, 1453, a day after Fall of Constantinople, the conquest of Constantinop ...

. In the 1950s he was a contributor of the '' Forum'' magazine. On 12 March 1985 the Turkish embassy in Ottawa, where Kırca served as Ambassador, was attacked by

Armenian Revolutionary Army The Armenian Revolutionary Army (ARA) (in Armenian Հայ Յեղափոխական Բանակ (ՀՅԲ)—pronounced Hay Heghapokhagan Panag) was an Armenian militant organization that attacked at least seven times resulting in at least six fatalities ...

militants. Rather than being captured, Kırca escaped by leaping from the second-floor window at the back of the embassy, breaking his right arm, right leg and pelvis. After the attack, he remained in Canada as ambassador for several years before returning to Turkey, where he served in many senior state posts, including foreign minister ( 51st government of Turkey). When he was a member of Turkish Parliament for the DYP, he voiced support for lifting the

parliamentary immunity Parliamentary immunity, also known as legislative immunity, is a system in which politicians or other political leaders are granted full immunity from legal prosecution, both civil prosecution and criminal prosecution, in the course of the exe ...

of the pro-Kurdish parliamentarians of the People's Labour Party (DEP).deeming it detrimental for the Turkish nation to leave them within the "democratic process". Kırca died of a heart attack in Istanbul at the age of 77. He was buried at the Feriköy Cemetery, Istanbul the next day, almost exactly 20 years after his brush with death in Ottawa. He was married and had 3 children. He was one of the founders of Galatasaray University.

References

1927 births 2005 deaths Diplomats from Istanbul Republican People's Party (Turkey) politicians Republican Reliance Party politicians 20th-century Turkish politicians Democrat Party (Turkey, current) politicians Ministers of foreign affairs of Turkey Deputies of Istanbul Permanent representatives of Turkey to NATO Permanent representatives of Turkey to the United Nations Ambassadors of Turkey to Canada 20th-century Turkish diplomats Galatasaray High School alumni Istanbul University Faculty of Law alumni Burials at Feriköy Cemetery Members of the 51st government of Turkey Members of the 52nd government of Turkey Ministers of state of Turkey 20th-century Turkish journalists {{Turkey-journalist-stub

Biography

See also

References