Feridun Cemal Erkin (1899–1980) was a Turkish diplomat and politician. He was the minister of foreign affairs between 1962 and 1965. He served as the ambassador of Turkey in various countries, including Italy, the United States of America, Spain, France and the United Kingdom.

Early life and education

Erkin was born in İstanbul 1899. He graduated from

Galatasaray High School Galatasaray High School ( tr, Galatasaray Lisesi, french: Lycée de Galatasaray), established in what was then Constantinople and is now Istanbul, in 1481, is the oldest high school in Turkey. It is also the second-oldest Turkish educational in ...

in 1920. He received a degree in law from the

University of Paris The University of Paris (french: link=no, Université de Paris), Metonymy, metonymically known as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, active from 1150 to 1970, with the exception between 1793 and 1806 under the French Revo ...

in 1925. Between 1916 and 1918 he completed the military service.

Career

Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F017281-0000, BMZ, Scheel empfängt Außenminister der Türkei

Erkin worked as a deputy accountant in İstanbul public administration in 1920. He was the chief secretary of the population exchange commission in 1926. He was appointed to his first diplomatic post in 1928 as the first secretary in the Turkish embassy in London. After serving at the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in various capacities he was named as the

envoy extraordinary Diplomatic rank is a system of professional and social rank used in the world of diplomacy and international relations. A diplomat's rank determines many ceremonial details, such as the order of precedence at official processions, table seatings ...

in the Turkish embassy in Berlin 1934. Erkin became

consul general A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...

in Berlin in 1938. During World War II he headed a commission of the Republic of Turkey which was formed to assist Greece when it was attacked by the Nazi forces and was the undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was appointed ambassador of Turkey to Italy in 1947. He served in the post for one year and was named as the ambassador of Turkey to the United States in 1948. Erkin's tenure ended in 1955 when he was appointed as ambassador of Turkey to Spain. Next he was named as the ambassador of Turkey to France in 1957 which he held until 1960. He served as the ambassador of Turkey to the United Kingdom between 1960 and 1962. Erkin was appointed minister of foreign affairs on 1 April 1962, replacing

Selim Sarper Selim Rauf Sarper (14 June 1899, Istanbul – 11 October 1968, Ankara) was a Turkish diplomat and politician. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs between 1960–1962. Early years Selim Sarper was born on 14 June 1899 in Istanbul. He sp ...

in the post. Erkin was in office until 20 February 1965. He served in the cabinets led by

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

İsmet İnönü. Then he was elected as a deputy from the Republican People's Party representing Ordu. He left the party and joined the Justice Party. In 1970 Erkin was elected as senator.

Death

Erkin died 21 June 1980.

Work and legacy

In 1968 Erkin published a book, ''Türk Sovyet İlişkileri ve Boğazlar Meselesi'', (Turkish: ''Turkey Soviet Union Relations and the Straits Question''). His

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobio ...

was published by the

Turkish Historical Society The Turkish Historical Society ( tr, Türk Tarih Kurumu, TTK) is a research society studying the history of Turkey and the Turkish people, founded in 1931 by the initiative of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, with headquarters in Ankara, Turkey. It has been ...

in 1994 with the title ''Dışişlerinde 34 Yıl: Anılar-Yorumlar'' (Turkish: ''34 Years at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Memories–comments'').

Awards

Erkin was awarded by Greece the Order of the Phoenix due to his activities as the head of Turkish aid commission during World War II.

References

External links

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WorldCat Identities
{{DEFAULTSORT:Erkin, Feridun Cemal 20th-century Turkish writers 1899 births 1980 deaths Cold War diplomats Galatasaray High School alumni Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Turkey Politicians from Istanbul Republican People's Party (Turkey) politicians Members of the 13th Parliament of Turkey University of Paris alumni Members of the 26th government of Turkey Deputies of Ordu Ambassadors of Turkey to Italy Ambassadors of Turkey to Spain Ambassadors of Turkey to the United Kingdom Ambassadors of Turkey to the United States Members of the 27th government of Turkey Members of the 28th government of Turkey Justice Party (Turkey) politicians Members of the Senate of the Republic (Turkey) Recipients of the Order of the Phoenix (Greece)