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

Feridun Cemal was born in İstanbul in 1899. His father was Mehmet Cemal Bey, one of the directors of the Ottoman Public Debt Administration, and his mother was Nesibe Hanım. He had two brothers, one of who was Ulvi Cemal, a composer. Feridun Cemal graduated from

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 1920. He received a degree in law from the

University of Paris The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...

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

Career

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 in the Turkish embassy in Berlin 1934. Erkin became

consul general A consul is an official representative of a government who resides in a foreign country to assist and protect citizens of the consul's country, and to promote and facilitate commercial and diplomatic relations between the two countries. A consu ...

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. Erkin was named as the ambassador of Turkey to Italy in 1947. He served in the post for one year and became 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 in the post. Erkin was in office until 20 February 1965. One of the most significant visits of him as the minister of foreign affairs was to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

in November 1964. Because it was the first visit of a Turkish minister to the Soviet Union since 1940. Erkin served in the cabinets led by

Prime Minister A prime minister 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. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

İsmet İnönü Mustafa İsmet İnönü (24 September 1884 – 25 December 1973) was a Turkish politician and military officer who served as the second List of Presidents of Turkey, president of Turkey from 1938 to 1950, and as its Prime Minister of Turkey, pr ...

. Then Erkin was elected as a deputy from 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 ...

representing Ordu. He left the party and joined the Justice Party. In 1970 Erkin was elected as senator.

Death

Erkin died on 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 on 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 autob ...

was published by the

Turkish Historical Society The Turkish Historical Society (; 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 described as "the Ke ...

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) 20th-century Turkish diplomats