Gündüz Aktan (1941–2008) was a Turkish diplomat and politician. He held various diplomatic posts, including ambassador of Turkey to Greece and ambassador of Turkey to Japan. After leaving diplomatic post he joined the

Nationalist Movement Party The Nationalist Movement Party, or alternatively translated as Nationalist Action Party (, MHP), is a Turkish Far-right politics, far-right, ultranationalism, ultranationalist Political parties in Turkey, political party. The group is often de ...

and was elected to the Turkish Parliament in 2007. He served as a deputy for one year until his death in November 2008.

Early life and education

Aktan was born in

Safranbolu Safranbolu is a town in Karabük Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey. It is the seat of Safranbolu District.

on 7 August 1941. His father, Bekir Suphi Aktan, was a governor. He graduated from the Faculty of Political Sciences of Ankara University in 1962.

Career

Following his graduation Aktan worked at the

Ministry of Interior An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, th ...

. He 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 ...

in 1967. He was the permanent representative of Turkey at

OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; , OCDE) is an international organization, intergovernmental organization with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and international trade, wor ...

in Paris between 1970 and 1973. He was the ambassador of Turkey to Kenya from 1973 to 1975. He was the permanent representative of Turkey at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

in New York City between 1977 and 1981. He was appointed ambassador of Turkey to Switzerland in 1983 and remained in office until 1985. Next he served as an advisor to

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 ...

Turgut Özal Halil Turgut Özal (13 October 192717 April 1993) was a Turkish politician, bureaucrat, engineer and statesman who served as the eighth president of Turkey from 1989 to 1993. He previously served as the 26th prime minister of Turkey from 1983 ...

from 1985 to 1988 and as ambassador of Turkey to Greece from 1988 to 1991. He was the head of the Turkish delegation to the United Nations in Geneva between 1991 and 1995. He was named as the vice undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in charge of political affairs in 1995 and served in the post for one year. He was the ambassador of Turkey to Japan from 1996 to 1998. Aktan retired from diplomatic post in 1998 and headed the Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation. He wrote opinion columns for the ''

Radikal ''Radikal'' () was a daily liberal Turkish language newspaper, published in Istanbul. From 1996 it was published by Aydın Doğan's Doğan Media Group. Although Radikal did not endorse a particular political alignment, it was generally consider ...

'' newspaper between 1998 and June 2007. He was a member of the Turkish Armenian Reconciliation Commission. He was appointed chair of the ASAM: Eurasian Center for Strategic Studies on 1 April 2004 and held the post until September 2004. Aktan joined the Nationalist Movement Party and was elected as a deputy from Istanbul in the

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

of 2007.

Personal life and death

Aktan was married to Ülkü Aktan and had two children, a daughter and a son. Aktan was hospitalized due to heart failure in the early November 2008. He died at Akay Hospital in Ankara on 19 November 2008. Funeral prayers for him were performed in

Kocatepe Mosque The Kocatepe Mosque () is the largest mosque in Ankara, Turkey. It was built between 1967 and 1987 in the Kocatepe quarter in Kızılay, and its size and prominent situation have made it a landmark that can be seen from almost anywhere in central ...

, Ankara, on 20 November, and he was buried Büyükada cemetery, Istanbul. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs published a book in memory of Aktan in 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aktan, Gunduz 20th-century Turkish diplomats 20th-century Turkish journalists 21st-century Turkish journalists 1941 births 2008 deaths Ankara University Faculty of Political Sciences alumni Ambassadors of Turkey to Greece Ambassadors of Turkey to Japan Ambassadors of Turkey to Kenya Ambassadors of Turkey to Switzerland Permanent representatives of Turkey to the United Nations People from Safranbolu Deputies of Istanbul Members of the 23rd Parliament of Turkey Nationalist Movement Party politicians Radikal (newspaper) people Turkish columnists