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President of The United Nations General Assembly for the 75th session From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Volkan Bozkır (born 22 November 1950) is a Turkish diplomat and politician who served as the President of the United Nations General Assembly from 2020 to 2021. He served as Minister for European Union Affairs from November 2015 to May 2016 and previously held the same office from August 2014 to August 2015. He concurrently served as the Chief Negotiator for Turkish Accession to the European Union during the same time.
Volkan Bozkır | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) Bozkır in 2016 | |
| President of the 75th UN General Assembly | |
| In office 16 September 2020 – 14 September 2021 | |
| Preceded by | Tijjani Muhammad-Bande |
| Succeeded by | Abdulla Shahid |
| Minister of European Union Affairs | |
| In office 24 November 2015 – 24 May 2016 | |
| Prime Minister | Ahmet Davutoğlu |
| Deputy | Ali Şahin |
| Preceded by | Beril Dedeoğlu |
| Succeeded by | Ömer Çelik |
| In office 29 August 2014 – 28 August 2015 | |
| Prime Minister | Ahmet Davutoğlu |
| Deputy | Alaattin Büyükkaya |
| Preceded by | Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu |
| Succeeded by | Ali Haydar Konca |
| Chief Negotiator for Turkish Accession to the European Union | |
| In office 29 August 2014 – 28 August 2015 | |
| Prime Minister | Ahmet Davutoğlu |
| Preceded by | Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu |
| Succeeded by | Beril Dedeoğlu |
| Member of the Grand National Assembly | |
| Assumed office 12 June 2011 | |
| Constituency | İstanbul (II) (2011, June 2015, Nov 2015, 2018) |
| Permanent Representative of Turkey to the European Union | |
| In office 15 December 2005 – 21 October 2009 | |
| President | Ahmet Necdet Sezer Abdullah Gül |
| Preceded by | Oğuz Demiralp |
| Succeeded by | Selim Kuneralp |
| Ambassador of Turkey to Romania | |
| In office 23 August 1996 – 17 August 2000 | |
| President | Süleyman Demirel Ahmet Necdet Sezer |
| Preceded by | Yaman Başkut |
| Succeeded by | Ömer Zeytinoğlu |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 22 November 1950 Ankara, Turkey |
| Political party | Justice and Development Party (AKP) |
| Spouse | Nazlı Bozkır |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater | Ankara University |
He was elected as the president of The United Nations General Assembly on 17 June 2020 for the 75th session,[1][2] becoming the first-ever Turkish diplomat to hold this position.
Volkan Bozkır was born in Ankara, Turkey. He graduated from Faculty of Law at the Ankara University. He speaks fluent English and French.
He has served as a Member of Parliament for İstanbul's second electoral district since the 2011 general election. Volkan Bozkır is a career diplomat and a defendant of the Turkish position regarding the Armenian genocide but also its anti-terror laws. While being the Turkish Minister for the European Union (EU) and also the leading negotiator in the Turkish accession talks to the EU denied there existed an Armenian genocide. After the EU issued a draft for the Turkey progress report in 2015 including a demand that Turkey accepts that there existed an Armenian genocide, he declared that Turkey wouldn't answer an EU report containing the term genocide.[3] Also in 2015, he criticized Pope Francis for including the term Genocide in a sermon he held in a mass at the St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.[4] As the EU demanded that Turkey adapts its anti-terror regulations according to EU normatives. Bozkır opposed the demand stating the anti terror laws regulations are already in line with the EU demands.[5] As the EU Parliament voted for the accession talks to be suspended in march 2019,[6] Bozkır, as the head of committee for foreign affairs in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey condemned the vote.[7]
On the 17 June 2020, he was elected as the president of the 75th General Assembly of the United Nations, which is to take place September 2020 as the sole candidate with unanimous support from the 178 UN member states that were present in voting that was conducted by secret ballot.[8][9] Armenia, Greece and Cyprus, while initially supportive, decided later to oppose the candidacy, allegedly due to diplomatic conflicts.[10]
| Function | Office | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Vice-consul | General Consulate in Stuttgart, Germany | 1975–1978 |
| Second Secretary & First Secretary | Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq | 1978–1980 |
| Chief of Section | Bilateral Economic Department | 1980–1982 |
| First Secretary & Counselor | Permanent Delegation to the OECD in Paris | 1982–1986 |
| Deputy Head of Department | Multilateral Economic Affairs | 1986–1987 |
| Foreign Policy Advisor | Prime Minister Turgut Özal's Office | 1987–1989 |
| Consul General | New York, United States | 1989–1992 |
| Chief of Cabinet & Chief Foreign Policy Advisor | President Turgut Özal & President Süleyman Demirel | 1992–1996 |
| Ambassador | Bucharest, Romania | 1996–2000 |
| Deputy Secretary General for EU Affairs | Ministry of Foreign Affairs | 2000–2003 |
| Deputy Under Secretary | Ministry of Foreign Affairs | 2003–2005 |
| Ambassador | Permanent Representative of Turkey to the European Union | 2005–2009 |
| Secretary General for EU Affairs | Ministry of Foreign Affairs | 2009–2011 |
| Minister of EU Affairs | Ministry of EU Affairs | 2014–2016 |
| President of the 75th UN General Assembly | United Nations headquarters in New York City | 2020–2021 |
| Ribbon bar | Award or decoration | Country | Date | Place | Note | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Order of the Star of Romania | Romania | 1999 | Bucharest | The Order of The Star is the highest civil decoration of Romania. | [11] |
 |
Knight of Order of Merit of the Italian Republic | Italy | 2 June 2014 | Ankara | The Order of Merit is the highest ranking honour of the Republic of Italy. | [11] |
 |
Crescent of Pakistan | Pakistan | 28 May 2021 | Islamabad | Second highest civilian award of Pakistan | [12][13] |
Bozkır caused controversy in 2014 when he reported during a press conference that Turkey would no longer participate in the Eurovision Song Contest after Conchita Wurst's victory in Eurovision Song Contest 2014.[14][15] On September 5 the General Manager of TRT, İbrahim Şahin, officially announced that Turkey would not return to Eurovision Song Contest 2015 in Vienna.[16] Bozkır's comments during the press conference included "Each time I look at the Austrian who won the Eurovision Song Contest, I say 'Thankfully, we're not participating in this contest anymore.'"[17]
Pakistan, in May 2021, conferred its second highest civilian award Hilal-e-Pakistan to Volkan Bozkir when he was the visiting UN General Assembly President. During his visit to Pakistan, Volkan Bozkir said that it was Pakistan's duty to raise the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in the United Nations "more strongly" and also that there was a lack of political will to find a resolution to the Kashmir dispute compared to the Palestinian issue, even though both have been festering for an equally long period." A day later, the Ministry of External Affairs of India expressed strong opposition to Bozkir's remarks stating that "When an incumbent President of the UN General Assembly makes misleading and prejudiced remarks, he does great disservice to the office he occupies. The PGA's behaviour is truly regrettable and surely diminishes his standing on the global platform," [18]
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