Şükrü Elekdağ

Mustafa Şükrü Elekdağ (pronounced [ʃyˈcɾy elekdaː]; born 29 September 1924)^[1] is a Turkish diplomat, academician, and politician.

Şükrü Elekdağ
Member of the Grand National Assembly
In office 3 November 2002 – 12 June 2011
Constituency	Istanbul (III) (2002, 2007)
Ambassador of Turkey to Japan
In office 1970–1974
President	Fahri S. Korutürk
Preceded by	Turgud Aytuğ
Succeeded by	Celal Eyicioğlu
Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affair
In office 1974–1979
President	Fahri S. Korutürk
Ambassador of Turkey to the United States
In office 1979–1989
President	Fahri S. Korutürk Kenan Evren
Preceded by	Melih Esenbel
Succeeded by	Nüzhet Kandemir
Personal details
Born	Mustafa Şükrü Elekdağ (1924-09-29) 29 September 1924 (age 100) Istanbul, Turkey
Political party	Republican People's Party
Spouse	Ayla Elekdağ
Children	4
Alma mater	Istanbul Higher Education School of Economics and Commerce (BA) University of Paris (PgD, MEc)
Profession	Diplomat, academician, politician
Website	Official website

He graduated from Galatasaray High School and received his undergraduate from Istanbul Higher Education School of Economics and Commerce, which is the precursor of Marmara University. He earned a postgraduate degree and became Master of Economics from the University of Paris with the help of a scholarship from the French government.

He served as the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ambassador of Turkey to Japan (1970–1974),^[2] and the United States (1979–1989).^[3] He was also the Member of Parliament (2002–2011) from the Republican People's Party.^[1]

He was one of the prepotent foreign policymakers of Turkey in the 1990s. In 1994, he wrote the 2½ War Strategy about Turkey's neighborhood relations and national security policy.^[4] He was a senior lecturer at Bilkent University between 1990–2002 and gave lectures about strategy, Turkish foreign policy, and security.^[5]

Elekdağ has played an important role in Turkey's Armenian genocide denial efforts.^[6] In 1982, he claimed that Turkey had not threatened the lives of Jews due to the inclusion of the Armenian genocide in the program of the International Conference on the Holocaust and Genocide in Tel Aviv.^[7] This claim was false.^[8] Historian Taner Akçam describes Elekdag's policy on the Armenian Genocide as "extreme nationalist and aggressive denial".^[9]

References

1. "Mustafa Şükrü Elekdağ". Grand National Assembly of Turkey. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
2. "Büyükelçilik Tarihi ve Önceki Büyükelçilerimiz" (in Turkish). T.C. Tokyo Büyükelçiliği. Retrieved 2018-04-04.
3. "Embassy History and Previous Ambassadors". Embassy of the Republic of Turkey, Washington, the United States of America. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
4. Elekdağ, Şükrü. "2½ War Strategy" (PDF). Center for Strategic Research. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
5. "Hakkında". Dr. Şükrü M. Elekdağ Bakış (in Turkish). 2009-09-28. Retrieved 2022-08-31.
6. Hovannisian, Richard G. (2015). "Denial of the Armenian Genocide 100 Years Later: The New Practitioners and Their Trade". Genocide Studies International. 9 (2): 228–247. doi:10.3138/gsi.9.2.04. S2CID 155132689.
7. Auron, Yair (2003). The Banality of Denial: Israel and the Armenian Genocide. Rutgers University Press. p. 221. ISBN 0-7658-0834-X.
8. Ben Aharon, Eldad (2015). "A Unique Denial: Israel's Foreign Policy and the Armenian Genocide". British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies. 42 (4): 638–654. doi:10.1080/13530194.2015.1043514. S2CID 218602513.
9. "Approaching 2015: How to Assess Erdoğan's Statement on the Armenian Genocide?". E-International Relations. 4 June 2014. Retrieved 24 January 2021.

External links

• Şükrü Elekdağ "Bakış", official website (in Turkish)
• Şükrü Elekdağ, Twitter account (in Turkish)
• MP profile at the Grand National Assembly website (in Turkish)

Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Turgud Aytuğ	Ambassador of Turkey to Japan 1970–1974	Succeeded by Celal Eyicioğlu
Preceded by Melih Esenbel	Ambassador of Turkey to the United States 1979–1989	Succeeded by Nüzhet Kandemir