Danilo Türk (; born 19 February 1952) is a Slovenian diplomat, professor of international law, human rights expert, and political figure who served as
President of Slovenia from 2007 to 2012. He was the first Slovene ambassador to the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...
, from 1992 to 2000, and was the UN Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs from 2000 to 2005.
Türk is a visiting professor of international law at
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, a professor emeritus at the Faculty of Law of the
University of Ljubljana, and non-resident senior fellow of
Chongyang Institute for Financial studies at
Renmin University of China
The Renmin University of China (RUC; ) is a national key public research university in Beijing, China. The university is affiliated to the Ministry of Education, and co-funded by the Ministry and the Beijing Municipal People's Government.
RUC ...
in
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...
. He is the founder of the Danilo Türk Foundation, devoted mostly to the rehabilitation of child victims of armed conflict. Türk is also the chairman of the Global High Level Panel on Water and Peace and the chairman of the board of the Global Fairness Initiative, a
Washington, D.C.-based NGO dedicated to economic and social development in developing nations.
In 2016, he was an unsuccessful candidate for the post of
Secretary-General of the United Nations
The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations.
The role of the secretary-g ...
.
Early life
Türk was born in a lower-middle-class family in
Maribor
Maribor ( , , , ; also known by other historical names) is the second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Lower Styria. It is also the seat of the City Municipality of Maribor, the seat of the Drava sta ...
, Slovenia (then part of the
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yu ...
). He attended Maribor Grammar School No. 2 (''II. gimnazija Maribor''). In 1971 he enrolled at the
University of Ljubljana, where he studied law. After graduation (1975) he served as the secretary of the commission for minority and expatriate affairs at the Socialist Alliance of Working People (SZDL), an organisation sponsored by the
League of Communists of Yugoslavia
The League of Communists of Yugoslavia, mk, Сојуз на комунистите на Југославија, Sojuz na komunistite na Jugoslavija known until 1952 as the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, sl, Komunistična partija Jugoslavije mk ...
. In December 1979 he became the chairman of that commission and a member of the executive committee of the SZDL. At the same time he continued his studies. He obtained an MA with a thesis on minority rights from the
University of Belgrade's Law School. In 1978, he became a teaching assistant at the Faculty of Law in
Ljubljana
Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center.
During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...
. In 1982, he obtained his PhD with a dissertation on the principle of non-intervention in international law at the University in Ljubljana and received a full-time job as an assistant professor at the University in Ljubljana's Faculty of Law. In 1983, he became the director of the University of Ljubljana's Institute for International Law. In the following years, he worked on human and minority rights. In the mid-1980s, he collaborated with
Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and s ...
to report on human rights issues in Yugoslavia.
Between 1986 and 1992, he served in a personal capacity as a member the UN Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities and was the UN Special Rapporteur on the Realization of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Together with Louis Joinet (France), he was also the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression. In 1987 he initiated the establishment of the Council for Human Rights in Slovenia and served until 1992 as the council’s vice-chairman. In 1990/91 he coauthored the human rights chapter in Slovenia's constitution.
Diplomatic and academic career
From 1992 to 2000, Türk was the first Slovene Permanent Representative to the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...
. During this time, he secured the election of Slovenia to the UN Security Council (1998–1999) and was president of the
United Nations Security Council
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, ...
in August 1998 and November 1999.
/sup> Between 1996 and 1998, he was a member of the UN Human Rights Committee. From 2000 to 2005, he served as UN Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs under Secretary General Kofi Annan
Kofi Atta Annan (; 8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founde ...
. In 2005 he returned to Slovenia and became a professor of international law; from May 2006 to December 2007 he served as the vice dean of student affairs at the University of Ljubljana's Faculty of Law. Türk has published over 100 articles in various law journals and three books. He authored the first Slovene book on international law, titled ''Temelji mednarodnega prava'' (Foundations of International Law, 2007, revised 2015).
In 2019, Türk was elected president of the Club of Madrid
Club de Madrid is an independent non-profit organization created to promote democracy and change in the international community. Composed of 121 regular members from 72 countries, including 7 Nobel Peace Prize laureates and 20 first female heads ...
.
Presidency
In June 2007, Türk ran in the Slovene presidential election. As an independent candidate
An independent or non-partisan politician is a politician not affiliated with any political party or bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent.
Some politicians have political views th ...
, he was backed by a broad coalition of left-wing parties, composed of the opposition Zares
Zares – Social Liberals ( sl, Zares – socialno-liberalni) was a social-liberal political party in Slovenia.
Its first president was Gregor Golobič, former Secretary General of the Liberal Democracy of Slovenia and former close advisor to th ...
party and Social Democrats, the Democratic Party of Pensioners of Slovenia, and the extra-parliamentary Christian Socialist Party and Democratic Party. In the first round of the presidential elections, held on 21 October 2007, he placed second with 24.54% of the votes, which brought him into the runoff against the centre right candidate Lojze Peterle (who received 28.50% of the popular vote). He won the runoff on 11 November 2007 with 68.2% of the votes, /sup> becoming the third president of Slovenia on December 23, 2007. Türk ran for reelection in 2012, but lost the election to Borut Pahor in a second round of voting, held on 2 December 2012. /sup> He received roughly one-third of the votes.
UN Secretary-General candidature
In December 2013, Türk announced that he was planning to run for UN Secretary-General. He was soon supported by Prime Minister Alenka Bratušek
Alenka Bratušek (; born 31 March 1970) is a Slovenian politician. She was Prime Minister of Slovenia from March 2013 until May 2014, the first woman in Slovenia to hold this position. She was president ''pro tempore'' of the Positive Slovenia p ...
and Minister of Foreign Affairs Karel Erjavec. In January 2014 the Slovene government endorsed Türk as its candidate for UN Secretary-General. He was later also supported by Prime Minister Miro Cerar
Miroslav Cerar Jr. (, known as Miro Cerar ;) is a Slovenian law professor and politician. He was Prime Minister of Slovenia, leading the 12th Government. He served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs in the 13th Governmen ...
and President Borut Pahor, as well as by Speaker of the National Assembly of Slovenia Milan Brglez (also a professor at the University of Ljubljana). In accordance with the UN procedure, the government of Slovenia nominated Danilo Türk as candidate for UN Secretary-General on 8 February 2016.
Türk is an experienced member of the United Nations community. He served as the first Permanent Representative of the Republic of Slovenia to the UN and remained in New York as ambassador for eight years, from 1992 until 2000. As Slovenian representative he also presided over the United Nations Security Council
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, ...
twice. His work was recognised by Secretary-General Kofi Annan
Kofi Atta Annan (; 8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founde ...
, who chose Türk as one of his close advisors and appointed him Assistant Secretary-General in 2000. He served in this position until 2005, when he returned to Slovenia to teach international law at the University of Ljubljana.
Türk has long been recognised as an expert and global advocate for human rights and his work has been connected with human rights and the fight for equality for more than 40 years.
One element of human rights that Turk has been questioned about is the UN's role in the Haiti cholera outbreak
The 2010s Haiti cholera outbreak is the first modern large-scale outbreak of cholera—a disease once considered beaten back largely due to the invention of modern sanitation. The disease was reintroduced to Haiti in October 2010, not long after ...
that has been widely discussed and criticized. There has been indisputable evidence that the UN is the proximate cause for bringing cholera to Haiti. Peacekeepers sent to Haiti from Nepal were carrying asymptomatic cholera and they did not treat their waste properly before dumping it into Haiti's water stream. In an interview with the New York Times, Türk was asked if cholera victims should receive compensation. He responded by saying he hopes the UN would "provide the victims with a fair process and an effective remedy." St. Vincent followed this up during the UN informal dialogues by asking Mr. Türk how he would place the pursuit of an effective remedy on his list of priorities. Türk's response was that though the UN enjoys immunity from prosecution, "there are other ways of establishing fair process and effectiveness". He also stated "current discussions that I know exist within the Secretariat and between the Secretariat and member states will produce such effectiveness and fairness." Following-up at the media stakeout, Inner City Press questioned Türk about his statement that there may be some process going on behind the scenes to pay compensation. Türk responded by saying that there have been informal conversations about the Haitian situation, and though he does not have full knowledge, he can say that "this story is not closed." He admits that he values the importance of legal regulation including UN immunity, but he also believes in remedies and fair processes.
37 human rights organizations recently signed onto a UN Secretary General accountability pledge. This pledge asks the candidates to take action on two human rights violations that have tarnished the United Nations' image: failing to provide remedies for victims of cholera in Haiti, and sexual exploitation and abuse by peacekeepers. Türk issued a statement responding to Aids Free World and the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti
The Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti (IJDH) is a non-profit organization based in Boston, Massachusetts, US, that seeks to accompany the people of Haiti in their nonviolent struggle for the consolidation of constitutional democracy, j ...
, expressing his support for the organizations' efforts. While he acknowledges that he has "clearly expressed iscommitment to fairness towards the victims of cholera in Haiti and for substantial, credible and speedy investigations of the cases of sexual abuse committed by peacekeepers", he cannot undertake formal pledges. Nevertheless, he reaffirms his commitment to better UN accountability and says "it is abundantly clear where my heart is."
Later career
In 2022, Türk was appointed by United Nations Secretary General
The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations.
The role of the secretary-g ...
António Guterres
António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres ( , ; born 30 April 1949) is a Portuguese politician and diplomat. Since 2017, he has served as secretary-general of the United Nations, the ninth person to hold this title. A member of the Portuguese Soci ...
to the High-Level Advisory Board on Effective Multilateralism, co-chaired by Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Stefan Löfven.
Personal life
Türk has been married to Barbara Miklič since 1976. They have one daughter and one granddaughter. He is the brother of the manager Vitoslav Türk, member of the Slovenian Democratic Party. Türk speaks Slovene, English, French and Serbo-Croatian.
Health
In March 2011, Türk successfully underwent robot-assisted prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is cancer of the prostate. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancerous tumor worldwide and is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related mortality among men. The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system that su ...
surgery at the Urology Institute in Innsbruck
Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol and the fifth-largest city in Austria. On the River Inn, at its junction with the Wipp Valley, which provides access to the Brenner Pass to the south, it had a p ...
, Austria.
Honors and awards
*: Received a copy of the key of the city of Tirana
Tirana ( , ; aln, Tirona) is the capital and largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea ...
on the occasion of his state visit to Albania.
*: Grand Star of the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria (2011)
*: Ilyas Afandiyev International Prize (2010)
*: Received a copy of the key of the city of Bogota (2008)
*: European Court of Auditors Medal (2012)
*: Commander, First Class, Order of the White Rose of Finland
The Order of the White Rose of Finland ( fi, Suomen Valkoisen Ruusun ritarikunta; sv, Finlands Vita Ros’ orden) is one of three official orders in Finland, along with the Order of the Cross of Liberty, and the Order of the Lion of Finland. ...
(2010)
*: Gold medal of the Széchenyi Scientific Society (2008)
*: Honorary Doctorate, University of Szeged (2010)
*: Honorary Doctorate, Corvinus University of Budapest (2015)
*: Knight Grand Cross, Order of the Falcon
The Order of the Falcon ( is, Hin íslenska fálkaorða) is the only order of chivalry in Iceland, founded by King Christian X of Denmark and Iceland on 3 July 1921. The award is awarded for merit for Iceland and humanity and has five degrees. N ...
(2011)
*: Knight Grand Cross with Cordon, Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic ( it, Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana) is the senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi.
The highest-rankin ...
(2011)
*: Honorary Professor of the Academy of Public Administration, Astana (2009)
* : Grand Cross of the Order of Saint-Charles (11 January 2011)
*: Grand Cross, Royal Norwegian Order of St Olav
The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav ( no, Den Kongelige Norske Sankt Olavs Orden; or ''Sanct Olafs Orden'', the old Norwegian name) is a Norwegian order of chivalry instituted by King Oscar I on 21 August 1847. It is named after King Olav I ...
(2011)
*: Grand Cross with Diamonds, Order of the Sun of Peru
Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to:
* Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood
* Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of ...
(2008)
*: Honorary Doctorate, Moscow State Institute of International Relations (2012)
*: Honorary Doctorate, V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University (2011)
*: Received the Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) a ...
by Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states durin ...
during her visit to Slovenia in 2008.
*: Arthur J. Goldberg Award, Touro Law College (2008)
*Protector of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts
The European Academy of Sciences and Arts (EASA, la, Academia Scientiarum et Artium Europaea) is a transnational and interdisciplinary network, connecting about 2,000 recommended scientists and artists worldwide, including 37 Nobel Prize laur ...
(2008)
References
External links
Web page of the president of Slovenia
Former presidents of Slovenia with links on their archive web pages
Office of former President Danilo Türk
Biography
Presidential campaign site 2012
Biography by CIDOB Foundation
Interview from December 2009 in English with transcript
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turk, Danilo
1952 births
Columbia University faculty
Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint-Charles
Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
Knights Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
Living people
Members of the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights
Politicians from Maribor
Permanent Representatives of Slovenia to the United Nations
Presidents of Slovenia
Slovenian diplomats
Yugoslav lawyers
United Nations Human Rights Committee members
Slovenian officials of the United Nations
University of Belgrade alumni
University of Belgrade Faculty of Law alumni
University of Ljubljana alumni
University of Ljubljana faculty