Mustafa Şükrü Elekdağ (; born 29 September 1924) is a Turkish diplomat, academician, and politician. He 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 ...

and received his undergraduate from Istanbul Higher Education School of Economics and Commerce, which is the precursor of

Marmara University Marmara University (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Marmara Üniversitesi'') is a Public university, public research university in Istanbul, Turkey. The university, named after the Sea of Marmara, was founded as a university in 1982. However, its ...

. He earned a postgraduate degree and became

Master of Economics The Master of Economics (MEcon or MEc) is a postgraduate master's degree in economics comprising training in economic theory, econometrics, and/or applied economics. The degree is also offered as an MS or MSc, MA or MCom in economics; var ...

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 ...

with the help of a scholarship from the French government. He served as the Undersecretary of 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 ...

, the Ambassador of Turkey to Japan (1970–1974), and the United States (1979–1989). He was also the Member of Parliament (2002–2011) 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 ...

. 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. He was a senior lecturer at

Bilkent University Bilkent University () is a private non-profit research university located in Ankara, Turkey. It was founded by İhsan Doğramacı, the first president of the Council of Higher Education and the head of the prominent Doğramacı family, with th ...

between 1990–2002 and gave lectures about strategy, Turkish foreign policy, and security. Elekdağ has played an important role in Turkey's

Armenian genocide denial Denial of the Armenian genocide is the negationist claim that the Ottoman Empire and its ruling party, the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), did not commit genocide against its Armenian citizens during World War I—a crime docume ...

efforts. In 1982, he claimed that Turkey had not threatened the lives of Jews due to the inclusion of the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily t ...

in the program of the International Conference on the Holocaust and Genocide in Tel Aviv. This claim was false. Historian

Taner Akçam Altuğ Taner Akçam (born 1953) is a Turkish-German historian and sociologist. During the 1990s, he was the first Turkish scholar to acknowledge the Armenian genocide, and has written several books on the genocide, such as '' A Shameful Act'' ...

describes Elekdag's policy on the Armenian Genocide as "extreme nationalist and aggressive denial".

References

External links

Şükrü Elekdağ "Bakış"
official website
Şükrü Elekdağ
Twitter account
MP profile at the Grand National Assembly website
(in Turkish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Elekdag, Mustafa Sukru 1924 births Living people Diplomats from Istanbul Galatasaray High School alumni Marmara University alumni University of Paris alumni Contemporary Republican People's Party (Turkey) politicians Ambassadors of Turkey to Japan Ambassadors of Turkey to the United States Deputies of Istanbul Members of the 23rd Parliament of Turkey Members of the 22nd Parliament of Turkey Turkish expatriates in France