Ayşegül Kandaş (born 1967) is a Turkish diplomat who served as Turkey's ambassador to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

Education

She graduated from high school at Robert College of Istanbul in 1985 and earned her first degree in 1989 from the

Bosphorus University The Bosporus or Bosphorus Strait ( ; , colloquially ) is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul, Turkey. The Bosporus connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara and forms one of the continental b ...

Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences, Department of Political Science and International Relations. Kandaş obtained four master’s degrees from institutions in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

Bruges Bruges ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is in the northwest of the country, and is the sixth most populous city in the country. The area of the whole city amoun ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, and the

Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Northern Cyprus, officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a '' de facto'' state that comprises the northeastern portion of the island of Cyprus. It is recognised only by Turkey, and its territory is considered by all o ...

. In 1990, she earned her first master’s degree in European Economic Community Politics (non-thesis) from

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 ...

in Istanbul. She received an M.A. in International Studies - Middle East Politics from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

, Faculty of International Relations, in 1992. In 1997, Kandaş completed her third master’s degree at the

College of Europe The College of Europe (; ; ) is a post-graduate institute of European studies with three campuses in Bruges, Belgium; Warsaw, Poland; and Tirana, Albania. The College of Europe in Bruges was founded in 1949 as a result of the 1948 Congress of ...

in Bruges in European Political and Administrative Studies. Finally, in 2014, she earned a master’s degree in Counseling and Psychology from

Near East University Near East University (NEU; , commonly referred to as YDÜ) is a private university located in Northern Cyprus. It was founded in North Nicosia in 1988, by Suat Günsel, a Turkish Cypriot who is the 100% owner of NEU. The chairman of the board o ...

Career

She worked in the private sector from 1989 to 1993, after which she joined the

Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs The Ministry of Foreign Affairs () is the governmental body responsible for conducting foreign relations of the Republic of Turkey. The Ministry is responsible for Turkey's diplomatic missions abroad as well as providing support for Turkish c ...

as a candidate career officer. From 1993 to 1995, she served as Deputy Director General for the Middle East and Africa. Between 1995 and 1997, she was the Third Secretary at the Turkish Embassy in Baku. She then served as Second Secretary at the Permanent Mission to the Common Market (later the European Union) in Brussels from 1997 to 2000. From 2000 to 2002, she held roles as Second Secretary and later First Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Directorate General for the European Union. From 2003 to 2006, she served as First Secretary and Counsellor at the Turkish Embassy in Berlin. Between 2007 and 2009, she was Chief of Section and Head of Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Department for Consular IT Services. From 2009 to 2014, she served as First Counsellor and Minister Counsellor at the Turkish Embassy in Nicosia, TRNC. From 2014 to 2018, she was Head of Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Directorate General for the European Union. From 2018 to June 2021, she served as Minister Plenipotentiary and Deputy Director General at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Directorate General for Citizens Living Abroad and Estates. Kandaş served as the ambassador of Turkey to South Africa, also accredited to

Lesotho Lesotho, formally the Kingdom of Lesotho and formerly known as Basutoland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Entirely surrounded by South Africa, it is the largest of only three sovereign enclave and exclave, enclaves in the world, t ...

and

Eswatini Eswatini, formally the Kingdom of Eswatini, also known by its former official names Swaziland and the Kingdom of Swaziland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by South Africa on all sides except the northeast, where i ...

, from 24 June 2021 until 12 November 2024.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ayşegül, Kandaş Living people 21st-century Turkish diplomats Ambassadors of Turkey to South Africa Turkish women diplomats 1967 births