Halit Bozkurt Aran (born 17 April 1947) is a Turkish

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

and

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

. He currently teaches at TOBB Economics and Technology University, in the Department of International Relations.

Education and early career

Aran graduated from

Ankara University Ankara University () is a public university, public research university in Ankara, the capital of Turkey. It was the first higher education institution founded in Turkey after the History of the Republic of Turkey, formation of the Turkish republ ...

Faculty of Political Sciences in 1971. Then he began working at 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 ...

in 1973. In 1976, he started working as Assistant Consul in

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

Senior career

After various assignments, Aran served as Turkey's Ambassador to Pakistan between 1998 and 2000, Director General for Bilateral Economic Affairs from 2000 to 2002, the Permanent Representative to

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

from 2002 to 2004, the Ambassador to Iran from 2004 to 2006, and Director General for the Middle East from 2006 to 2007. From 1 October 2007, to 19 March 2012, he served as the Permanent Representative of Turkey to the

World Trade Organization The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland that regulates and facilitates international trade. Governments use the organization to establish, revise, and enforce the rules that g ...

and retired on April 17, 2012.

Personal life

During his tenure as the Ambassador of Pakistan, he lost his daughter İrem Aran and wife Şenay Aran in a traffic accident in 1999. His other daughter, Zeynep Aran, survived the accident but sustained severe injuries.

References

{{Reflist 1947 births Diplomats for Turkey Turkish academics Ambassadors of Turkey to Pakistan Ambassadors of Turkey to Iran Permanent representatives of Turkey to the World Trade Organization Permanent delegates of Turkey to UNESCO Living people