Mehmet Ali İrtemçelik (born March 17, 1950, 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 ...

) is the previous

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

of the

Republic of Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. He has also served as member of parliament in the

Grand National Assembly of Turkey The Grand National Assembly of Turkey ( ), usually referred to simply as the GNAT or TBMM, also referred to as , in Turkish, is the Unicameralism, unicameral Turkey, Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by ...

and as a

minister of state Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...

in the Council of Ministers of Turkey. 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

Boğaziçi University Boğaziçi University (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Boğaziçi Üniversitesi''), also known as Bosphorus University, is a Public university, public research university in Istanbul, Turkey, historically tied to a former American educational insti ...

, both in Istanbul, Turkey.

Diplomatic career

He started his diplomatic career on March 4, 1975. He has served as Assistant Consul in the Consulate General of Turkey in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

(1977–1980, as second

Attaché In diplomacy, an attaché () is a person who is assigned ("to be attached") to the diplomatic or administrative staff of a higher placed person or another service or agency. Although a loanword from French, in English the word is not modified ac ...

and head Attaché in the Embassy of Turkey in

Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

(1980–1982), as head of section in the Multilateral Relations Bureau in 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 ...

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

, Turkey (1982–1984), as Attaché and Director in the Permanent Representation of Turkey to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

(1984–1988), as a consultant to the Minister of Foreign Affairs between 1988 and 1991 (with the title of ambassador from 1989 onwards) and as a consultant to the

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

in 1991. He became the youngest ambassador in the history of the Republic of Turkey when he was given that title in 1989 when he was thirty-nine years old. He was the Turkish ambassador in

Amman Amman ( , ; , ) is the capital and the largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of four million as of 2021, Amman is Jordan's primate city and is the largest city in the Levant ...

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

between November 29, 1991, and July 31, 1995, and in

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

between July 31, 1995, and November 3, 1997. After his ambassadorship to Sofia terminated, he served as the assistant Director in the Bilateral Political Relations Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs until January 11, 1999.

Political career and return to diplomatic service

However, he left his diplomatic career to get into politics, and was elected as head of list from the Motherland Party ( - ANAP) from the third circonscription of Istanbul (covering all of the Asian side of the city) on April 18, 1999. He served as the Minister of State for

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

affairs and

Human Rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

issues between May 27, 1999, and May 6, 2000, while serving as the government spokesman during the same period. During his tenure as member of parliament, he served in the parliament's Foreign Relations Committee and in the Turkish delegation to the

European Council The European Council (informally EUCO) is a collegiate body (directorial system) and a symbolic collective head of state, that defines the overall political direction and general priorities of the European Union (EU). It is composed of the he ...

's Assembly of Members of Parliament. After falling out with his former classmate from high school and party leader,

Mesut Yılmaz Ahmet Mesut Yılmaz () (6 November 1947 – 30 October 2020) was a Turkish politician. He was the leader of the Motherland Party (, ANAP) from 1991 to 2002, and served three times as Prime Minister of Turkey. His first two prime-ministerial term ...

, as well as with then-Prime Minister

Bülent Ecevit Mustafa Bülent Ecevit (; 28 May 1925 – 5 November 2006) was a Turkish politician, statesman, poet, writer, scholar, and journalist. He served as the Prime Minister of Turkey four times between 1974 and 2002. He served as prime minister in 197 ...

after having accused him of not respecting, and trying to tinker with, the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

before the presidential elections of 2000, he resigned on May 6, 2000, both from his party and the government to become an independent in the parliament.http://hurarsiv.hurriyet.com.tr/goster/haber.aspx?id=145264 From the archives of Turkish daily Hürriyet He did not seek re-election in 2002 and returned to diplomatic service when was appointed the Turkish ambassador to Germany by the government of

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician who is the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as the 25th prime minister of Turkey, prime minister from 2003 to 2014 as part of the Jus ...

on October 16, 2003. He is currently serving at the Foreign Ministry. He is fluent both in

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

(having attended French-taught Galatasaray High School) as well as in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

(having attended English-taught Bosporus University). He is married and has three children.

References

External links

Biography of Mehmet Ali İrtemçelik from the web-site of the Turkish Embassy in BerlinTurkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Turkish Embassy in Berlin, Germany
{{DEFAULTSORT:Irtemcelik, Mehmet Ali 1950 births Diplomats from Istanbul Boğaziçi University alumni Government ministers of Turkey Living people Ambassadors of Turkey to Germany Galatasaray High School alumni Motherland Party (Turkey) politicians Ambassadors of Turkey to Jordan Ambassadors of Turkey to Bulgaria Deputies of Istanbul Members of the 21st Parliament of Turkey Members of the 57th government of Turkey Ministers of state of Turkey

Diplomatic career

Political career and return to diplomatic service

See also

References

External links