The UN General Assembly get its first Turkish president: Volkan Bozkir

Former Turkish ambassador and politician, Volkan Bozkir, was elected as the first Turkish president of the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, three months ahead of the 75th General Debate.

Following his almost 40 years of foreign service, Bozkir received 178 of the votes in a secret ballot.  

"I am thankful to all UN member states, for electing me with an overwhelming majority, as the President of the 75th UN General Assembly," Bozkir said on Twitter, adding, “As we mark the 75th anniversary of the UN, I will guide the efforts to contribute to international peace, in the challenging times we live in."

Bozkir will take office in September and will be in charge for a year. His candidacy was declared last year by Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during his address to the UN General Assembly on September 17. 

Following his appointment to the top UNGA post, many wondered about his background.

Born in 1950 in Ankara, Bozkir is a legal expert, diplomat and politician. He has served as Turkey’s former minister of European Union Foreign Affairs, has been Turkey’s Chief Negotiator for Turkish accession to the EU, an MP for Istanbul, Head of the Turkish National Assembly Foreign Affairs Committee and so on.

Following his graduation from Ankara University's law faculty in 1971, Bozkir started his career at Turkey’s Foreign Ministry in 1972. After serving in several roles in the ministry, he became the foreign affairs adviser of former Turkish Prime Minister Turgut Ozal. 

Between 1989 and 1992, he was assigned as Turkey’s consul general to New York. He became the chief of cabinet and key foreign affairs adviser to Ozal and his successor, Suleyman Demirel, from 1992 to 1996.

Bozkir was then nominated as Turkey’s ambassador to Bucharest until 2000. He held the position of Deputy Director General for the European Union's political affairs for three years until 2003. He went on to become deputy secretary within Turkey's Foreign Ministry.

In 2005, he was assigned as the permanent Turkey delegate in the presence of the European Union. While he was Secretary General for EU Affairs in 2011, Bozkir retired from the office and became the AK Party’s MP for Istanbul. 

Following his deputyship, he was elected as the head of the foreign affairs commission of the Turkish grand national assembly. In 2014, Volkan Bozkir was assigned a minister of European Union Affairs for Turkey.