Yasar Yakis

Yasar Yakis was born in Akçakoca (Turkey) in 1938. He served in the military service between 1963 and 1965 in the eastern stations of Ibis (Apraçay) and Doğukapı at the Soviet Border. In 2000, he taught “Turkish Foreign Policy” for one year at Bilkent and Hacettepe Universities and “Water and Diplomacy” at Hacettepe University. He participated as the government representative in the European Convention that drafted the European Constitution. He speaks French, English, and Arabic.

Education

Yasar Yakis graduated from Ankara Univeristy from the Faculty of Political Sciences in 1962. He received the Sorbonne certificate from the French Language and Civilisation Program organized by French Cultural Centre in Ankara. Yakis followed these qualifications with courses at the NATO Defence College in Rome.

Professional career

In 1967, Yasar Yakis was elected Vice-Consul in Antwerp (Belgium). Two years after, in 1970, he became First Secretary of the Turkish Embassy in Lagos (Nigeria). He served as a Counsellor of the Turkish Permanent Delegation to NATO from 1978 to 1988 and at the Turkish Embassy in Damascus (Syria). In 1988, he became Turkish Ambassador to Riyadh (Saudi Arabia). In 1992, he was elected as Deputy Under-Secretary in the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in charge of Economic Affairs. He became Turkish Ambassador to Cairo in 1995 and Permanent Representative of Turkey to the United Nations Office in Vienna in 1998.

In 2002, Yakis served as Deputy Chairman of the party in charge of international relations. During the same year, Yasar Yakis was elected as a member of the Parliament and subsequently became the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Between 2003 and 2011, he served as Chairman of the EU Committee in the Turkish Parliament and co-Chairman of the Turkey-EU Joint Parliamentary Commission. During this period Yasar Yakis was Chairman of the French Caucus in the Turkish Parliament from 2007 to 2011.

He established the COMCEC Coordination Office in the Turkish State Planning Office to provide secretarial services to the Turkish President of Republic in the capacity as Chairman of the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation (COMCEC) of the Organization of the Islamic Conference and became the first head of his office.

Besides his political career, Yasar Yakis has been Co-Chairman of Turkish-British “Tatlıdil” Forum. He is also a member of the Turkish think tank “Global Incelemeler Forumu (GIF)”; member of the Advisory Board and Academic Board of the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy operating in Berlin (Germany); member of the Turkish-Greek Forum; member of the Advisory Board of COMPSUD (Circle of Mediterranean Parliamentarians for Sustainable Development) between 2006 and 2011; and Member of the International Board of the PGA (Parliamentarians for Global Action) based in New York, between 2007 and 2011.

After Yasar Yakis retired in 2001 and became founding member of the Justice and Development Party.

Notable work

During his professional and retired life, Yasar Yakis received many awards, including: the Decoration of “King Abdulaziz (first degree)” for his contribution to the Turkish-Saudi relations, 1992; the Decoration of “Ordine delle Stella della Solidarietà Italiana (Commendatore) 2007, by the President of the Republic of Italy, 2007; the Decoration of “Legion d’Honneur (Officier)”, by the French President, 2009; and the Decoration of Grand Cross of the Order of King Leopold II of Belgium by Prince Philippe of Belgium, 2012.

Further information

ICD - Cultural Bridges in Germany/Kulturbrücken in Deutschland (The Institute for Cultural Diplomacy, Berlin, March 3rd - 6th 2011).

ICD - "Cultural Diplomacy in the Mediterranean: The Importance of Cultural Diplomacy for the Middle East and the Youth of Tahrir Square as New Actors"

ICD - The 2012 Cultural Bridges Conference in Germany "Multiculturalism, the 2012 Global Debate: Strengthening Intercultural Relations". The Institute for Cultural Diplomacy (Berlin, November 7th - 9th 2012)

ICD - Interview to Interview with The Hon. Yasar Yakis, Former Foreign Minister of Turkey. (December 15th, 2011; Berlin, Germany)

ICD - Ribal Al-Assad and Turkey's former Foreign Minister Yasar Yakis. Panel Debate (August-2012)

External links

Official website