Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu

Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu (Turkish pronunciation: [mevlyt ˈtʃavuʃˌoːɫu]; born 5 February 1968) is a Turkish diplomat and politician who is currently a member of the Grand National Assembly. He also served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey from August 2014 to August 2015,[1] and again from 24 November 2015 to 6 June 2023.

Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu
Çavuşoğlu in 2023
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
24 November 2015 – 3 June 2023
PresidentRecep Tayyip Erdoğan
Prime MinisterAhmet Davutoğlu
Binali Yıldırım
Preceded byFeridun Sinirlioğlu
Succeeded byHakan Fidan
In office
29 August 2014 – 28 August 2015
Prime MinisterAhmet Davutoğlu
Preceded byAhmet Davutoğlu
Succeeded byFeridun Sinirlioğlu
Minister of European Union Affairs
In office
25 December 2013 – 29 August 2014
Prime MinisterRecep Tayyip Erdoğan
Preceded byEgemen Bağış
Succeeded byVolkan Bozkır
Chief Negotiator for Turkish Accession to the European Union
In office
25 December 2013 – 29 August 2014
Prime MinisterRecep Tayyip Erdoğan
Preceded byEgemen Bağış
Succeeded byVolkan Bozkır
President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
In office
25 January 2010 – 25 January 2012
Preceded byLluís Maria de Puig
Succeeded byJean-Claude Mignon
Member of the Grand National Assembly
Assumed office
2 June 2023
ConstituencyAntalya (2023)
In office
1 November 2015 – 10 July 2018
ConstituencyAntalya (Nov 2015, 2018)
In office
3 November 2002 – 7 June 2015
ConstituencyAntalya (2002, 2007, 2011)
Personal details
Born (1968-02-05) 5 February 1968
Alanya, Turkey
Political partyJustice and Development Party
SpouseHülya Çavuşoğlu
Children1
Alma materAnkara University (BA)
Long Island University (MA)
Signature

First elected to Parliament in the 2002 general election, he is a founding member of the Turkish Justice and Development Party (AKP).[2][3] He was the president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe from 2010 to 2012. He previously served in the same position from August 2014 to August 2015.

Early life and education

Çavuşoğlu was born at Alanya, Antalya Province, Turkey. He graduated from Ankara University Faculty of Political Science in 1988, where he studied international relations. He then received a masters in economics from Long Island University in New York State, and studied for his doctorate at Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey.

He was a research fellow at the London School of Economics, where he was for a time president of the Turkish Society.[2] Çavuşoğlu did not receive a PhD.[4]

Career

While serving in parliament, Çavuşoğlu has chaired the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population. In November 2009, he met with the Foreign Minister of Russia, Sergey Lavrov, in the context of a report that the Assembly was preparing on the Soviet famine of 1932–1933.[5]

Speaking at a news conference ahead of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum on June 18–20, 2021, Çavuşoğlu said that establishing stability in the southern Caucasus is crucial for the people of the region and would also bring prosperity.[6] On 14 May 2022, Çavuşoğlu announced that they fully support NATO's open door policy and oppose the membership of Finland and Sweden due to their support for terrorism.[7] On 11 June 2022, he expressed support for the enlargement of NATO and said that Russia and terrorism are the two most important threats faced by NATO.[8]

On 12 September 2022, a series of clashes erupted between Armenian and Azerbaijani troops along the Armenia–Azerbaijan border, marking a major escalation in the 2021–2022 Armenia–Azerbaijan border crisis. Çavuşoğlu tweeted that "Armenia should cease its provocations and focus on peace negotiations and cooperation with Azerbaijan".[9]

Council of Europe
Çavusoğlu in a meeting with US President Biden, Turkish President Erdoğan and US Secretary of State Blinken, October 2021
Çavusoğlu at NATO headquarters in Brussels in April 2021

Çavuşoğlu joined the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in 2003, and soon after was named the head of the Turkish delegation and a vice-president of the Assembly.

During the January 2010 session of the Assembly, Çavuşoğlu was nominated—and elected on 25 January 2010—to replace outgoing President Lluís Maria De Puig of Spain.[10] In an October reshuffle, this was the reason given for why he did not receive extra responsibilities in Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's government.[11][12][13] His candidacy for this post was supported by all of Turkey's main parties. He became president just months before Turkey took up the chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (November 2010), and at the same time that there was a Turkish president of the Congress of the Council of Europe.[14] In 2012, Çavuşoğlu was succeeded by France's Jean-Claude Mignon.

2014 Turkish local elections

Çavuşoğlu was criticized by the Turkish newspaper Hürriyet because of his intervention in the municipality election in Antalya that took place on 30 March 2014. When the opposing party candidate Mustafa Akaydin of the Turkish Republican People's Party was ahead of the ruling party candidate, he visited the courthouse with his supporters and interrupted the counting process.[15]

After his interruption, the counting of votes was stopped. It was claimed that the votes not already counted were from suburbs where the opposing party had more supporters.[16]

2017 Rotterdam landing ban
Further information: 2017 Dutch–Turkish diplomatic incident

On 11 March 2017, Çavuşoğlu was banned from landing in Rotterdam, the Netherlands,[17][18] after threats of Turkish sanctions if his visit to Rotterdam was impeded, made “the search for a reasonable solution impossible“.[19] Çavuşoğlu had planned to organize a large gathering to talk about the 2017 Turkish constitutional referendum, in which many Dutch-based émigrés can vote.[17] However, his presence was claimed by the Dutch authorities to be a threat to public safety, and Çavuşoğlu was turned away, despite being the Turkish Foreign Minister.[17]

Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called the Netherlands, "Nazi remnants" and "fascists,"[17] which Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte called "a crazy remark."[18] Çavuşoğlu followed by defending Erdoğan's remark,[20] and by saying that the Netherlands was the "capital of fascism".[21]

2021 talks with Afghan leaders

In August 2021, Çavuşoğlu said that "Turkey was in talks with all parties in Afghanistan, including the Taliban", and "views positively the messages the Islamist militants have sent" since the fall of Kabul. The Ministry also said that the Turkish embassy in Kabul would continue to function and is not expected to close.[22]

In October 2021, Çavuşoğlu met with the Afghan foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Ankara.[23] He urged the international community to engage with Taliban officials.

Personal life

Çavuşoğlu is married, with one child.[2] He speaks Turkish, English, German, and Japanese.[24] He also studies the Russian language, only having spoken it publicly in limited settings,[25] and described himself as being on "an intermediate level".[26] His brother Hasan is the president of the Alanyaspor football club.

Honours and medals
Ribbon bar Award or decoration Country Date Place Note Ref.
Order of Merit of Ukraine (3rd Class)  Ukraine 24 August 2013 Kyiv [27][28]
Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun  Japan 9 August 2019 Ankara [29]
Order of Friendship  Azerbaijan 5 February 2020 Baku [30]
Order of Merit of Ukraine (2nd Class)  Ukraine 22 August 2020 Kyiv [31]
Crescent of Pakistan  Pakistan 12 January 2021 Islamabad [32]

See also

References
  1. "Davutoğlu announces new Turkish interim government dominated by AK Party loyalists". Today's Zaman. 28 August 2015. Archived from the original on 26 September 2015. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  2. "Who is Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu?". Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu. 2009. Archived from the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 10 January 2010.
  3. "PACE Head Presses For Political Reforms in Armenia". RFE/RL. 2010. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
  4. "Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu: faithful follower". POLITICO. 17 July 2014. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  5. "Russia to cooperate with PACE on famine report". The Voice of Russia. 25 November 2009. Archived from the original on 29 January 2010. Retrieved 10 January 2010.
  6. SABAH, DAILY (16 June 2021). "Stability in southern Caucasus crucial for region: Turkish FM". Daily Sabah. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
  7. "Çavuşoğlu: İki ülke PKK'ya destek veriyor, NATO'da bunu konuşmalıyız" (in Turkish). Gazete Duvar. 14 May 2022. Archived from the original on 25 January 2023. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
  8. "Russia, terrorism most important threats facing NATO - Turkish FM". Ahval. 11 June 2022.
  9. "At Least 49 Armenian Soldiers Killed In Fresh Fighting With Azerbaijan". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Archived from the original on 13 September 2022.
  10. Sariişik, Dönduü (25 January 2010). "Turkish parliamentarian elected president of PACE". Hürriyet. Retrieved 26 January 2010.
  11. "AK Party to revive its reformist spirit". Today's Zaman. 9 October 2009. Retrieved 10 January 2010.
  12. "Mr Mevlüt ÇAVUŞOĞLU". Council of Europe. 2009. Archived from the original on 27 May 2009. Retrieved 10 January 2010.
  13. "Prime Minister Erdogan's Speech at the AK Congress". AK Party. 3 October 2009. Archived from the original on 3 May 2010. Retrieved 10 January 2010.
  14. "Newspot no.99 (October 2009)" (PDF). Prime Minister's Office. 1 October 2009. Retrieved 10 January 2010.
  15. "Antalya'da kavga cikti" [There was a fight in Antalya]. Hürriyet. 30 March 2014. Retrieved 30 March 2014.
  16. "0 Mart yerel seçimleri: AKP'nin sandık sandık, hile, baskı ve usulsüzlükleri" [March local elections: AKP's ballot box, cheating, pressure and irregularities]. sendika.org. 30 March 2014. Retrieved 30 March 2014.
  17. "Le président turc Erdogan qualifie les Pays-Bas de "vestiges du nazisme"" [Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan qualifies the Netherlands for "vestiges of Nazism"]. Le Figaro. 11 March 2017. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
  18. Escritt, Thomas; Gumrukcu, Tuvan (11 March 2017). "Dutch PM bars Turkish foreign minister in escalation of rally row". Reuters. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
  19. "Turkey referendum: Dutch withdraw FM Cavusoglu's travel permission". BBC News. 11 March 2017. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  20. Roberts, Elizabeth (13 March 2017). "Turkish minister tells Dutch: 'I am not a terrorist'". CNN. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  21. "Turkey's Cavusoglu: Netherlands is 'capital of fascism'". Deutsche Welle. 12 March 2017.
  22. "Turkey welcomes Taliban statements since their takeover in Afghanistan". Reuters. 17 August 2021.
  23. "Turkey urges engagement with Taliban after talks with group]". www.aljazeera.com. 14 October 2021.
  24. "Mr. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu / Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Foreign Affairs". www.mfa.gov.tr. Minister of Foreign Affairs. Retrieved 20 February 2023. He speaks English, German and Japanese.
  25. "ya tebe po russki govoryu mid turcii perexodit na russkij yazyk" ["I speak Russian to you Turkish Foreign Ministry switches to Russian "]. rusorel.info. Archived from the original on 9 October 2020.
  26. "Чавушоглу: Я не только говорю на русском, но и обмениваюсь шутками с Путиным" [Cavusoglu: I not only speak Russian, but also exchange jokes with Putin]. MK-Turkey.ru.
  27. "УКАЗ ПРЕЗИДЕНТА УКРАЇНИ №452/2013" [DECREE OF THE PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE №452 / 2013]. Presidency of Ukraine. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  28. "ÇAVUŞOĞLU'NA DEVLET NİŞANI VERİLDİ" [ÇAVUŞOĞLU IS GIVEN A STATE ORDER]. Alanyaajans.net. 9 October 2013. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  29. "FM Çavuşoğlu receives top Japanese order". Daily Sabah. Anadolu Agency. 9 August 2020. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  30. "The Order of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan on awarding "Dostlug" Order to Mevlut Cavusoglu". Presidency of Azerbaijan. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  31. "УКАЗ ПРЕЗИДЕНТА УКРАЇНИ №341/2020" [DECREE OF THE PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE №341 / 2020]. Presidency of Ukraine. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  32. "President Arif Alvi confers Hilal-e-Pakistan on Turkish FM". www.geo.tv.
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