List of notable diplomats of the Republic of Turkey, past and present. The names are listed in an alphabetical order according to their last names, with their positions and other relevant information.
Cem İpekçi, İsmail (born 1940 Istanbul – d. January 24, 2007, Istanbul) is a Turkish politician, statesman and former minister of foreign affairs of Turkey. He served as foreign minister from June 30, 1997 until July 10, 2002. He was the fourth longest-serving minister of this position. He was a member of Republican People's Party.
Diriöz, Hüseyin is an ambassador, previously the chief advisor to the President of Republic of Turkey on foreign policy, and currently Assistant Secretary General of NATO.
Kent, Necdet (1911–2002): was a Turkish diplomat who risked his life to save Jews during World War II. He was posted as Consul General to Marseilles between 1941 and 1944, gave Turkish citizenship to dozens of Turkish Jews living in France who did not have proper identity papers to save them from deportation to the Nazi gas chambers. He was honored with Turkey's Supreme Service Medal as well as a special medal from Israel for rescuing Jews during the Holocaust along with Selâhattin Ülkümen and Namık Kemal Yolga.[1]
Kuneralp, Zeki (1914–1998 Istanbul): He served as the Turkish ambassador to a number of countries in Europe. His wife, Necla Kuneralp, and a retired ambassador, Beşir Balcıoğlu, were killed in an attack by Armenian militants, along with their driver, Antonio Torres, while he was serving as the Turkish ambassador to Spain.
Türkmen, Doğan: He served in Lagos as ambassador of the Republic of Turkey to Nigeria from January 28, 1969, to December 16, 1971.[2] While serving as ambassador of Turkey to Bern, Switzerland, he was attacked by an Armenian gunman. He escaped with minor injuries.
Ülkümen, Selâhattin (1914–2003): He was a Turkishdiplomat on the island of Rhodes, Greece, who assisted local Jews escape the Holocaust. Turkish and Greek Jews alike were deported to the death camps from the island of Corfu, but on the island of Rhodes, where Jews had prospered during three hundred ninety years of Ottoman rule until 1917 and under Italian occupation from then until 1943, Turkey’s Consul, Selâhattin Ülkümen, saved the lives of some 42 Jewish Turkish families, totaling more than 200 persons among a Jewish community of some 2000 after the Germans took over the island following Benito Mussolini’s removal from power and Italy’s armistice with the Allies. He was honored with Turkey's Supreme Service Medal as well as a special medal from Israel and recognized by Yad Vashem as "Righteous Gentile" (Hebrew: Hassid Umot ha'Olam) for rescuing Jews during the Holocaust along with Necdet Kent and Namık Kemal Yolga.[1]
Yolga, Namık Kemal (1914–2001): was a Turkish diplomat and statesman, known as the Turkish Schindler. During World War II, Yolga was the Vice-Consul at the Turkish Embassy in Paris, France. His efforts to save the lives of Turkish Jews from the Nazi concentration camps earned him the title of "Turkish Schindler". He was honored with Turkey's Supreme Service Medal as well as a special medal from Israel for rescuing Jews during the Holocaust along with Necdet Kent and Selâhattin Ülkümen.[1]
Zorlu, Fatin Rüştü (April 20, 1910 Istanbul - September 16, 1961 Istanbul): He was a Turkish diplomat and politician. He was executed by hanging after the coup d'état in 1960 along with two other politicians. He began his career as a diplomat in 1932. He served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1957 until the Turkish Armed Forces staged a coup on May 27, 1960 and ousted the government of Adnan Menderes, the Prime Minister of the time.
