Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu

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.

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.

Speaking at a news conference ahead of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum on 18–20 June 2021, Çavuşoğlu said that establishing stability in the southern Caucasus is crucial for the people of the region and would also bring prosperity. 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. 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.

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".

Council of Europe

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. 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. 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. 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.

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.

2017 Rotterdam landing ban

On 11 March 2017, Çavuşoğlu was banned from landing in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, after threats of Turkish sanctions if his visit to Rotterdam was impeded, made "the search for a reasonable solution impossible". Çavuşoğlu had planned to organize a large gathering to talk about the 2017 Turkish constitutional referendum, in which many Dutch-based émigrés can vote. 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.

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

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.

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

Personal life

Çavuşoğlu is married, with one child. He also studies the Russian language, only having spoken it publicly in limited settings, and described himself as being on "an intermediate level". His brother Hasan is the president of the Alanyaspor football club.

Honours and medals

References

References

1. (28 August 2015). "Davutoğlu announces new Turkish interim government dominated by AK Party loyalists". Today's Zaman.
2. (2009). "Who is Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu?". Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu.
3. (2010). "PACE Head Presses For Political Reforms in Armenia". RFE/RL.
4. (17 July 2014). "Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu: faithful follower".
5. (25 November 2009). "Russia to cooperate with PACE on famine report". The Voice of Russia.
6. SABAH, DAILY. (2021-06-16). "Stability in southern Caucasus crucial for region: Turkish FM".
7. (2022-05-14). "Çavuşoğlu: İki ülke PKK'ya destek veriyor, NATO'da bunu konuşmalıyız". Gazete Duvar.
8. (11 June 2022). "Russia, terrorism most important threats facing NATO - Turkish FM". [[Ahval]].
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11. (9 October 2009). "AK Party to revive its reformist spirit". [[Today's Zaman]].
12. (2009). "Mr Mevlüt ÇAVUŞOĞLU". Council of Europe.
13. (3 October 2009). "Prime Minister Erdogan's Speech at the AK Congress". AK Party.
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17. (11 March 2017). "Le président turc Erdogan qualifie les Pays-Bas de "vestiges du nazisme"". Le Figaro.
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19. (2017-03-11). "Turkey referendum: Dutch withdraw FM Cavusoglu's travel permission". BBC News.
20. Roberts, Elizabeth. (13 March 2017). "Turkish minister tells Dutch: 'I am not a terrorist'". CNN.
21. (12 March 2017). "Turkey's Cavusoglu: Netherlands is 'capital of fascism'".
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23. (14 October 2021). ["Turkey urges engagement with Taliban after talks with group]"](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/10/14/taliban-delegation-in-ankara-for-talks-with-turkish-officials). www.aljazeera.com.
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28. (9 August 2020). "FM Çavuşoğlu receives top Japanese order". [[Daily Sabah]].
29. "The Order of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan on awarding "Dostlug" Order to Mevlut Cavusoglu". [[President of Azerbaijan.
30. "УКАЗ ПРЕЗИДЕНТА УКРАЇНИ №341/2020". [[President of Ukraine.
31. "President Arif Alvi confers Hilal-e-Pakistan on Turkish FM".