Biography of the President of Seventy-Fifth UN General Assembly Session H.E. Mr. Volkan Bozkir

On 17 June 2020, the General Assembly of the United Nations elected H.E. Mr. Volkan Bozkir of Turkey as President of its seventy-fifth session, which runs from September 2020 to September 2021.

After graduating with a degree in law from Ankara University, Mr. Bozkir joined his country’s foreign service in 1972. He held several positions during his 39-year career there, including: Permanent Representative of Turkey to the European Union (EU); Ambassador to Romania; Consul General in New York; Counsellor of the Permanent Representation to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); First Secretary of the Embassy in Iraq; and Vice Consul General in Stuttgart. He also served as the Foreign Policy Advisor to Prime Minister Turgut Özal; Chief of Cabinet and Chief Foreign Policy Advisor to Presidents Turgut Özal and Süleyman Demirel; Deputy Undersecretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs responsible for EU Affairs; Secretary General for EU Affairs.

Mr. Bozkir was elected as a Member of Parliament first in 2011 and then in the following three parliamentary elections. During his nine years in Parliament, he served as the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Chairman of the Turkey-USA Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Caucus and Co-Chairman of the Turkish-Russian Civic Forum. He also served as the Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator from 2014 until 2016. In 2018, he was elected for the fourth time as the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, during which time he chaired the Turkey-Australia Inter-parliamentary Friendship Group.

Mr. Bozkir was awarded the Order of the Star of Romania; the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic with the rank of “Knight”; and the 100th Anniversary Medal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan. He is married with two children and three granddaughters.