Ahmet Davutoglu Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey Date of Birth: 26.02.1959 Country: Turkey

Biography of Ahmet Davutoglu

Ahmet Davutoglu was born on February 26, 1959, in the city of Tashkent in the Konya Province of Turkey. He completed his education at Istanbul High School and went on to pursue a degree in Economics and Management at Bosphorus University. In 1983, he obtained a bachelor's degree in Political Science and Economics. Later, he completed his master's degree and received a doctorate in Political Science and International Relations from the same university.

Davutoglu began his teaching career as an assistant at the International Islamic University of Malaysia in 1990. He founded and led the Department of Political Science at the university until 1993. In 1993, he became an associate professor and was promoted to professor in 1999.

From 1995 to 2004, Davutoglu worked at Beykent University in Istanbul, where he served as the head of the Department of International Relations. He was also a member of the university council and board of trustees. During this time, he also taught at Marmara University and the Ottoman Military College.

In November 2002, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) won the parliamentary elections in Turkey. Davutoglu was invited to join the new government as the chief advisor to the Prime Minister on foreign policy. In January 2003, he was appointed as the ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary by the President and Prime Minister.

In May 2009, Davutoglu was appointed as the Minister of Foreign Affairs by President Abdullah Gul. He played a significant role in shaping Turkey's foreign policy, emphasizing closer relations with regional powers such as Iran and Hamas. His approach was coined as the "zero-problems policy" with neighbors.

Davutoglu's tenure as Minister of Foreign Affairs witnessed various diplomatic successes, including the peace talks between Syria and Israel in 2008 and mediating between Hamas and Fatah in 2009-2011. However, the relationship between Turkey and Israel soured after the Mavi Marmara incident in 2010, in which Israeli commandos attacked a Turkish passenger ship carrying activists to Gaza, resulting in the deaths of nine Turkish citizens.

Davutoglu's active foreign policy during the Arab Spring and Turkey's involvement in the international intervention in Libya solidified Turkey's influence in the Middle East. He was elected as a member of the Turkish Parliament in 2011 and gained recognition as an influential politician. In 2010, he was ranked seventh in Foreign Policy magazine's Top 100 Global Thinkers list, and in 2012, he was listed among the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine.

Apart from his political career, Davutoglu is a prolific writer on international relations. His works, including "Strategic Depth," "Alternative Paradigms," and "The Global Crisis," have been translated into multiple languages.

Davutoglu is fluent in Turkish, English, German, and Arabic. He is married and has four children.