H.E. President Volkan Bozkır

President of the 75th Session and 31st and 32nd Special Sessions of the United Nations General Assembly

President Bozkır studied law at Ankara University. Following his graduation, he joined the foreign service in 1972. He has held several positions during his 39-year professional career, including Vice Consul of the Consulate General in Stuttgart, First Secretary of the Embassy in Baghdad, Counselor of the Permanent Representation to the OECD, Consul General in New York, Ambassador in Bucharest, and Permanent Representative of Turkey to the EU. He also acted as foreign policy advisor to Prime Minister Turgut Özal, Chief of Cabinet and Chief Foreign Policy Advisor to President Turgut Özal and President Süleyman Demirel, Deputy Secretary General for EU Affairs, Deputy Undersecretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs responsible for EU Affairs, and Secretary General for EU Affairs.

President Bozkır was elected four times as the Member of Parliament from Istanbul from 2011 to 2023. During these years, he served as Chairperson of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Chairperson of Turkey-USA and Turkey-Australia Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Caucus, and Co-Chairman of the Turkish-Russian Civic Forum. He was appointed as the Minister for EU Affairs and the Chief Negotiator in August 2014 and remained in the office until June 2016.

President Bozkır was elected in June 2020 to serve as the President of the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly, which ran from September 2020 to September 2021. He is the first Turkish citizen to preside over the UN General Assembly.

President Bozkır was awarded the Order of the Star of Romania, Order of the Merit of the Italian Republic at the “Knight” rank, Hilal-e-Pakistan, and Foreign Affairs Ministry of Azerbaijan’s 100th Anniversary Medal.

He is married with two children. He speaks fluent English and French.