Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu

Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu (Turkish pronunciation: [mevlyt ˈtʃavuʃˌoːɫu]; born 5 February 1968) is a Turkish diplomat and politician who served as served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey from August 2014 to August 2015, and again from 24 November 2015 to 4 June 2023. A founding member of Turkish Justice and Development Party (AKP), he has represented Antalya in the Grand National Assembly in several terms since 2002 and as of 2026, heads the Turkish delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.

Çavuşoğlu became known publicly at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe when he chaired the Turkish delegation and served as vice president before being elected to the Assembly's first Turkish president in 2010. He served as Minister of European Union affairs and chief negotiator for Turkeys EU accession from December 2013 to August 2014. As foreign minister, Çavuşoğlu was involved in Turkey's policy on the Syrian Civil War the Eastern Mediterranean maritime disputes, the post 2021 normalisation of relations with several regional states and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, hosting the first meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers since the start of the invasion in Antalya on 12 March 2022. He was also a central figure in the 2017 Dutch–Turkish diplomatic incident, When the Netherlands withdrew landing permission for his aircraft.