Serkan Kaptan appointed Honorary Consul of Latvia

The Republic of Latvia's honorary consulate office responsible for Istanbul, Edirne, Tekirdağ, and Kırklareli was opened with a ceremony. The ceremony was attended by Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia Baiba Braze, Ambassador of the Republic of Latvia Bahtijors Hasans, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Istanbul Representative Ambassador Ayşe Sözen Usluer, and guests.

In her speech at the ceremony, Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braze said, "As Latvia and Turkey, we will celebrate the 100th anniversary of our mutual relations in 2025. Our foreign policy in Latvia is built on three main pillars: defense, economic relations, and humanitarian relations, and Turkey is a strong ally of ours in all three. We want our bilateral economic relations to develop further, and we hope that this honorary consulate will contribute to this. Education and tourism also contribute to the development of good relations between our peoples. Our cooperation in these three pillars makes us stronger, wealthier, and allows us to get to know each other better. I thank Serkan Kaptan for his ongoing work in these areas."

TAV Airports CEO and Honorary Consul of Latvia Serkan Kaptan said, "There are good relations between Turkey and Latvia based on a long history. Turkey recognized the Republic of Latvia in 1925 and opened its first consulate in the Baltic region in Riga in 1929. There is a trade volume between the two countries reaching 700 million dollars annually. Especially relations in the fields of education and tourism enable the peoples of the two countries to draw closer. As TAV Airports, we have been operating at Riga Airport since 2009. We are happy to contribute to the success of Riga Airport and the country's flag carrier airline, Air Baltic. We continue to work for the development of relations between business people of the two countries at the DEİK Turkey-Latvia Business Council, which I chair. Latvia is an EU and NATO member country. With its historical, cultural, and natural riches, and its educated and hospitable people, it is one of the most important centers of the Baltic region and Northern Europe. As the Honorary Consul in Istanbul, I am happy to be able to contribute more to the development of relations between the two countries."

ABOUT SERKAN KAPTAN

Born on December 1, 1971, Serkan Kaptan received his undergraduate degree from Istanbul University, Department of Business Administration, and completed his MBA program at Marmara University in 2002. Kaptan joined TAV Airports Holding in 1998 with the Istanbul Atatürk Airport build-operate-transfer project. Until 2001, he worked as an airport operations consultant at Airport Consulting Vienna, a company owned by TAV Airports Holding's partner VIE. Since 2002, he has held positions at TAV Airports responsible for business development and strategy, airline marketing, research and development, and investments. Having 25 years of experience in airport and airline management and infrastructure projects carried out through public-private partnerships, Kaptan has been serving as the Deputy CEO of TAV Airports Holding since 2016, as well as a board member in all of the holding's subsidiaries. Serkan Kaptan is also an Executive Board Member responsible for ADP Central Asia, Middle East, Africa, Eastern Europe, and CIS. Kaptan, who serves as a Board Member of the Service Exporters' Association (HİB) and Chairman of the DEİK Latvia-Turkey Business Council, was elected to the Board of Directors of ACI Europe in 2021. Kaptan is married and a father of two children.