Who is Feridun Sinirlioğlu, the new Secretary General of the OSCE?
Turkey's candidate, retired Ambassador Feridun Sinirlioğlu, has been elected as the Secretary General of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). Ambassador Sinirlioğlu has become the first Turkish citizen to hold this position in the 50-year history of the 1975 Helsinki Final Act, which laid the foundations of the OSCE. So, who is the new OSCE Secretary General Feridun Sinirlioğlu?
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According to information received from diplomatic sources, it was decided at the 31st OSCE Ministerial Council Meeting held in Malta on December 5-6, with the participation of Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, that retired Ambassador Sinirlioğlu would be elected to the position of OSCE Secretary General, which had been vacant since September.
WHO IS FERİDUN SİNİRLİOĞLU?
Feridun Sinirlioğlu was born on January 30, 1956, in the Görele district of Giresun to a civil servant family. Ambassador Sinirlioğlu has over 40 years of experience in the fields of international relations and diplomacy.
Serving as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the interim government established in 2015, Sinirlioğlu also served as Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs between 2015-2016 and 2009-2015. He served as Turkey's Permanent Representative to the United Nations between 2016 and 2023. In 2023, he was appointed by the UN Secretary-General as the Special Coordinator for the Independent Assessment on Afghanistan.
Ambassador Sinirlioğlu, who holds a doctorate from Boğaziçi University's Department of Political Science and International Relations, completed his undergraduate education at Ankara University's Faculty of Political Sciences.
Married to Ambassador Ayşe Sinirlioğlu, Sinirlioğlu has two children. He is fluent in English and German.