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A Minister of Foreign Affairs, or foreign minister, is a cabinet minister who helps form the foreign policy of a sovereign state. The foreign minister is often regarded as the most senior ministerial position below that of the head of government (prime minister or president).^{[citation needed]} It is often granted to the deputy prime minister in coalition governments. In some nations, such as India, the foreign minister is referred to as the Minister for External Affairs or, as in the case of Brazil and of the former Soviet Union, as the Minister of External Relations. In the United States the equivalent to the foreign ministry is called the Department of State, and the equivalent position is known as the Secretary of State.

A foreign minister's powers can vary from government to government. In a classic parliamentary system, a foreign minister can potentially exert significant influence in forming foreign policy but when the government is dominated by a strong prime minister the foreign minister may be limited to playing a more marginal or subsidiary role in determining policy. Similarly, the political powers invested in the foreign minister are often more limited in presidential governments with a strong executive. Since the end of World War II, it has been common for both the foreign minister and defense minister to be part of an inner cabinet (commonly known as a national security council) in order to coordinate defence and diplomatic policy. Although the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries saw many heads of government assume the foreign ministry, this practice has since become uncommon in most developed nations.

Along with their political roles, foreign ministers are also traditionally responsible for many diplomatic duties, such as hosting foreign world leaders and going on state visits to other countries. The foreign minister is generally the most well-traveled member of any cabinet.

In the United Kingdom, the minister responsible for foreign policy (as well as the British overseas territories) is the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Foreign Secretary). Before 1968, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs only handled relations with foreign (non-Commonwealth) countries, while relations with Commonwealth countries and colonies were handled by the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs. For the same reason, in Commonwealth countries other than the United Kingdom, the ministers responsible for handling relations with both Commonwealth and non-Commonwealth countries were formerly usually designated ministers for 'External Affairs'.

In the United States, the United States Secretary of State handles foreign policy and is the senior Cabinet officer. The name of the post comes from several domestic duties.

Although it is very rare for there to be any sub-national foreign minister post, although sometimes there is a minor external relations position, it can exist supranationally. The European Union has dealt with external relations in certain areas since its inception (see EU Trade Commissioner) and has a High Representative as its chief diplomat. However her duties are primarily to implement EU foreign policy, rather than formulate it.

Other common titles may include minister of foreign relations. In many Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America, the foreign minister is colloquially called canciller (chancellor) (in Brazil, a Portuguese-speaking country, is chanceler).

Related articles and lists[link]

By year[link]

• 1950
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• 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
• 2010, 2011

Country-related articles and lists[link]

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Country, territory, partially recognised country or former country	Name of office	Head of the office
Abkhazia	Ministry for Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Afghanistan	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Albania	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Angola	Ministry of External Relations	Minister of External Relations
Argentina	Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship	Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship
Armenia	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Australia	Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade	Minister for Foreign Affairs
Austria	Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs	Foreign Minister
Azerbaijan	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Bahamas	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Bangladesh	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Foreign Minister
Belarus	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Belgium	Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Benin	Ministry of Foreign Affairs and African Integration	Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Integration, La Francophonie, and Beninese Abroad
Brazil	Ministry of External Relations	Minister of External Relations
Bulgaria	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Burma	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Canada	Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade	Minister of Foreign Affairs
People's Republic of China	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Foreign Minister
Chile	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Colombia	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Democratic Republic of the Congo	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Croatia	Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration	Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration
Cuba	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Cyprus	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Czech Republic	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Denmark	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs (list)
Ecuador	Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Integration	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Egypt	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Estonia	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Ethiopia	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
European Union	European External Action Service	High Representative
Fiji	Ministry for Foreign Affairs	Minister for Foreign Affairs
Finland	Ministry for Foreign Affairs	Minister for Foreign Affairs
France	Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs	Minister of Foreign and European Affairs
Gabon	Ministry for Foreign Affairs	Minister for Foreign Affairs
Georgia	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Germany	Foreign Office	Minister for Foreign Affairs
East Germany	Ministry for Foreign Affairs of the German Democratic Republic	Foreign Minister of the German Democratic Republic
Ghana	Ministry for Foreign Affairs	Minister for Foreign Affairs
Greece	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister for Foreign Affairs
Haiti	Ministry for Foreign Affairs	Minister for Foreign Affairs
Hong Kong	Commerce and Economic Development Bureau Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau	Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs
Hungary	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Iceland	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
India	Ministry of External Affairs	Minister of External Affairs
Indonesia	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Iran	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Iraq	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Ireland	Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade	Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade
Israel	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Italy	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Japan	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister for Foreign Affairs
Jordan	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Kazakhstan	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Kenya	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister for Foreign Affairs
Kosovo	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Liberia	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Libya	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Lithuania	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Luxembourg	Ministry for Foreign Affairs	Minister for Foreign Affairs
Malaysia	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Malta	Ministry for Foreign Affairs	Minister for Foreign Affairs
Mauritania	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Mexico	Secretariat of Foreign Affairs	Secretary of Foreign Affairs
Moldova	Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration	Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration
Montenegro	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Namibia	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Nepal	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Netherlands	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
New Zealand	Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Niger	Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and African Integration	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Nigeria	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Norway	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foregin Affairs
Oman	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister Responsible For Foreign Affairs
Pakistan	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Palestine		Foreign Affairs Minister of the Palestinian National Authority
Peru	Ministry of Foreign Relations	Minister of Foreign Relations
Philippines	Department of Foreign Affairs	Secretary of Foreign Affairs
Poland	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Portugal	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Romania	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Russia	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
São Tomé and Príncipe	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Senegal	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Serbia	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
22x20px Seychelles	Ministry for Foreign Affairs	Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Sierra Leone	Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation	Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation
Singapore	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister for Foreign Affairs
Slovakia	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Slovenia	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
South Africa	Department of International Relations and Cooperation	Minister of International Relations and Cooperation
South Korea	Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade	Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade
South Ossetia	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Sri Lanka	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Soviet Union	Ministry of External Relations	Minister of External Relations
Spain	Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation	Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation
Sweden	Ministry for Foreign Affairs	Minister for Foreign Affairs
Switzerland	Federal Department of Foreign Affairs	Federal Councillor of Foreign Affairs
Syria	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Republic of China (Taiwan)	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Tajikistan	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Thailand	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Tonga	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Turkey	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Ukraine	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
United Kingdom	Foreign and Commonwealth Office	Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
United States	Department of State	Secretary of State
Uruguay	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Uzbekistan	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Vatican City	Secretariat of State	Secretary for Relations with States
Venezuela	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Vietnam	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Yugoslavia		Minister of Foreign Affairs
Zimbabwe	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs

• Minister of Foreign Affairs (Yugoslavia)
• List of foreign ministers of Austria-Hungary
• List of foreign ministers of Prussia

See also[link]

• Diplomacy
• Secretary of State

External links[link]

• eDiplomat.com: Foreign Affairs Ministries
• Foreign Ministries: Adaptation to a Changing World A collection of papers and presentations from a conference which address the issues of performance management and accountability assessment in foreign ministries, diplomacy of small states, foreign services conduct of economic, cultural and public diplomacy.
• The Diplo Directory A detailed survey of websites of ministries of foreign affairs, embassies, and other diplomatic and consular missions.

Emine Erdoğan with Michelle Obama

Emine Erdoğan (born Emine Gülbaran on February 21, 1955) is the wife of twenty-fifth Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Emine Erdoğan was born in Siirt, and grew up in Üsküdar, Istanbul. She is the youngest child of a family of five children. Erdoğan attended Mithat Paşa Akşam Art School, but left before graduation.

Emine Erdoğan joined the "Idealist Women's Association". During these activities she met Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at a conference. Recep and Emine married on July 4, 1978. The couple has four children: Ahmet Burak, Necmettin Bilal, Sümeyye and Esra.^[1]

Honors and accolades[link]

On December 7, 2010, Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani conferred Hilal-e-Pakistan Award on Emine Erdoğan, in recognition of her personal efforts for the flood stricken people of Pakistan. In October 2010, Erdoğan visited Pakistan and the flood hit areas to personally witness the devastation caused by the floods and contributed significantly in the fund-raising campaign to help the country’s flood victims.^[2]

On February 16, 2011, Emine Erdoğan was presented with the "Prix de la Fondation" by the Crans Montana Forum at a ceremony in Brussels. "We believe that all women in the world deserve the utmost social and political opportunities. Rights of women in our geography should not be sacrificed for balance of power and security concerns of some regimes. We have seen numerous women who were left destitute after natural disasters in Pakistan, who suffered from poverty in Bangladesh, who lost their children, husbands, hope or future in Palestine, Iraq, Bosnia or in Darfur. We have seen many women who were abused both in the West and in the East. They all have one thing in common which is being a human and a woman. Therefore, I believe that our struggle for peace, democracy and freedom should continue with a great determination. I want to reiterate once again that we reject double-standards and discrimination in this struggle," Erdoğan said after receiving the prize from the founder and chairman of the Crans Montana Forum.^[3]

References[link]

1. ^ "Emine Erdoğan" (in Turkish). biyografi.net. 2008-10-15. http://www.biyografi.net/kisiayrinti.asp?kisiid=4120. Retrieved 2008-10-15. 
2. ^ "PM confers Hilal-e-Pakistan award on Emine Erdogan". Associated Press of Pakistan. 16 February 2011. http://ftpapp.app.com.pk/en_/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=123994&Itemid=2. Retrieved 16 February 2011. 
3. ^ "Turkish PM's wife presented with women's award". Anatolian Agency. 16 February 2011. http://www.worldbulletin.net/?aType=haber&ArticleID=69893. Retrieved 16 February 2011. 

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Danny Ayalon דני אילון
Date of birth	(1955-12-17) 17 December 1955 (age 56)
Place of birth	Tel Aviv, Israel
Knessets	18
Party	Yisrael Beiteinu
Ministerial posts (current in bold)	Deputy Foreign Minister

Daniel "Danny" Ayalon (Hebrew: דניאל "דני" אילון‎, born 17 December 1955) is an Israeli diplomat and politician who currently serves as Deputy Foreign Minister and as a member of the Knesset for Yisrael Beiteinu. Formerly he served as Israeli Ambassador to the United States from 2002 until 2006. He frequently writes in Israeli and international newspapers, notably in the Jerusalem Post and the Wall Street Journal.

Early life and education[link]

Danny Ayalon was born in Tel Aviv in 1955 to Lily Ellon, a Polish Jew who immigrated to Israel in 1937 and Rafael Ayalon, an Algerian Jew. Ayalon was raised and educated in Tel Aviv and was drafted into the Israel Defense Forces where he rose to the rank of Captain in the Armored Corps. He received a BA in economics from Tel Aviv University and an MBA from Bowling Green University in Ohio.^[1]

Prior to his career in public service, Ayalon was a partner at Gravitas Ltd., an international consulting group, past president of private investment firm Hod Ayalon Ltd, and a finance manager for Koor Industries.^[2]

Ayalon is married. He and his wife, Anne, have two children.^[1]

Foreign Service Career[link]

Ayalon was a member of the Israeli delegations to Sharm el-Sheikh (1997), Wye Plantation (1998) and Camp David (2000) summits. From 1993–1997, he served as the Director of the Bureau of Israel's Ambassador to the U.N. in New York. He was Israel’s Ambassador to Panama from 1991–1992.^[3]

Israel's Ambassador to the United States[link]

Ayalon was appointed Israel’s Ambassador to the United States in 2002 by then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Before his appointment, Ayalon had served as a Deputy Foreign Policy Adviser to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and to Ehud Barak as well as Chief Foreign Policy Advisor to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.^[4]

Throughout his time in Washington, Ayalon cultivated a strong relationship with President George W. Bush and played a leading role in the Road Map for Peace negotiations between President Bush and Prime Minister Sharon .^[5] He also secured the agreement for $9 billion in U.S. grants and loan guarantees to Israel beginning in 2003 which Israel needed in order to raise funds abroad at low interest rates. In early 2012, as Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Ayalon, met with his U.S. counterparts to secure another three-year, $3.8 billion extension of loan guarantees.^[6]

Co-chairman of Nefesh B’Nefesh[link]

Upon retiring from the foreign service in 2006, Ayalon became the co-chairman of Nefesh B'Nefesh, an organization that encourages Aliyah by Jewish people to Israel from North America and other English-speaking areas.^[7] Forming alliances with government bodies in Israel and Jewish organizations from around the world, he played a critical role in Israel’s decision to fund private Aliyah beginning in September 2007. On 31 December 2008, Ayalon left Nefesh B’Nefesh “to pursue an independent political career opportunity”.^[8]

Deputy Foreign Minister[link]

Election and Appointment[link]

In August 2008, Ayalon joined Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu as chairman of World Yisrael Beiteinu,^[8] opening branches of the party around the globe. Ayalon explained that Israel Beiteinu was a natural fit for him as he entered politics because he saw many problems, especially with Israeli foreign policy. Ayalon is working to reform the Israeli parliamentary style democracy into a more representative democratic government. Such change will allow Israel to have a greater unity of government and to take more uniformed political positions.^[4]

Ayalon was placed seventh on the party's list for the 2009 elections to the Knesset,^[9] and was elected in February 2009 after the party won 15 seats.^[10] In April 2009, Ayalon was appointed Deputy Foreign Minister in Binyamin Netanyahu’s newly elected government.^[11] According to the Jerusalem Post, “Ayalon's role is to serve as Lieberman's de-facto foreign minister, explaining and justifying his Lieberman's diplomatic plans to the world in a way that only a respected, seasoned diplomat can”.^[4]

Government and Electoral Reform[link]

According to Ayalon, a major focus of Israeli diplomatic work involves branding: “We must brand Israel as a democratic Western society, productive and technologically advanced, one that contributes to the world and helps solve the major challenges facing humankind. Israeli democracy in general, and its political system in particular, are the best tools with which to showcase our brand”. However, Ayalon, who admires the American system, in conjunction with Lieberman, calls for political and electoral reform in Israel to create greater accountability and consistency within the government, stating: “In autocratic regimes you have maximum governability, because the leadership can make decisions without an opposition, and there are no checks or balances. Here, we are perhaps too far toward the other extreme; we have almost complete representation with little governability”.^[12] In his opinion, “a homogenous government, comprised of like-minded ministers speaking with one voice and representing a singular policy framework is required to contribute to clear public diplomacy, the sort of diplomacy that Israel sorely needs now to combat the cohesive narrative and branding effort put forth by the Palestinians”.^[13]

Foreign Policy[link]

Ayalon aims to develop and expand Israel’s diplomatic ties worldwide and to form new coalitions through economic and political cooperation and greater foreign aid.^[14] In 2011, he embarked on a Latin American tour with an official visit to Mexico and a visit to El Salvador where he attended the General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS), addressing the ramifications of the Palestinian unilateral declaration of statehood and the mounting Iranian threat.^[15] Earlier, Ayalon had worked with several nations in order to combat the Goldstone Report and its effects.^[16]

Israel-U.S. Strategic Dialogue

Ayalon maintains a strong relationship with the United States. He serves as Israel’s representative in the semi-annual Israel-U.S. Strategic Dialogue.^[17]

Israeli-Arab relations

In an appeal to the Arab world, Ayalon wrote a piece for the pan-Arab newspaper, Asharq Alawsat in 2009, explaining Israel’s past and ongoing partnerships within the Arab world such as Israel’s training of Jordanians in advanced agricultural techniques, calling them positive bridges on the road to peace and coexistence.^[18]

At the sixth annual international WATEC-Israel exhibition in November 2011, Ayalon offered the Arab world to share Israel’s advanced water technologies. “Israel will benefit from a peace agreement, but you will also gain a genuine partner for development and the assured welfare of future generations in the region,” Ayalon said at the opening session.^[19]

Israeli settlements

Ayalon slammed the claims that settlements were the cause of violence, citing the pre-state 1929 Arab killing of Jews in Hebron.^[20] He has criticized world leaders who accuse Israel of destroying the peace process by building in East Jerusalem neighborhoods such as Gilo.^[21]

In 2005, as Israel’s representative to the United States, Ayalon suported Israel's unilateral disengagement plan, in which all Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip were evacuated.^[22] However, as a Member of the Knesset, Ayalon explained that he feels the disengagement was a mistake and, “in hindsight we shouldn't have done it because it was excruciatingly painful“.^[23]

Israeli-Palestinian conflict

According to Ayalon, “the real obstacle to peace is Palestinian rejection of Israel and the self-determination of the Jewish people”. He has condemned Palestinian claims which “deny the Jewish people’s connection with its homeland”, and the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Information’s false claims that the Jews have no past connections to the Western Wall of the ancient Temple of Jerusalem and to the Tomb of Rachel the Matriarch.^[24]

Ayalon called the Gaza flotilla raid of May 2010, in which nine activists were killed and many injured a “provocation”, stating: “On the deck we found weapons which were used against the forces. The organizers’ intent was violent and the results were unfortunate. Israel regrets the loss of life. We called the organizers once again the [sic] stop the provocations”.^[25] He has criticized claims that the Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip are in the midst of a humanitarian crisis as a result of Israel’s blockade citing that, “Gaza receives equivalent of 40% of goods imported by Israel. It's absurd for Israel to take care of Gazans while Hamas fires rockets.”^[26]

Iran

At the Munich Security Conference in February 2011, Ayalon, emphasizing Germany’s crucial part in crushing the Iranian threat, stated: “The Iranian regime today is just as dangerous to the world as Hitler was in the 1930s. We don't have the luxury of waiting for the results of the sanctions on Iran; we must immediately put heavy pressure on Iran until it cracks. Germany, as the strongest country in the European Union, must provide an answer to the needs of the European states that get oil from Iran, so that they will no longer be dependent on Iranian oil.”^[27] He also made an appeal to Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay to cancel her plans to visit Iran, stating that the visit would legitimize a regime that “maliciously violates human rights, executes its citizens and openly calls for genocide”.^[28]

Refugees

Ayalon has appealed to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to end what he called the “morally and politically unacceptable” solution created for the Palestinian refugees, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), accusing it to perpetuate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by not finding permanent solutions for refugees. “While the UNHCR has found durable solutions for tens of millions of refugees, the agency created specifically for the Palestinian context, UNRWA, has found durable solutions for no one”, he stated at a conference in Geneva. He also called for redress for the aproximatly 850,000 Jews from Arab counties, who fled their homes after Israel was established. He said that while the refugee issue was a “core element” in solving the conflict, both Palestinian and Jewish refugees have to be taken into account.^[29]

Turkish Relations

Ayalon became internationally known in early 2010, after he summoned the Turkish ambassador to Israel, Ahmet Oğuz Çelikkol, to complain about a Turkish television series, Kurtlar Vadisi Pusu, which showed anti-Semitic motifs, including Mossad agents snatching a Muslim baby to convert to Judaism and shooting old men.^[30] At the meeting, Ayalon did not display the Turkish flag, and pointed out to the waiting media that the Turkish Ambassador sat on a lower sofa. Ayalon later apologized to Çelikkol for any personal slight or insult, but not for the substance of the rebuke.^[31]

Holy See Negotiations

In December 2009, Ayalon led high-level diplomatic discussions with the Holy See concerning Church properties and taxes,^[32] leading to an agreement in early 2012 between Israel and the Vatican in which the latter agreed to waive its demand to receive sovereignty over The Cenacle, the location of the Last Supper, on Jerusalem's Mount Zion. Israel, in return, agreed to consider giving the Church access to the site and is considering a leasing option. As part of the agreement, the Vatican will for the first time pay a reduced property tax for its large amount of assets in Israel.^[33]

International aid[link]

Ayalon supports expanding Israel’s global initiatives through MASHAV, Israel's National Agency for International Development. Following the 2010 Earthquake, MASHAV deployed emergency medical services and polices forces to Haiti.^[34] Israel was also the first country to set up a field hospital in Japan after the 2011 earthquake.^[35] Through MASHAV Israel has partnered with the United States in Ethiopia, with Germany in Ethiopia and Ghana, with Italy in Senegal, and with Japan and Denmark in the Middle East.^[36]

In January 2011, Ayalon and German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development Dirk Niebel met and signed a joint Declaration of Intent aimed to increase bilateral cooperation in effort to assist developing nations, agreeing to work towards the rehabilitation of the contaminated Lake Victoria in Kenya, the main source of water for several states and one of the sources of the Nile River.^[37] In February of the same year Ayalon and Niebel met again to examine aid to the new Republic of South Sudan.^[27]

Also in February 2011, Ayalon signed a joint declaration of cooperation on water supply and sustainable energy technology management with Polish Minister of the Environment Bernard Blaszczyk. Israel and Poland will cooperate to promote investment, the exchanging of technologies, and the sharing of information.^[38]

Videos[link]

In a video titled “The Truth About the West Bank” released by the Israeli foreign ministry in June 2011, Ayalon presents a historical narrative meant to help wage the public diplomacy battle about Israel’s ongoing conflict with the Palestinians. In the video made in cooperation with StandWithUs, which is very similar to one released earlier by the Yesha council, the organization of the Jewish settlements in the West Bank, Ayalon asks viewers to stop referring to Judea and Samaria as “occupied territories”. “It is time for Israel to return to a ‘rights-based diplomacy’ and talk about the facts, rights, history and international law which are little known but give a dramatically different viewpoint to what is currently accepted,” he said after the video’s release.^[39] After the video was posted online, Saeb Erekat, the Palestinian Authority’s top negotiator, denounced the video as a “falsified account of history and international law”, but refused to participate in a public debate on the issues raised in the video proposed by Ayalon.^[40]

Two more videos staring Ayalon were released: “The Truth About the Peace Process” in September 2011, and “The Truth About the Refugees” in December 2011.^[41]

Social Media[link]

In the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ayalon has worked to expand Israel’s social media diplomacy by helping the ministry maintain over 100 Facebook pages, including “Israel speaks Arabic”, a page written in Arabic.^[42] After the initiatives launch, Ayalon explained that “it is vital that Israel's voice is heard in every corner of the world and even more so amongst its immediate neighbors”.^[43] Ayalon has over 36,000 Facebook followers.^[44] The Jewish Telegraphic Agency ranked him as the most influential Israeli Politician on Twitter and one of the 100 most influential Jews in 2010.^[45] Ayalon has more than 18,100 Twitter followers.^[46] He also has nearly 1,000,000 totally upload views on YouTube.^[47] He has been recognized as one of the world’s leading politicians to utilize social media by web based policy center Dimpool and by Foreign Policy, surpassing President Barack Obama.^[48][49]

Community Service and Involvement[link]

Ayalon has served as a member of the Executive Board at the University Center in Ariel, as Vice Chair of the Israel-America Chamber of Commerce, and as a Board Member of the America-Israel Friendship League.^[50] He is a suporter of Aish HaTorah yeshiva and says he tries to make time each week to learn with Rabbi Ephraim Shore of the yeshiva.^[51]

In partnership with “Latet,” Ayalon asked the workers at the Foreign Ministry as well as Green-Israel and Alma-Gilro to donate food to make over 100 Purim baskets for Holocaust survivors in Jerusalem.^[52] In 2011, together with “United with Israel,” Ayalon helped launch another Purim basket campaign to give soldiers a special thank you during the holiday.^[53] For Passover that same year, Ayalon and workers at the Ministry initiated the project, “Lending a (Diplomatic) Hand to the Community”, where they hand-picked over 2,000 Kg of beetroot that was donated to over 700 needy Israeli families.^[54]

Ayalon has been a co-host on the English speaking Rusty Mike Radio station based in Jerusalem where he expressed his affection for the English speaking community and played some of his favorite music including the Beatles.^[55]

Awards and Recognition[link]

In 2005, Ayalon received the Brandeis Award of the Jewish Community of Baltimore. He was the recipient of Aish Hatorah’s Builder of Jerusalem Award in 2008.^[56]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Daniel Ayalon

• Ayalon's Official English Website
• Ayalon's Official Hebrew Website
• Ayalon's Official English Knesset Website
• Ayalon's Official Hebrew Knesset Website
• Ayalon's Official Facebook Page
• Ayalon's Official Youtube Channel
• Yisrael Beiteinu's Official English Website
• Yisrael Beiteinu's Official Hebrew Website
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs Official English Website
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs Official Hebrew Website
• All Ministers in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

v t e Israeli ambassadors to the United States Eilat (1948–50) · Eban (1950–59) · Harman (1959–1968) · Rabin (1968–1973) · Dinitz (1973–1979) · Evron (1979–1982) · Arens (1982–1983) · Rosenne (1983–1987) · Arad (1987–1990) · Shoval (1990–1993) · Itamar Rabinovich (1993–1996) · Ben-Elissar (1996–1998) · Shoval (1998–2000) · Ivry (2000–2002) · Ayalon (2002–2006) · Meridor (2006–2009) · Oren (2009–)

Ahmet Davutoğlu
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 May 2009
President	Abdullah Gül
Prime Minister	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Preceded by	Ali Babacan
Personal details
Born	(1959-02-26) February 26, 1959 (age 53) Taşkent, Konya, Turkey
Political party	Justice and Development Party
Spouse(s)	Sare Davutoğlu (m. 1984)
Children	Sefure, Meymune, Mehmet, Hacer Büke
Alma mater	Boğaziçi University
Religion	Sunni Islam

Professor Ahmet Davutoğlu (Turkish pronunciation: [ahˈmet ˈdavutoːɫu]) is the Foreign Minister of Turkey. He is also a political scientist, an academic and an ambassador at large and was formerly chief advisor to the Prime Minister.

Life and career[link]

Ahmet Davutoğlu was born in Konya, Turkey. He graduated from İstanbul Erkek Lisesi, which is a Deutsche Auslandsschule (German International school) and studied at the Department of Economics and Political Science of the Boğaziçi University, İstanbul. He holds a masters degree in Public Administration and a PhD degree in Political Science and International Relations from Boğaziçi University. Between 1993 and 1999 he worked at Marmara University and became a full professor in 1999. He was the chairman of the Department of International Relations at Beykent University in Istanbul, Turkey.

He is a father of four and his wife is a medical doctor.

Ahmet Davutoğlu was granted a title of ambassador in 2003 by the joint decision of President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Prime Minister Abdullah Gül.^[1]

His publications include Alternative Paradigms: The Impact of Islamic and Western Weltanschauungs on Political Theory, The Civilizational Transformation and The Muslim World in English, Stratejik Derinlik (Strategic Depth), and Küresel Bunalım (The Global Crisis) in Turkish. Especially his book Strategic Depth is a very influential book in Turkey's foreign policy orientation. He is very influential in the military, academic, and government triangle shaping Turkish foreign policy.^[2]

Ambassador Davutoğlu was one of the leading actors on behalf of the Turkish government during the shuttle diplomacy for the settlement of 2008 Israel–Gaza conflict. Davutoğlu was appointed as the Foreign Minister of Turkey on 1 May 2009. He has since called for Turkey to become more than just a regional power within Europe and the Middle East and desires Ankara to have a far more influential role in world politics.^[3] Davutoğlu is generally linked to the notion of Turkish neo-Ottomanism, which favours a commonwealth with its neighbours and old Ottoman connections.^[4] Although his foreign policies have been regarded as neo-Ottomanist by Western and especially U.S. media, Davutoğlu does not accept such a characterization. He stated in an interview with Turkish daily Sabah that "as much as we don't use this conceptualization, the fact that it is being used against us is either because of misunderstanding or lack of goodwill." He argued against the idea that Turkey is trying to establish a neo-Ottoman imperial order: "I have said that Turkey as a nation-state is equal with any other nation-state of our region whether it is small in population or area. We don't have any hegemony on anyone. Rather what we are trying to do is to contribute to the establishment of a permanent peace in our region. If by order they mean is Pax Ottomana, Pax in the meaning of order, we are trying to establish a order, it is not wrong to say such thing".^[5]

He was listed in Foreign Policy magazine as one of the "Top 100 Global Thinkers of 2010" for "being the brains behind Turkey's global reawakening".^[6] In an interview, he talked about his "Zero Problems Policy" and said "It is possible to have zero problems if the other actors respect our values. It doesn't mean that we will be silent in order to have good relations with all parties."^[7] In 2011's Foreign Policy magazine's list of "Top 100 Global Thinkers" he was listed together with Recep Tayyip Erdogan for "imagining a new role for Turkey in the world- and making it happen". ^[8]

Selected works[link]

• Alternative Paradigms: The Impact of Islamic and Western Weltanschauungs on Political Theory. University Press of America, 1993
• Civilizational Transformation and the Muslim World. Quill, 1994
• Stratejik derinlik: Türkiye'nin uluslararası konumu. Küre Yayınları, 2001
• Osmanlı Medeniyeti: Siyaset İktisat Sanat. Klasik, 2005
• Küresel Bunalım. Küre, 2002.

Gallery[link]

• 

  Secretary Hillary Clinton and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu following their bilateral meeting at the United States Department of State,February 13, 2012.

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  Davutoglu with U.S. Secretary Clinton and other foreign ministers.

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  Davutoglu with the former Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou.

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  Davutoglu with Brazilian President Lula da Silva and Foreign Minister Celso Amorim.

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  Davutoglu with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

See also[link]

• Foreign policy of the Recep Tayyip Erdoğan government
• List of Turkish diplomats

References[link]