EDU.INT
INTER-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION
BELGIUM
EDU Secretary-General meets distinguished Turkish Statesmen
Over the space of two days and continuing the theme of strengthening the presence and capability of the Intergovernmental Organization EDU in southern Europe, the Levant and North Africa, the Secretary-General of the Intergovernmental Organization EDU, H.E. Irving Levance, was honoured to meet two high profile and influential Members of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey; H.E. Yaşar Yakış and Prof. Dr. Yusuf Ziya İrbeç.
Over the space of two days and continuing the theme of strengthening the presence and capability of the Intergovernmental Organization EDU in southern Europe, the Levant and North Africa, the Secretary-General of the Intergovernmental Organization EDU, H.E. Irving Levance, was honoured to meet two high profile and influential Members of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey; H.E. Yaşar Yakış and Prof. Dr. Yusuf Ziya İrbeç.
H.E. Yaşar Yakış
Representing Düzce in Parliament, H.E. Yaşar Yakış, who is a respected diplomat and recipient of the French Légion d'Honneur. He is a graduate of Ankara University, with B.A. degree in political sciences. This led him to join the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a varied and interesting career in which he rose to the rank of Ambassador.
He has seen service in Turkish Consular and Diplomatic missions in Nigeria, Belgium, Austria, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Nations.
As a diplomat Ambassador Yakış has a long standing involvement in NATO. Following his attendance at the NATO Defense College in Rome, Italy, he represented Turkey as Counsellor at the Turkish Delegation in NATO Brussels and later became Head of NATO Department in the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Secretary-General found the softly spoken diplomat to be a deep font of wisdom and knowledge concerning Turkey and its international relations.
This wealth of experience has been gained during a career spanning over 5 decades and has encompassed such positions as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Senior Policy Adviser at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Vice-Chairman in charge of Foreign Affairs of the Justice and Development Party and Chairman of the European Union Commission in the Turkish Parliament.
Prof. Dr. Yusuf Ziya İrbeç
In his role as Secretary-General of an IGO, H.E. Irving Levance takes seriously the need to be informed and updated on all aspects of geo-political and diplomatic matters, not just those related to education. Prof. Dr. Yusuf Ziya İrbeç, is a man ably qualified to discuss both.
Dr. İrbeç is an impressive individual and consummate polyglot, counting English, French, German, Italian, Italian, Russian and Arabic amongst his linguistic repertoire in addition to his native Turkish.
An economist and acknowledged foreign policy expert he is a graduate of the University of Vienna and the Diplomatic Academy in Vienna. His academic career saw him serve as university professor at Bilkent University in Ankara, Vice-dean of Afyon Kocatepe University (FEAS), Head of the Department of International Trade at Çankaya University, Vice-President and Dean of the Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences and Director of the Institute of Social Sciences at Beykent University.
He was also the President of the Beykent University, Vice-Chairman of the Bahçeşehir Educational Institutionsin İstanbul, Academic Advisor for the Bahçeşehir University and as Bandırma Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences at Balıkesir University.
Dr. İrbeç was the Founding President of the International Balkan University in Skopje, Republic of Macedonia.
As a Member of the Turkish Parliament he represents Antalya on the South-western Mediterranean Coast. Ancillary roles have included Member of the Joint Parliamentary Committee of European Union, Member of the EU Harmonization Committee, Vice-Chairman of the European Union Commission in the Turkish Parliament and Clark Member of the European Union Commission in the Turkish Parliament.
Among the many topics discussed with Dr. İrbeç was his role as an Executive Board Member of the influential organization ‘Parliamentarians for Global Action’ (PGA).
H.E. Irving Levance considered the aims and activities of PGA to be very compatible with those of the Intergovernmental Organization EDU.
This is a non-profit, non-partisan international network of over 1,000 legislators in approximately 130 elected parliaments around the globe, aims to promote peace, democracy, the rule of law, human rights, sustainable development and population issues by informing, convening, and mobilizing parliamentarians to realize these goals.
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Prof. Dr.Yusuf Ziya İrbeç TV interview
PGA Membership is open to individual legislators from elected parliaments. Currently it consists of approximately 1,000 members representing 120 parliaments. PGA includes in its membership a concentration of high-level politicians, including Prime Ministers, Cabinet Ministers, and Chairs of Finance, Foreign Affairs, Population, Health, and Defense Committees.
The organization has had an extremely effective track record with intergovernmental agencies such as the UNFPA, UNDP, UNICEF, UNIFEM, UNESCO, the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and International IDEA. PGA’s programs on peace and democracy, sustainable development and population, and international law work in close cooperation with NGOs and leading research institutions in these fields.
Following this successful meetings, which included both formal presentations and informal chats over dinner, the Secretary-General looks forward to meeting both Ambassador Yakış and Prof. Dr. İrbeç to discuss areas of mutual interest.
