{"record":{"aliases":["Mustafa Şükrü Elekdağ","Şükrü Mustafa Elekdağ"],"appointmentIds":["turkey-8f9425bb409fb2"],"appointmentsDataset":"https://chanceries.org/diplomats.json","archivalSources":["elekdag-reagan"],"canonicalUrl":"https://chanceries.org/diplopedia/people/sukru-elekdag-09eab276eb/","countrySlug":"turkey","entityId":"https://chanceries.org/diplopedia/people/sukru-elekdag-09eab276eb/#person","eventIds":[],"expandedParagraphs":["Mustafa Şükrü Elekdağ was born in Istanbul in 1924. He studied economics and commerce in Istanbul and earned a doctorate in economics at the University of Paris. Entering the foreign service in 1951, he worked with Türkiye’s United Nations delegation in New York and its NATO representation in Paris before directing the ministry’s NATO department.","He served as ambassador to Japan in the early 1970s and became foreign ministry undersecretary in 1974. His Washington ambassadorship lasted from 1979 to 1989. Early in the Reagan administration he met Secretary of State Alexander Haig and sought further senior meetings before consultations in Ankara. A February 1981 State Department memorandum supported his request as a means of opening a broad dialogue about NATO, Greece, Cyprus, and the Middle East.","Elekdağ also accompanied Foreign Minister İlter Türkmen to a meeting with Vice President George Bush on 2 April 1981. The American memorandum records discussion of Turkish military equipment, economic assistance, and regional security. Türkmen presented the principal Turkish arguments.","After retiring from diplomacy, Elekdağ taught strategy and foreign policy at Bilkent University, wrote newspaper columns, and presented a television discussion program. Elected to parliament from Istanbul in 2002 and again in 2007, he served on the Türkiye–EU Joint Parliamentary Committee."],"id":"turkey:sukru-elekdag","identifiers":{},"legacyPersonIds":[],"legacyUrl":"https://chanceries.org/diplomat-09eab276ebd4e80a7bea.html","name":"Şükrü Elekdağ","notes":[],"paragraphSources":[["elekdag-tbmm","elekdag-cv"],["elekdag-cv","elekdag-reagan"],["elekdag-reagan"],["elekdag-tbmm","elekdag-cv"]],"profileUrl":"diplomat-09eab276ebd4e80a7bea.html","relatedEvents":[],"relatedPeople":[],"relationships":[],"researchStatus":"reviewed","reviewedOn":"2026-10-28","revision":"9e77e820b13f5548","sources":[{"accessedOn":"2026-10-28","date":null,"id":"elekdag-tbmm","locator":"Relevant section read in full","publisher":"Grand National Assembly of Türkiye","title":"Mustafa Şükrü Elekdağ: parliamentary biography","type":"official-biography","url":"https://www.tbmm.gov.tr/Milletvekili/MilletvekiliDetay?DonemId=F72877C2-F50B-037B-E050-007F01005610&Id=F72877C2-DA5F-037B-E050-007F01005610"},{"accessedOn":"2026-10-28","date":null,"id":"elekdag-cv","locator":"Relevant section read in full","publisher":"Şükrü Elekdağ","title":"Dr. Mustafa Şükrü Elekdağ: Hakkında","type":"autobiographical-profile","url":"https://sukruelekdag.wordpress.com/about/"},{"accessedOn":"2026-10-28","date":null,"id":"elekdag-reagan","locator":"PDF pp. 5 and 9–11: 4 February memorandum and 2 April 1981 conversation","publisher":"Ronald Reagan Presidential Library","title":"WHORM CO163, Turkey, BEGIN–019999: Elekdağ meetings","type":"archival-record","url":"https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/public/2023-10/40-654-6210494-181-013-2023.pdf"},{"accessedOn":"","date":"Accessed 23 October 2026","id":"mission-8640388fff0b15c07ec2","locator":"Full displayed historical chronology 1867–2024; current chancery commissioned 1997, completed/used 1999, inaugurated April 23, 1999.","publisher":"","title":"Mission history and former chiefs of mission","type":"Mission record","url":"https://washington-emb.mfa.gov.tr/Mission/MissionChiefHistory"}],"topics":["NATO","security cooperation","economics","parliament","Bilkent University"]},"schemaVersion":1}