First Civilian National Security Council Head

Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer endorses the government decree to appoint former diplomat Mehmet Yigit Alpogan as the first civilian head for Turkeys supreme security body National Security Council.

Ankara

Mehmet Yigit Alpogan,Turkey's Ambassador to Athens, has been appointed as Secretary-General to the National Security Council's (MGK).

President Ahmet Necdet Sezer endorsed a written decree of the government sent the day before making Alpogan the first civilian to be appointed as secretary general of the MGK.

Alpdogan has been ambassador to Athens since 2001 and is counted among the experts on Turkish-Greek relations and the Cyprus issue.

The Ambassador played a critical role during the negotiations on the solution of Cyprus problem that ended with a referendum on April 24, 2004.

The government cleared the way for civil appointments by changing the former MGK General Secretariat law within the scope of reforms made to adapt to the European Union (EU).

The Chief of General Staff, General Hilmi Ozkok, expected the government to have a military secretary general for one more year to re-shape the command chain and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had responded to that expectation positively appointing General Sukru Sariisik to the position of MGK Secretary General. After completing his one year term, General Sariisik was appointed as the 2nd Army Commander.

Alpogan's Diplomatic Experience Spans 36 Years

Mehmet Yigit Alpogan was born in 1945 in Izmir's Odemis township. He attended Ankara University and graduated with a degree in Political Affairs.

In 1968 he entered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a diplomatic candidate. Alpagon then left his job in the Common Security Affairs Bureau so that he could fulfill his military obligation.

Afterwards, he landed a job at the embassy in Tokyo in 1972. He then moved to the Lefkose (Nicosia) embassy in 1975. He assumed control of the Cyprus branch of the Cyprus-Greece General Directorate in 1977. He became the ambassador-undersecretary in the embassy in Athens in 1991. He became the first ambassador to Ashkabat, the capital of Turkmenistan, in 1995.

Alpogan, after serving as an ambassador in the Maritime and Aviation General Directorate and dual political relations, was appointed as an assistant advisor in the Foreign Ministry in 2000. He has been an ambassador in Athens since 2001.

He is married with two children and fluent in French and English.