Bisera Turković

Bisera Turković (née Rešić; born 8 December 1954) is a Bosnian diplomat and politician who is the current Minister of Foreign Affairs. She is also the current Vice-Chairwoman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, serving alongside Vjekoslav Bevanda. Turković is the first female foreign minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Bisera Turković
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Assumed office
23 December 2019
Prime MinisterZoran Tegeltija
Preceded byIgor Crnadak
Bosnia and Herzegovina Ambassdor to the United States
In office
3 October 2005 – 27 February 2009
Preceded byIgor Davidović
Succeeded byMitar Kujundžić
Minister for European Integration
In office
6 June 2000 – 22 January 2001
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byDragan Mikerević
Personal details
Born
Bisera Rešić

(1954-12-08) 8 December 1954
Sisak, PR Croatia, FPR Yugoslavia
NationalityBosniak
Political partyParty of Democratic Action
Spouse(s)
Salih Turković
​
​
(m. 1973, died)​
Children3

She was also minister of European Integration and later on served as the Bosnia and Herzegovina Ambassdor to the United States as well.

Biography

Turković was born in Sisak, present-day Croatia, on 8 December 1954 to Jewish mother and Bosniak father. Her mother Katarina Kraus hails from Zagreb and her father Muharem Rešić hails from Prijedor. Her paternal grandfather Mehmedalija Rešić lived in the United States from 1909 to 1926, when he returned to Prijedor and married Bahta Mušić, her paternal grandmother. Mušić's family hailed from Užice, present-day Serbia, and resettled to Bosanska Kostajnica. Turković's parents separated when she was still a child and her mother moved to Australia. Turković lived with her paternal grandmother in Bosanska Kostajnica until she started school, when she moved to Zagreb where she lived with her father, simultaneously visiting her maternal grandparents Blanka Korez and Stefan Kraus, and her mother in Australia.[1]

Turković holds a degree in Law from the University of Sarajevo and a bachelor in Criminal Justice Administration from the Philip Institute of Technology in Melbourne.[2] She did her postgraduate studies in Criminology at LaTrobe University in Melbourne and holds a Ph.D. in International Relations from Pacific Western University that later transitioned into California Miramar University an organization whose accreditation was later withdrawn.[3][4][5][6]

In the early 1990s she worked as chief editor for Hayat TV. She was the first bilateral ambassador appointed in the history of independent Bosnia and Herzegovina. Her first assignments as ambassador were to Croatia (1993–1994), Hungary (1994–1996), and at Bosnia and Herzegovina's Permanent Mission to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in Vienna (1996 to 2000). From 2000 to 2001, Turković was appointed Minister for European Integration.[7]

From 2001 to 2004, she worked as an Executive Director of the Centre for Security Studies in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as a lecturer at the Faculty of Criminal Justice, University of Sarajevo. Turković has also given lectures at the University of Sarajevo, Webster University, the International University of Sarajevo and the University of Travnik as well as at George Washington university and at other major international universities.[7]

From 2004 to 2005 she served at Bosnia and Herzegovina's Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Vienna and as Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization, and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization. From 2005 to 2009 she served as Bosnia and Herzegovina's ambassador to the United States, Mexico and Brazil. Her next diplomatic postings were in Brussels as bilateral ambassador to Belgium and Luxembourg,[8] as well as in Qatar since September 2018.[7]

In December 2019, she was appointed by the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) as Minister of Foreign Affairs and also as vice-chairwoman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina.[9] She is the first woman to serve as foreign minister and vice-chairman of the country. In December 2020, Turković called for the abolishment of Republika Srpska, which was met with heavy criticism by Radovan Višković and Željka Cvijanović who called her statement "hate speech".[10][11]

See also

References
  1. Kukan, Mirela (13 June 2020). "Bisera Turković za "Azru" govori o majci Katarini, ocu Muharemu, baki Blanki, djedu Mehmedaliji". Azra Magazin (in Bosnian). Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  2. "Bisera Turković". vijeceministara.gov.ba (in Bosnian). 13 June 2020. Archived from the original on 13 June 2020. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  3. Bears' Guide to Earning Degrees by Distance Learning 15th edition, John B. Bear, Ph.D. & Mariah P. Bear, M.A., Copyright 2003 by Ten Speed Press, ISBN 1-58008-431-1
  4. California Secretary of State (2006). Pacific Western University corporate records. Obtained December 13, 2006.
  5. Department of Commerce & Consumer Affairs - Pacific Western University (Hawaii). (November 4, 1997) November 4, 1997 Complaint. (Obtained December 12, 2006) See generally Department of Commerce & Consumer Affairs - Pacific Western University (Hawaii)
  6. Pacific Western University (Hawaii) aka American PacWest International University. 2005 Complaint and Summons. (Obtained December 13, 2006).
  7. "Ambassador". Embassy of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the State of Qatar. 12 October 2016. Archived from the original on 16 January 2019. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  8. BiH Embassy Belgium
  9. Er.M. (23 December 2019). "Počela sjednica o imenovanju Vijeća ministara BiH" (in Bosnian). Klix.ba. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  10. ИН4С. ""Bisera Turković je ekstremista koja neće odlučivati o sudbini Republike Srpske": Željka Cvijanović odgovorila na govor mržnje iz Sarajeva" (in Serbian). Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  11. "Burne reakcija iz Republike Srpske na izjave ministrice Turković". Radio Slobodna Evropa (in Serbo-Croatian). Retrieved 13 December 2020.
Political offices
Preceded by
Igor Crnadak		 Minister of Foreign Affairs
2019–present		 Incumbent
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