- Member of the Turkish Parliament
- Member of the Constitution Committee
Dr. Türmen, a native of Istanbul, Turkey, graduated from the English High School for Boys in 1964 and the Istanbul University Law Faculty in 1964. He completed his lawyer’s training in the Istanbul Bar Association. He received a master’s degree in law from the McGill University, Montreal, and a doctoral degree in international relations from the Political Science Faculty of Ankara.
In 1966, he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and served at the Turkish delegation to the United National and the Turkish embassy in Islamabad. In 1978, he became Turkish representative to the Internal Civil Aviation Organization. In 1985, he was appointed Turkish ambassador to Singapore. From 1989 to 1994, he served in Ankara as the director general in charge of the Council of Europe, Human Rights, the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe, and the United Nations. In 1994, he became ambassador of Turkey to Switzerland and in 1996, became ambassador of Turkey to the Council of Europe.
In 1998, Dr. Türmen was elected as the Turkish judge to the European Court of Human Rights. He was re-elected in 2001 and remained at the Court until 2008.
He is the recipient of the Lawyer of the Year Award given by the Turkish Bar Association in 2009, the Distinguished Service Award by the Middle East Technical University in 2009, and the Freedom of the Press Award by the Turkish Journalists Association, also in 2009. He also received the Distinguished Service Award from the Cagdas Yasami Destekleme Dernegi, a non-government organization active in the field of education of girls of poor families in Turkey.
At present, he currently is a member of the Turkish Parliament for the CHP Party and a member of the Constitution Commission.
