Paçacı appointed as Special envoy of SG-OIC on Islamophobia

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Paçacı

As of 2022, he is serving as Turkey’s Ambassador to Pakistan

DNA

ANKARA: The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that Ambassador Mehmet Paçacı was appointed as the Special Representative of the OIC Secretary General on Islamophobia at the 15th Summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) held in Banjul on 4-5 May. The statement stated that it has full faith that Paçacı will carry out this task successfully and said, “On this occasion, we remind that the international community should take a common stance and act determinedly in the fight against anti-Islamism.”

Mehmet Paçacı was born in Bolu in 1959. He is a Turkish ambassador, academician and theologian.

After graduating from Ankara Imam Hatip High School in 1977, he graduated from Ankara University Faculty of Theology in 1982. He continued his academic career and completed his doctorate in 1989. He started working as a faculty member at Ankara University Faculty of Theology and received the title of Assistant Professor in 1992, Associate Professor in 1994, and Professor in 2000. He also served as a member of the board of directors of the Faculty of Theology of the same university between 1996 and 1999.

Between 2008 and 2011, he worked as the Religious and Social Services Counselor of the Presidency of Religious Affairs at the Washington Embassy. Then, he worked as the General Director of Foreign Relations at the Presidency of Religious Affairs between 2011 and 2014. He was appointed as Turkey’s Ambassador to the Vatican in 2014 and served in this position until the end of 2018. He was recalled to Ankara in April 2015 for a speech by Pope Francis on the Armenian Genocide, but returned to Rome in February 2016.

As of 2022, he is serving as Turkey’s Ambassador to Pakistan. He speaks English and Arabic languages. Mehmet Paçacı, who is married and the father of three children, is also the son-in-law of Temel Karamollaoğlu, the chairman of the Felicity Party.