Nine foreign ministry officials resign to run in elections

Nine officials from Turkey's Foreign Ministry resigned before the Feb. 10 deadline in order to run in the upcoming parliamentary elections, scheduled for June 7.

Hulusi K?l?ç submitted his resignation to run for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) on Feb. 10, after serving as the general director of Bilateral Political Affairs at the Foreign Ministry. K?l?ç had been head of the protocol department for during President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an's time as prime minister, before he was appointed as Turkey's ambassador to Baku.

Hüseyin Avni B?çakl? resigned from his post on Feb. 6 in order to run for the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). B?çakl? had earlier run in the 2011 general elections for the MHP before returning to the ministry.

Dursun Erman Birdal, the 27-year-old second secretary of the Foreign Ministry, is the youngest among the ministry officials who wants to run in the elections.

Ambassador to Somalia Cemalattin Kani, Ambassador to Cameroon Ömer Faruk Do?an, First Secretary to Turkey's Embassy in Turkish Cyprus Seyit Mehmet Apa, Advisor to Turkey's Permanent Representative to the OSCE Dilek Ertürk, auditor Mikail Y?lmaz, and second secretary Vahit Özdemir are the other ministry officials who have resigned.