October 25, 2014 - 12:47 AMT
Turkish PM appoints ethnic Armenian journalist as senior advisor

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has appointed journalist and writer of Armenian descent Etyen Mahçupyan as his senior advisor, APA reported, citing Turkish newspaper Vatan.

Davutoglu and Mahçupyan have known each other for many years, meeting regularly during Davutoglu’s tenure as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the report says.

Mahçupyan said that he will support the Prime Minister’s activity “for the development of democracy, government and public relations and resolution of minority issues.”

Born in Istanbul in 1950, Mahçupyan was the editor-in-chief of Agos Turkish-Armenian weekly from 2007 to 2010. He also contributes to the Turkish national dailies Taraf and Zaman.

He graduated from the Faculty of Chemistry at Boğaziçi University of Turkey in 1972. He also studied at the Faculty of Political Science at Ankara University.

Mahçupyan is the first non-Muslim person among the Advisors of the Turkish President and Prime Minister.