# Distinguished Service Award of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The Distinguished Service Award of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Turkish: Dışişleri Bakanlığı Üstün Hizmet Ödülü) is civil award issued by the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The award consists of a gold medal set and a certificate signed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The legal basis of the award is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Directive No. 155 dating from 14 November 1989.

## Criteria

The award is given to locals and foreigners who have demonstrated exceptional success in explaining Turkey in the world stage, in the successful implementation of its foreign policy, in the protection and development of its interests, and in the promotion of its history, language, culture and art. The award is also given to those who have done admirable services in other matters falling within the scope of the Ministry's duties and responsibilities.

## Nomination and approval procedures

Nominations for the Distinguished Service Award are normally initiated by the Minister of Foreign Affairs. However, officials at deputy ministry or higher level who wish to recommend an individual or organization for this award may do so by submitting a memorandum of justification, cleared by the Director General, to the Ministry.

## Recipients

The following people and organizations have been awarded:
| Date | Name | Notes |
| 1989 | Dr. John P. McGovern | American allergist and investor |
| 1989 | Feyyaz Tokar | Turkish journalist |
| 1989 | Dieter Schmidt | |
| 1989 | Pierre Dubois | |
| 1989 | Nejat Seyfullah Taşhan | |
| 1989 | İlhan Çevik | |
| 1989 | Hanns Seidel Foundation | |
| 1990 | Gunnar Jarring | Swedish diplomat |
| 1990 | Robert Arzano | |
| 1991 | Şarık Tara | |
| 1991 | Dr. Nejat Eczacıbaşı | Turkish chemist and entrepreneur |
| 1991 | Prof. Dr. William Hale | British scholar |
| 1991 | Prof. Dr. Mümtaz Soysal | Turkish political scientist |
| 1991 | Jak Kamhi [tr] | |
| 1991 | Prof. Halil İnalcık | |
| 1991 | Prof. Geoffrey Lewis | British scholar |
| 1997 | Şakir Eczacıbaşı | |
| 1997 | Prof. Anna Masala | |
| 1998 | Wim Antoon Mateman | |
| 1998 | Frederic Bennett | |
| 1998 | Takashi Morinaga | |
| 1998 | Toshiyuki Fujiwara | |
| 1999 | Chinghiz Aitmatov | Kyrgyz author |
| 1999 | Cha Hak Koo | |
| 1999 | Syed Yusuf | |
| 1999 | Albert de Vidas | |
| 2000 | Prof. Dr. Talat Halman | |
| 2000 | Prof. Dr. İhsan Doğramacı | Turkish paediatrician, |
| 2001 | Süleyman Demirel | Former president of Turkey |
| 2001 | Necati Münir Ertegün | Turkish cypriot jurist |
| 2001 | Turkish diplomats who saved the lives of Jews during the Holocaust Consul General Necdet Kent Consul General Selahattin Ülkümen Consul Namık Kemal Yolga | They are mentioned with the then titles |
| 2001 | Those who have been wounded during their duty in the Ministry Ambassador Coşkun Kırca Ambassador Vecdi Türel [tr] Ambassador Doğan Türkmen Consul Kaya İnal Counsellor Yurtsev Mıhçıoğlu Counsellor Cavit Demir Counsellor Deniz Bölükbaşı First Secretary Hasan Servet Öktem Second Secretary Gökberk Ergenekon Atasay Mıhçıoğlu, son of Counsellor Yurtsev Mıhçıoğlu Attaché Hüseyin Kerimoğlu Attaché Tahsin Güvenç Sevil Özmen, spouse of attaché Galip Özmen Kaan Özmen, son of attaché Galip Özmen Attaché Nilgün Keçeci Driver Necati Kaya | They are mentioned with the then titles |
| 2001 | Prof. Dusanka Lukaç | |
| 2001 | Hugo Gobbi | |
| 2001 | Prof. Pierre Oberling | French Historian |
| 2001 | Prof. Kraus Kreiser | |
| 2001 | Karl Grabbe | |
| 2001 | Prof. Ekrem Čaušević [bs] | Bosnian linguist |
| 2001 | Michele Nicolas | |
| 2001 | Marthe Bernus-Taylor | |
| 2001 | Annie Berthier | |
| 2001 | Jacques Tobies | |
| 2001 | Teresa Batesti | |
| 2001 | Hubert Astier | |
| 2001 | Béatrix Saule | |
| 2001 | Jean-Paul Desroches [fr] | French archaeologist |
| 2001 | Nevin Menemencioğlu | |
| 2001 | Henri Adam | |
| 2001 | Hemachandra Wijeratne | Sri Lankan diplomat |
| 2001 | Dr. Lee Si-Hyung | |
| 2001 | Emile Noel | |
| 2001 | David Levy | Israeli politician |
| 2001 | Francisco Uribe Laso | |
| 2001 | Nihat Boytüzün | |
| 2001 | Alexendre Misk | |
| 2002 | Ahmet Ertegün | |
| 2002 | Elias Mendoza Habersberger | |
| 2002 | Prof. Marc Waelkens | |
| 2002 | Manas University | |
| 2002 | Erik Cornell | |
| 2002 | Sture Theolin | |
| 2002 | Henrik Liljegren | |
| 2002 | Mustafa Arhan | |
| 2002 | Şeref Arhan | |
| 2002 | Sabahattin Arhan | |
| 2002 | Dr. Andrew Mango | |
| 2002 | Prof. Salahi Sonyel [az] | Turkish Cypriot historian |
| 2002 | Dr. Sachihiro Omura | Japanese archaeologist |
| 2002 | Ahmet Çalık | |
| 2002 | Erol Tabanca | |
| 2002 | Prof. Manfred Korfmann | German archeologist |
| 2002 | Edzard Reuter | German businessperson |
| 2002 | Michael Ackermann | |
| 2002 | Saduman Gürbüz | |
| 2002 | Dr. Aydın Yurtçu | |
| 2002 | Demir Delen | |
| 2002 | Natalya Baranova | |
| 2002 | Prof. Jean-Paul Roux | French Turkologist |
| 2002 | Gökşin Sipahioğlu | |
| 2002 | Dr. Demir Fırat Önger | |
| 2002 | Jean Pierre Salvetat | |
| 2002 | Sandra Fei | |
| 2002 | Prof. Hazai György [hu] | Hungarian Turkologist |
| 2002 | Union of Jews from Türkiye in Israel | |
| 2002 | Bruce Ruxton | |
| 2002 | Vezhdi Rashidov | |
| 2002 | Hans Christian Krüger | |
| 2002 | Heinrich Klebes | |
| 2002 | Otto von Habsburg | |
| 2002 | Sim Jae-Duck | South Korean congressman |
| 2002 | Nüzhen Önen | |
| 2002 | Sevim Önen | |
| 2003 | Dr. Elías Mendoza Habersperger | |
| 2003 | Feni Atatürk High School in Dhaka | |
| 2005 | Prof. Jaemahn Sulh | |
| 2005 | Dr. Fatih Birol | |
| 2005 | Prof. Dr. Erik-Jan Zürcher | Dutch Turkologist |
| 2005 | Antony Burgmans | |
| 2006 | Dr. Till Becker | |
| 13 March 2006 | Prof. Dr. Nurhan Atasoy | |
| 13 March 2006 | Dr. Filiz Çağman [tr] | Turkish historian |
| 13 March 2006 | Dr. Nazan Ölçer [tr] | Turkish art historian |
| 2007 | Prof. Masanori Naito [ja] | Japanese sociologist |
| 7 April 2007 | Prof. Dr. Oktay Aslanapa [tr] | Turkish academic |
| 2007 | Prof. Pedro Martínez Montávez [es] | Spanish historian |
| 2008 | Ly Seppel | Estonian poet |
| 2009 | Mehmet Aykut Eken | |
| 2009 | Harry Blackley | |
| 2009 | Mohammed Al-Wohaibi | Omani Ambassador |
| 2010 | Prof. Bernt Brendemoen [de] | Norwegian Turkologist |
| 2010 | Abdulwahab Mahmoud Sheikh | Saudi Arabian Consul General |
| 18 December 2014 | Nabil Maarouf | Palestinian ambassador |
| 27 December 2014 | Muhammad Haroon Shaukat | Pakistani ambassador |
| 3 May 2016 | Bonnie Joy Kaslan | Honorary Consul General in San Francisco |
| 4 October 2017 | Düsen Kaseyinov [az] | Secretary General of TURKSOY |
| 5 October 2017 | Irina Bokova | Bulgarian Director-General of UNESCO |
| 5 November 2017 | Justin Rose | English professional golfer |
| 13 August 2018 | Ömer Engin Lütem | Turkish ambassador |
| 13 August 2018 | Bilal Şimşir [tr] | Turkish ambassador |
| 13 August 2018 | Ertuğrul Apakan | Turkish ambassador |
| 5 December 2018 | Prof. Dr. Stanislav Stachowski | Polish Turkologist |
| 5 December 2018 | Prof. Dr. Tadeusz Majda | Polish Turkologist |
| 18 May 2019 | Dr. Eusebio Leal Spengler | Cuban historian |
| 12 October 2020 | Sami Kohen | Turkish journalist |
| 20 November 2020 | Yeşim Meço Davutoğlu | Turkish philanthropist |