Head of Departments

She was born in Gaziantep in 1977. She completed her primary, secondary and high school education in Gaziantep. She graduated from the Economics Department of the Faculty of Economics of Anadolu University. She holds a master's degree from the Department of Political Science and Public Administration of the Institute of Social Sciences of Selcuk University.

She started her career at Ziraat Bank in 1999. Between 2004 and 2013, she worked at the DG for Retirement Fund and the Social Security Institution. Between 2013 and 2017, she served in various positions at the Office of the Private Secretary of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security.

In August 2017, she was assigned as Head of Department for Missions Abroad and Coordination at the DG of Foreign Relations and Services for Workers Abroad. She is currently working as Head of Department for Missions Abroad and Coordination at the DG of Foreign Relations and European Union. 

Derya CAN is married and has two children.

Born in Ankara in 1978, Hakan ÖZ completed his undergraduate and graduate education at Sakarya University Faculty of Economics and Business Administration (MBA). He also completed various advanced training courses on European Union and diplomacy at Ankara University European Communities Research and Application Centre (ATAUM). In 2003 and 2008, he completed training programmes in European Union and international relations at the Clingendael Academy in The Hague, Netherlands.

Since 2001, he has held various positions as an expert in international relations, EU projects and grant programmes at the Turkish Employment Agency and the Çukurova Development Agency. Between 2014 and 2024, he served as an expert in the Department of International Organisations at the Directorate General of Foreign Relations and European Union, and was appointed as Branch Manager in 2024.

Hakan ÖZ has represented our country in many international organisations such as the G20 Employment Working Group and Ministerial Meetings, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Ministerial Meetings, International Labour Conferences, and the UN Commission on the Status of Women. He plays an active role in relations with international organisations such as the Council of Europe, ILO, OECD, G20 and OIC, as well as in national reporting.

Hakan ÖZ, who has an excellent command of English and an intermediate level of German, was appointed as the Acting Head of the Protocol Department at the Directorate-General of Foreign Relations and European Union in June 2025.

He was born in Simav/Kütahya in 1981. He completed his primary, secondary and high school education in Simav. He graduated from the Business Administration Department of the University of Vienna in 2009. He has been currently furthering his master’s degree education in labour economics and industrial relations at Ankara University.

In April 2010, he started to work as Assistant Expert in Services for Workers Abroad at the Ministry of Labour and Social Security. After working temporarily at the Attaché's Office of Labour and Social Security of the Consulate General in Mainz in 2012, he was assigned as Expert in Services for Workers Abroad in 2013. Between 2014 and 2018, he worked as Deputy Attaché at the Labour and Social Security Counsellor’s Office of the Embassy in Vienna.

He has been working in the DG of Foreign Relations and European Union since November 2018. As of September 2020, he has been working as Head of Department for Services for Citizens Abroad.

Mahmut Musa Karabulutlu has good command of German. He is married with two children.

He was born in Istanbul in 1984. After completing his primary, secondary and high school education in Istanbul, he graduated with honours from the Middle East Technical University Department of International Relations in 2007.

After successfully completing the competitive examination in 2010, he began working as an Assistant Specialist in Foreign Worker Services (YİH) at the Ministry of Labour and Social Security. He was promoted to the position of YİH Expert in 2013.

He worked as Labour and Social Security Attaché at the Embassy in The Hague between 2016 and 2020. Following the end of his tenure as Attaché in November 2020, he started working at the Directorate General of Foreign Relations and European Union and was appointed as the Acting Head of the Department for International Organizations in June 2025.

During his career, he has represented our country and the Ministry at various international meetings in multilateral platforms such as the Council of Europe (CoE), the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the G20. In 2012, he played an active role in the preparatory work and organisation of the Council of Europe Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Social Cohesion, hosted by the Republic of Türkiye. In 2013, he took up a temporary position at the Council of Europe's Social Charter Division in Strasbourg. In 2015, he played an active role in the organisation and content of the Employment Working Group meetings and the G20 Labour and Employment Ministers' Meeting held under Türkiye's G20 Presidency. He pioneered the establishment of the Interministerial Contact Group between the Turkish and Dutch authorities and has participated in all Contact Group meetings held to date. He has also been participating in the Wittenburg Conferences between Türkiye and the Netherlands since 2019.

Medeni Can Akın has an excellent command of English and an intermediate level of Spanish. He is married and has one child.

Born in 1974 in Mardin, Mehmet Emin Esen completed his undergraduate education and his master's degree in 2002 at Erciyes University Faculty of Theology. He is at the thesis stage of his PhD in Political Science and International Relations at Istanbul Gelisim University.

Esen started his professional life in Gaziantep and worked as a teacher, assistant school principal and school principal in Mardin. In 2013, he was elected as Deputy President of Memur-Sen. In 2022, he was elected as the Secretary General of the ILC (International Labour Confederation) established in Istanbul. On June 02, 2023, he was appointed as the Head of Department at the Ministry of Labour and Social Security.

Esen speaks English and Arabic, is married and has three children.

Born in 1975 in Denizli, he graduated from Ankara University, Department of Electronic Communication and Communication. He started his career as Fair Manager at ANFA Altınpark Enterprises. He continued his career as Parks Manager.

In 2013, he assumed the position of Ankara Metropolitan Municipality Publicity Department. In 2017, he started to work in Ankara Metropolitan Municipality Occupational Health and Safety Branch Directorate. In 2016, he assumed the position of Deputy President of the Turkish Automobile Sports Federation and until 2019, he has achieved important achievements on behalf of our country.

Since 2023, he has been working at the Ministry of Labour and Social Security. He worked as the Head of Legislation Department in the General Directorate of Occupational Health and Safety. He is currently working as the Head of Department in the General Directorate of Foreign Relations and European Union.

TEZCAN, who has experience in NGOs, is married and has three children.

Born in 1976 in Rize, he completed his primary, secondary and high school (Imam Hatip High School) education in Rize. He graduated from Gazi University Faculty of Economics and Business Administration and Anadolu University Business Administration departments.  He completed his master's degree in Local Administrations and Local Governments at Istanbul University. He is currently continuing his doctoral studies on Public Administration at Hacı Bayram Veli University.

Mr. OĞUZ started his career in the public sector in Rize in 2001, worked as Project Coordinator of the Eastern Black Sea Development Agency (DOKA), Project Director of the World Bank, Director of the Union for Providing Services to Villages, Director of Youth and Sports, Director of Special Administration.

After the year of 2014; he worked as the Advisor to the Minister at the Ministry of Labour and Social Security. As part of his career in Directorate General of Foreign Relations, he worked as the Head of Protocol Department, Head of Citizenship Services Department and Head of Department at the EU Financial Assistance Department.

In 2021, he worked as the Head of Research and Development Department in the Directorate General of Martyrs and Veterans in the Ministry of Family and Social Services,

In 2023, he worked as a Labour Expert at the General Directorate of Occupational Health and Safety.

Currently, he works as the Head of Management Services Department in the Directorate General of Foreign Relations and European Union.

Mr. OĞUZ, who also has senior executive experience in CSOs and the private sector, is married and has three children.

Born in 1982 in Erzurum, he completed his primary and secondary education in Malatya and high school in Izmir. He graduated from Anadolu University, Department of Public Administration in 2006. He holds a master's degree in International Relations from Ufuk University.

During his 20 years of public service, he held lower and middle management positions in the Ministries of Interior and Foreign Affairs. Between 2015 and 2022, he served as Head of Department at the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, Department of European Union and Financial Assistance. During his tenure, he worked on the EU negotiation process and the management of funds under Component IV of the EU Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance.

As of March 2024, he has been working as the Head of Contract Management Department in the General Directorate of Foreign Relations and European Union.

Uğur GÜNEŞ, who speaks English fluently, is married and has one child.

He was born in Sakarya in 1987. He completed his primary, secondary and high school education successively in Sakarya, Edirne, Kars and Ankara. In 2010, he completed his undergraduate education at the Department of Food Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Middle East Technical University (METU). Between 2010 and 2012, he studied in the Engineering Management Master's Programme at the Department of Industrial Engineering at Istanbul Technical University (ITU). In 2014, he completed the Business Administration Master's Programme at the Department of Business Administration at Atılım University.

He began his professional career in 2010 as a Food Engineer in the private sector. Between 2012 and 2015, he worked as an Assistant Specialist at Halk Bank; as a Finance Specialist at the Central Finance and Procurement Unit of the Prime Ministry Undersecretariat for Treasury; and as an Assistant Tax Inspector at the Tax Audit Board of the Ministry of Finance.

He began his career at the Ministry of Labour and Social Security in 2015 as an Assistant Specialist for Overseas Worker Services at the Agreements Department of the Directorate General for Foreign Relations and Overseas Worker Services (YİH). In June 2025, he was appointed as Acting Head of the Agreements Department at the Directorate General of Foreign Relations and European Union.

Uğur Emre BEKTAŞ, who has proficiency in English, is married and has one child.