Born in Rize, he completed his primary, secondary, and high school education in his hometown. He subsequently pursued his undergraduate studies at the Istanbul Technical University Maritime Faculty (formerly known as the Yüksek Denizcilik Okulu – YDO).
Early in his maritime career, he served aboard vessels operated by DB Deniz Nakliyat. He then discharged his National Service as a Reserve Officer at the General Staff Headquarters, where he rendered his services as an English interpreter.
Following his military service, he embarked on a career in commercial shipping by serving on passenger vessels of the Turkish Maritime Lines (Denizyolları İşletmesi), holding the positions of Deck Officer and Second Captain. Thereafter, he commenced his long-standing career as a harbour pilot within Turkish Maritime Enterprises. His seafaring expertise has been applied in the Istanbul and Çanakkale Straits as well as at the Port of Istanbul, where he now holds the post of Chief Harbour Pilot under the auspices of the Directorate General of Coastal Safety.
In addition to his maritime vocation, he is accredited as an English-speaking national tourist guide. Leveraging this qualification together with his extensive knowledge and practical experience of the Bosphorus and surrounding straits, he has had the distinct honour of guiding special Bosphorus cruises for foreign ministers and heads of state.
Since the 2016–2017 academic year, he has been imparting technical maritime instruction and Maritime English at the Faculty of Water Sciences, Istanbul University, in his capacity as a certified Maritime Educator. Furthermore, he lectures on Maritime Law at both the Faculty of Ship Construction and Marine Engineering and the Faculty of Marine Machinery Operation Engineering at Yıldız Technical University.
Between 1997 and 1999, he served on the Turkish Delegation during the Turkish Straits negotiations at the International Maritime Organisation (IMO). From 1998 to 2004, he held the office of General Secretary of the Turkish Harbour Pilots Association, and between 2006 and 2008, he was elected President of the same Association.
At the 2002 general assembly in Germany, he was elected Deputy President of the International Association of Harbour Pilots. He was re-elected to this prominent post for a second term in 2006 in Cuba and for a third term in 2010 in Australia.
Since 1997, he has actively participated in numerous significant meetings—including those of the IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee, the Sub-Committee on Navigational Safety, and the Assembly—serving as a member of the Turkish delegation. In these capacities, he has represented the Turkish Harbour Pilots Association, the International Association of Harbour Pilots (IMPA), and, in his role as President, the Maritime Safety Association (DEDER).
Since 2015, he has assumed the role of race commodore responsible for surface water safety at the Bosphorus Intercontinental Swimming Championships organised by the Turkish National Olympic Committee. In addition, he served as race commodore for swimming competitions arranged by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality on the Kınalıada–Maltepe leg and in the environs of Kınalıada in 2018 and 2019, and he was accepted as a member of that organisation in 2019.
He maintains memberships in several professional bodies and non-governmental organisations—notably the Turkish National Olympic Committee—and currently presides over the Maritime Safety Association (DEDER).
A pioneer in maritime online publishing, he was among the first to contribute to the inception of the Turkish Harbour Pilots Association’s website in 1998, thereby setting the trend for internet-based dissemination of maritime news in Turkey and internationally. In 2002, with a view to further expanding comprehensive maritime news reportage, he established his own maritime news website.
His written work has been featured in numerous national and international books, periodicals, and online platforms. He has also delivered papers on subjects such as the Turkish Straits, maritime risk and its management, and the prevention of marine pollution at a multitude of national and international seminars, symposiums, and panel discussions.
In 2020, he successfully completed his master’s thesis—entitled “The Eastern Mediterranean Issue in Terms of Energy Resources and Maritime Jurisdiction”—at the Department of Maritime Transportation Engineering, Institute of Natural Sciences, Istanbul Technical University; this thesis forms the foundational basis of the present book. In the same year, he authored the volume “The Eastern Mediterranean Issue”, published by Seçkin Publications.
An alumnus of the Faculty of Law at Maltepe University, he is presently pursuing doctoral studies in Private Law at the Institute of Social Sciences, Maltepe University. In parallel with his academic pursuits, he currently serves as a consultant lawyer at a prominent law firm. He is proficient in both English and French, and on a personal note, he is married with two children.
