Danilo Türk

Danilo Türk (IPA: [tyrk], born 19 February 1952) is a Slovene lawyer and diplomat. He served as the first Slovene United Nations Abassador between 1992 and 2000, and was subsequently UN Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs (2000-2005). Among other things, he has adressed the Security Council on Israeli-Palestinian issues.

He was born in Maribor, where he spent his youth. His mother was a seamstress, his father a high school teacher. He is currently employed as a professor of international law and dean of student affairs at the Legal Faculty of the University of Ljubljana.

In June 2007 he filed as a candidate in the October 2007 Slovene presidential election. He is backed by Social Democrats, Zares and DeSUS and also by the non-parliamentary Christian Socialists and Democrats. In the first round of the presidential elections, held on 21 October 2007, he placed second with 24.54% of the vote, which brought him into the run-off against Lojze Peterle, who received 28.50%. The run-off will take place on 11 November 2007.

External links

• Biography
• Presidential campaign site