Ismail Cem; Turkish official worked for ties with Greece

ANKARA, Turkey -- Ismail Cem, a former foreign minister of Turkey who together with his Greek counterpart fostered the thawing relations between the two archrivals, died of lung cancer yesterday, an Istanbul hospital and his family said. He was 67.

Mr. Cem served as foreign minister under three successive governments between 1997 and 2003, becoming one of the longest-serving Turkish foreign ministers in recent years. He considered Greece's former foreign minister George Papandreou a friend, and his greatest achievement was forging close ties with Greece.

The thaw had followed a mutual outpouring of aid and sympathy in the wake of deadly earthquakes that struck both countries in 1999.

"Ismail was a man with whom I shared a vision," said Papandreou, who is now leader of Greece's main opposition Socialist party. "We worked hard together for this vision of peace."

Mr. Cem was born Ismail Cem Ipekci, but dropped his last name in the 1970s to distance himself from a relative, Abdi Ipekci, who was editor of the newspaper Milliyet, and to avoid accusations of favoritism. Ipekci was shot and killed in 1979 by Mehmet Ali Agca, the Turk who attempted to assassinate Pope John Paul II.

Mr. Cem began his career as a journalist, penning a column that caught the eye of Bulent Ecevit, the prime minister, who appointed him director of state-run radio and television. At 34, he was the youngest person to hold the post.

His brief spell as culture minister in 1995 ended before he could achieve his dream of organizing a mass pop concert to benefit survivors of the Bosnian conflict. He was elected to Parliament in 1995 and reelected four years later.

He also wrote books on leftist ideology.