Yavuz Mildon

President of the Congress of the Council of Europe
Leader of the Turkish delegation to the Congress
Member of the Provincial Council of Canakkle

Having graduated in economics from the University of Istanbul, Yavuz Mildon specialised in the food-processing sector. He runs the Mildon Fish and Shellfish Company in Gelibolu and has been Chairman of the Seafood Export Company since 1980.

He was President of the Gelibolu Chamber of Commerce and Industry from 1988 to 1992 and a member (2000), then Chair (2002), of the Board of the Istanbul Union of Seafood and Meat Exporters.

He was elected to the Provincial Council of Canakkale, on the Dardanelles, in 1994 and began his international career in 1995, when he joined the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities. He was elected Vice-President of the Chamber of Regions in 2000.

In the Congress, he occupied a variety of posts, having been a member of the Standing Committee and acted as rapporteur on several occasions, particularly on regional democracy in Moldova and Albania and for the report on "regional ombudsmen".

Yavuz Mildon was member of several working groups: the ad hoc working group of local and regional representatives of South-East Europe, and the working groups on culture, education and media; social cohesion and economic development of regions; and local and regional information society.

He also represents the Congress in ENTO, and the Association of Turkish Municipalities in its dealings with NALAS.

He was President of the Chamber of Regions of the Congress from 2004 to 2008. He was elected President of the Congress, on 27 May 2008.