Dr. Danilo Türk obtained his law degree in 1975 at University of Ljubljana, Slovernia and in 1978 he obtained his master degree in law from Belgrade University. In 1982, he obtained his doctorate from the Faculty of Law in Ljubljana.
He taught at the Faculty of Law in Ljubljana since 1982 and became tenured professor of internaitonal law (1995). From 1984 to 1992 he was member of the United Nationas Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities as an independent expert and acted in his personal capacity.
In 1978 Dr. Türk initiated and participated in the establishent of the Human Rights Council in Slovenia. In July and August 1991 he informally represented the still unrecognized Slovenia in Geneva in contacts with representatives of the UN, the CSCE and Council of Europe. From Septmber 1991 to August 1992 he was a member of the Slovene delegation at the Conference on Yugoslavia.
In September 1992 Dr. Türk assumed the position of Ambassador of the Republic of Slovenia to the United Nations. During his term as the representative of Slovenia on the Security Council from 1998 to 1999 he dealt with the issue of Kosovo, Iraq, Libya, East Timor, Congo among others.
Following the successful conclusion of Slovina’s term as non-permanent member of the Security Council, Dr. Türk was appointed as UN Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs. For more than five years his tasks included analytical and consulting activity relating to the crisis situation of the time, such as the Balkans (in particular Kosovo and Macedonia), Palestine, Lebanon, Afghannistan, Iraq, Myanmar, North Korea, East Timor, Columbia, Haiti, Venezuela and others.
After 13 years in New York Dr. Türk returned to Slovenia in the summer of 2005. He resumed teaching International Law and related subjects at the Faculty of Law in Ljubljana. Since May 2006 he has served as Vice-Dean of te Faculty of Law. He was elected Presidents of the Republic of Slovinia on 11 November 2007. His term of office ended on 22 December 2012.
Dr. Danilo Türk is married and has one daughter.