Valeriu Turcan is a Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

n journalist. Since 2007, he has served as press secretary to President

President of Romania

The President of Romania is the head of state of Romania. The President is directly elected by a two-round system for a five-year term . An individual may serve two terms...

 Traian Băsescu

Traian Basescu

Traian Băsescu is the current President of Romania. After serving as the mayor of Bucharest from June 2000 until December 2004, he was elected president in the Romanian Presidential Elections of 2004 and inaugurated on December 20, 2004...

, as well as being an adviser of his in the Presidency's Communications Department.

He has been married to Raluca Turcan

Raluca Turcan

Raluca Turcan is a Romanian politician. A member of the Democratic Liberal Party , she has been a member of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies for Sibiu County since 2004....

, a member of the Chamber of Deputies

Chamber of Deputies of Romania

The Chamber of Deputies is the lower house in Romania's bicameral parliament. It has 315 seats, to which deputies are elected by direct popular vote on a proportional representation basis to serve four-year terms...

, since 2004. The couple have a son, Eric, born in 2007.

Biography

From 1994 to 1998, he studied at the University of Bucharest

University of Bucharest

The University of Bucharest , in Romania, is a university founded in 1864 by decree of Prince Alexander John Cuza to convert the former Saint Sava Academy into the current University of Bucharest.-Presentation:...

's Journalism and Communication Science Faculty, specialising in journalism. In 2003, he earned an MA

Master of Arts (postgraduate)

A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...

 in International Communications from the University of Leeds

University of Leeds

The University of Leeds is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England...

. Since 2007, he has been associate lecturer at his alma mater.

From 1996 to 1999, he was political editor and reporter for Radio Contact

Kiss FM (Romania)

Kiss FM is a Top40/Hit Radio station from Romania, owned by ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG. The station was rebranded from the old Radio Contact, after being purchased by a Belgian radio network...

. From 1999 to 2002, working in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, he was a producer for the Romanian-language

Romanian language

Romanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova...

 edition of BBC World Service

BBC World Service

The BBC World Service is the world's largest international broadcaster, broadcasting in 27 languages to many parts of the world via analogue and digital shortwave, internet streaming and podcasting, satellite, FM and MW relays...

. From 2003 to 2005 he was a political consultant for local and parliamentary elections in Romania, as well as a public relations consultant; one of his clients was the politician Cristian Boureanu

Cristian Boureanu

Cristian Alexandru Boureanu is a Romanian businessman and politician. A member of the Democratic Liberal Party , he has been a member of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies for Argeş County since 2004....

. In January 2005 he served as a state counsellor to Prime Minister

Prime Minister of Romania

The Prime Minister of Romania is the head of the Government of Romania. Initially, the office was styled President of the Council of Ministers , when the term "Government" included more than the Cabinet, and the Cabinet was called The Council of Ministers...

 Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu

Calin Popescu-Tariceanu

Călin Constantin Anton Popescu-Tăriceanu is a Romanian politician. He was the Prime Minister of Romania between 29 December 2004 and 22 December 2008...

, and from that month until Tăriceanu fired him in March 2006 when his wife came into conflict with the National Liberal Party

National Liberal Party (Romania)

The National Liberal Party , abbreviated to PNL, is a centre-right liberal party in Romania. It is the third-largest party in the Romanian Parliament, with 53 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 22 in the Senate: behind the centre-right Democratic Liberal Party and the centre-left Social...

 leadership, he was president of the Agency for Government Strategies. From that October until March 2007, he was consultant on communications projects. In April, following the resignation of Adriana Săftoiu

Adriana Săftoiu

Ana Adriana Săftoiu is a Romanian journalist and politician. A member of the National Liberal Party , she was a member of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies for Bucharest in December 2004, and has represented Prahova County in the Chamber since 2008...

, he became press secretary to Băsescu, remaining his spokesman when Băsescu was shortly thereafter suspended from office

Romanian presidential impeachment referendum, 2007

The Romanian presidential impeachment referendum of 2007 was conducted in order to determine whether the president of Romania Traian Băsescu should be forced to step down.On April 19, 2007 the Romanian parliament suspended Băsescu...

, and retaining the position ever since.