The Turkish Foreign Ministry on Saturday extended condolences on the death of the former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan. The former U.N. chief passed away at the age of 80 on Saturday.

The ministry in a statement said Kofi Annan was a distinguished diplomat, who contributed a lot to world peace and received Nobel Peace Prize. He was also commemorated for his strong effort and plan during his time in 2014 on the Cyprus issue.

Known as the "Annan Plan," it was voted in a referendum in both the Turkish and Greek Cypriot sides in 2004. Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus side voted "yes" for the plan; however, the majority of the Greek Cypriot administration voted "no" and the plan could not come into force.

"We extend our condolences to Kofi Annan's family, relatives and our friendly people of Ghana," it said.

Annan was born in the city of Kumasi in Ghana in 1938 and pursued his education in the U.S. and Switzerland. He served as UN secretary-general from 1996 to 2007, the first black person to hold that post and also received a Nobel Peace Prize in 2001. He left his position on Jan. 1, 2007 to South Korean Ban Ki-moon. He served as U.N.-Arab League Joint Special Representative for Syria in 2012. However, he resigned from the post after the conflict escalated in the country. Annan was also the chair of a commission to investigate the Rohingya issue in Myanmar.