İsmail Erez was born on 28 September 1919, in Bakırköy district of Istanbul.

His parents were graduates of a law school, Hasan Tahsin Erez and Emine Şahande.

[1] İsmail Erez then entered the Foreign Service and worked in several positions within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs including representative positions in the United Nations, World Health Organization and UNESCO.

[1] On Friday 24 October 1975, İsmail Erez was returning from a reception and as his vehicle approached the building of the Turkish Embassy in Paris, a group of 3–4 armed Armenian militants from ASALA ambushed the automobile killing him and his driver Talip Yener.

[2] The death shocked Turkey as they came just two days after the first assassination of a Turkish ambassador to Austria, Daniş Tunalıgil by an Armenian militant organization (both ASALA and JCAG claimed responsibility).