Jānis Jurkāns (born 31 August 1946) is a Latvian politician, one of the leaders of the Popular Front of Latvia, who served as foreign minister (1990–1992).

[1] In 1974 Jurkāns graduated from the Latvian State University, majoring in English.

[2] He resigned in 1992 due to opposition to the Latvian citizenship law, that in his view threatened social harmony in the country; he also rejected territorial claims to the Abrene district.

In 2002, he visited Moscow and met Vladimir Putin, who expressed support for Jurkāns's policies.

[5] In 2005 he distanced himself from politics, concentrating on the logistics corporation "Baltijas asociācija – transports un loģistika".