He was a Foreign Minister, and an ambassador to the UN Office in Vienna, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia.

From 1998 to 2000 he served as the Permanent Representative of Turkey to the United Nations Office and other international organizations based in Vienna.

In August 2001, Yakış became the founding member and Vice Chairman in charge of Foreign Affairs of the Justice and Development Party (AKP).

He became the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the 58th government of Turkey led by Abdullah Gül until the AKP party leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was elected to Parliament and became Prime Minister in March 2003.

Reelected as a Member of Parliament in the 2007 general election, he served as the Chairman of the European Union Commission and the Chairman of the Friendship Group with France in the Turkish Parliament before standing down as an MP at the 2011 general election.