Turkey’s former Jerusalem Consul General Ambassador Şakir Torunlar was designated as Turkey’s new Ambassador to Tel-Aviv, amid major reshuffle in ambassadorial posts, the ministry decree revealed. In the photo, Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas awarded Ambassador Torunlar “The Military Order of the Star of Jerusalem” in 2013, “for his role in strengthening Turkey-Palestine relations”.
Turkey is expected to appoint its former Consul General to Jerrusalem, Şakir Torunlar, as the new Tel Aviv Ambassador, amid major reshuffle in ambassadorial posts including London and NATO, the Foreign Ministry decree revealed on Oct. 6.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry stipulated a major reshuffle in ambassadorial posts with a decree issued on Oct. 6.
According to the decree, Şakir Torunlar, was appointed as the new Ambassador to Tel Aviv, a post that has been vacant since 2018 after two countries resumed diplomatic relations.
Torunlar served as Turkey’s Consul General in Jerusalem between 2010 and 2013.
Turkey and Israel have begun work on restoring their mutual diplomatic representation to ambassador level, as Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid meet in Ankara, on June 23.
On Sept. 20, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs Committee had decided to appoint Irit Lillian, Charge d’Affaires of the Ankara Embassy as the Ambassador to Turkey, awaiting the approval of the Council of Ministers.
The appointments will be enacted by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s approval.
Major reshuffle in ambassadorial posts
The Foreign Ministry Decree included a reshuffle in critical ambassador positions such as Athens, London, NATO or Permanent Representative of Turkey to the UN.
Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Önal is expected to be appointed as the Permanent Representative of Turkey to the United Nations, instead of Feridun Sinirlioğlu. Sinirlioğlu was retired and currently listed as Presidential Advisor. It is not yet clear who will replace Sedat Önal’s post as Deputy Foreign Minister.
Another Deputy Minister, Faruk Kaymakçı, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Director for EU Affairs, is expected to be appointed as the Permanent Representative of Turkey to the European Union.
London, Cyprus, Lahey, NATO
The London Ambassador of Turkey is designated as Koray Ertaş, who serves as the special adviser to Foreign Minister and a member of the Foreign Policy Advisory Board. The post was currently carried out by Ambassador Ümit Yalçın who is expected to retire despite his young age.
Çağatay Erciyes, General Manager of Cyprus-Greece, Maritime-Aviation and Border, is expected to replace Ambassador to Athens, Burak Özügergin.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ General Manager for Syria, Selçuk Ünal is appointed as the Ambassador of the Hague.
The Ministry’s General Manager for America, Levent Gümrükçü is appointed as NATO’s permanent representative.
The Ministry’s full list is as following:
Koray Ertaş – London
Ömür Budak – Buenos Aires
Cenk Uraz – Djbouti
Levent Gümrükçü – NATO
Ufuk Gezer – Canberra
Baris Kalkavan – Podgorica
Baris Tantekin – Vilnius
Gülin Dinc – Oslo
Berk Baran – Addis Ababa
Erdeniz Sen – Valletta
Selcuk Ünal – The Hague
Engin Yürer – Luxembourg
Erdem Ozan – Amman
Mustafa Kapucu – Astana
Murat Karagöz – Lisbon
Halil İbrahim Akca – Brazil
Fatih Ak – Kampala
Hicabi Kırlangıç – Tehran
Özgür Kivanc Altan – Bucharest
Mesut Koç – Kotonu
Sedat Önal – UN
Tunç Angılı – Pristina
Alper Yüksel – Kigali
Deniz Erdogan – Abidjan
Esra Demir – Ottawa
Faruk Kaymakci- EU
Nurdan Bayraktar- EU Ambassador
Ufuk Ulutas- Vatican
