Turkey appoints Ambassador to Tel Aviv amid major reshuffle

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