Five months after the announcement of his posting to London, Turkiye’s new ambassador to the United Kingdom has finally arrived.
Ambassador Osman Koray Ertaş visited the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), where he formally presented his credentials confirming his appointment.
Among the first activities for Turkiye’s new top diplomat in Britain was to visit Brookwood Cemetery in Woking, Surrey, where he paid his respects to the fallen Turkish soldiers.
The cemetery contains an area with the graves of 14 young Turkish airmen, who were tragically killed during the Second World War while training with the RAF.
Who is the new ambassador?
Ambassador Osman Koray Ertaş is a career diplomat whose work has taken him to Washington and Bucharest, but some of his formative years as a post-graduate student were spent here in Britain.
Born in in 1974, Ertaş is a native of İskenderun — an historic port city in Hatay province, southeast Turkiye.
Ertaş studied International Relations at Ankara University, graduating in 1996, and from there went on to gain his master’s degree in European Studies at the University of Sussex.
He is currently working towards his doctorate in Conflict Analysis and Resolutions at George Mason University by examining the experiences of the Muslim Turkish minority in Bulgaria.
Ertaş joined the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1997, where he has held various positions.
During Abdullah Gül’s tenure as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ertaş became the Deputy Chief of Staff (2005-2007). When Gül became President of Turkiye, Ertaş moved with him and was appointed Deputy Director of the Presidential Office (2007-2008).
Ertaş was posted to the United States, where he served as Undersecretary of Turkiye’s Washington Embassy between 2008 and 2011.
On his return to Ankara, he became the Deputy Director General of Information at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He then became a member of the Foreign Policy Advisory Board in 2012, and served as the Chief of Staff of the President, with the title of Ambassador, between 2011 and 2014.
From October 2014 to December 2018, Ambassador Ertaş headed up Republic of Turkiye’s Bucharest Embassy.
In 2019, he became a special adviser to the Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu.
His appointment to London was announced on 6 October 2022.
Ambassador Ertaş is a married father of three.
