Turkey appoints ambassadors to Croatia, Sudan

ANKARA

The Turkish Foreign Ministry appointed new ambassadors to Croatia and Sudan on Aug. 30, state-run Anadolu Agency has reported.

The appointments were issued in the Official Gazette on Aug. 31.  

Mustafa Babür Hızlan, who was on duty as the bilateral relations general manager of the Foreign Ministry, was appointed as ambassador to Croatia’s Zagreb.

Moreover, İrfan Veziroğlu, who was on duty as the undersecretary of the Turkish parliament’s spokesperson, was appointed as ambassador to Sudan’s Khartoum.

On July 26, Merve Kavakçı was appointed as ambassador to Kuala Lumpur. Kavakçı had previously been banned from parliament in 1999 after joining an oath ceremony wearing a headscarf following her election as a lawmaker from the now defunct Virtue Party (FP).

Kavakçı was denaturalized from her citizenship when it was revealed that she acquired U.S. citizenship without permission before she ran for elections. 

Her citizenship was recently given back to her after a decision from the Council of Ministers, which was published in the Official Gazette on July 3.

Formerly a lawmaker from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), Murat Mercan was appointed as Turkey’s ambassador to Tokyo. Mercan was among the founding members of the AKP, and served as a term president at the parliament’s foreign affairs commission and as deputy minister of energy and natural resources.