Biographical Note

New Permanent Observer for Organization of Islamic Conference

 

Presents Appointment Letter

 

(Based on information provided by the Protocol and Liaison Service.)

The new Permanent Observer for the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) to the United Nations, Ufuk Gokcen, presented his letter of appointment today to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Prior to his appointment, Mr. Gokcen, a Turkish national, was the Political Adviser to the OIC Secretary-General in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, since 2005.  From 2001 to 2005, he was First Secretary/Counsellor and Deputy Head of his country’s Embassy in Syria.

Between 1999 and 2001, Mr. Gokcen was Second Secretary/First Secretary and Desk Officer responsible for Iraq and Northern Iraq, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Ankara.  He served as Second Secretary and Deputy Head of Mission at Turkey’s Embassy in Oman from 1997 to 1999.

In his first overseas posting, Mr. Gokcen served as Third Secretary and Political Officer at the Turkish Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, between 1994 and 1997, having joined the Foreign Affairs Ministry in 1992.  He was a probationary career diplomat in the non-European Union Countries Section of the European Department until 1994.

Mr. Gokcen is a member of the Foreign Service Academy in the Turkish capital, and earned a bachelor’s degree in international affairs from Ankara University in 1988.

Born in Istanbul in 1966, he is married and has one child.

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For information media • not an official record