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Leigh Turner

Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna

Part of UK in Ukraine

23rd November 2011

Blogging about blogging about blogging

Back in March I wrote a blog which wasn’t really a blog at all.  Instead, it was a plug for an interview I’d done about blogging, for the Ukrainian weekly “Delo” (an interview, by the way, which includes links to many of my favourite blog entries).  I was pleased to receive some positive comments on that blog, although the FCO’s recent switch to a new, improved blogging platform (“Wordpress”) has unfortunately scrubbed that historic praise.

Inspired by this success, I thought I’d do another quick blog to publicise another interview on blogging published recently on Korrespondent.net.  I know a lot of this stuff will be old hat (great English expression) to a lot of readers, but if you’ve ever wondered why I blog in the first place and what it involves, here’s a chance to find out.

Incidentally I’ve followed with bemusement a massive debate on the excellent Ukrainska Pravda website commenting on the paucity of my comments on the blizzard of comments on that site and raising existential questions about how often a blogger has to comment on comments on his blogging to be a blogger.  This is all too difficult for a humble diplomat; but rest assured I’ll try and keep an eye on comments and comment on them when they seem to require a reply, especially but not only on the FCO platform.

About Leigh Turner

I hope you find this blog interesting and, where appropriate, entertaining. My role in Vienna covers the relationship between Austria and the UK as well as the diverse work of…

I hope you find this blog interesting and, where appropriate, entertaining. My role in Vienna covers the relationship between Austria and the UK as well as the diverse work of the UN and other organisations; stories here will reflect that.

About me: I arrived in Vienna in August 2016 for my second posting in this wonderful city, having first served here in the mid-1980s. My previous job was as HM Consul-General and Director-General for Trade and Investment for Turkey, Central Asia and South Caucasus based in Istanbul.

Further back: I grew up in Nigeria, Exeter, Lesotho, Swaziland and Manchester before attending Cambridge University 1976-79. I worked in several government departments before joining the Foreign Office in 1983.

Keen to go to Africa and South America, I’ve had postings in Vienna (twice), Moscow, Bonn, Berlin, Kyiv and Istanbul, plus jobs in London ranging from the EU Budget to the British Overseas Territories.

2002-6 I was lucky enough to spend four years in Berlin running the house, looking after the children (born 1992 and 1994) and doing some writing and journalism.

To return to Vienna as ambassador is a privilege and a pleasure. I hope this blog reflects that.

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