This blog post was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

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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 Turkey

7th November 2012

Another British bank in Turkey

This week has brought the exciting news that British bank Standard Chartered is expanding in Turkey.

Standard Chartered has bought the bank Credit Agricole Yatrim Bankasi Turk (“CAYBT”),  a fully-owned subsidiary of Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank.

Announcing the move, the CEO of Standard Chartered for the UK and Europe noted that Turkey was increasingly important to the bank as the country was increasingly a regional centre for the Middle East.

This fits closely with the view of many international businesses, and of the FCO itself, which see Turkey in general and Istanbul in particular as a hub for the wider region. That’s why it’s part of my job to oversee trade and investment work in Central Asia, the South Caucasus and anywhere Turkish companies are active.

Standard Chartered has been around for more than 150 years. With 1,700 offices in 70 markets and around 87,000 staff, they are a worldwide organisation. I look forward to working with them in Turkey.

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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