Leigh Turner
Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna
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UK in Austria
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19th December 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
It’s a delicate business judging how much personal stuff to put in a blog. In the past I’ve written official blogs with a rich mix of personal and work entries. Then Twitter came along and much personal material, such as my famous series #reasonstolikeIstanbul, was swept away into the Twitterverse. I’ve so far tweeted out […]
Read more on Festive 50: From “Every Little Bit Hurts" To "Stay With Me" | Reply
16th December 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
I recently had the honour to speak on a panel at a Financial Times Conference on International Financial Centres in Istanbul. The conference included an interesting presentation by Turkey’s Investment Support and Promotion Agency (ISPAT) on Turkey’s powerful economic fundamentals and the potential benefits for foreign businesses in investing here. British companies have been paying […]
Read more on How to get (even) more investment in Turkey | Reply
2nd December 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
I wrote a blog last year called “Why Turkey can be confident”. The point of that blog was to say that, given that Turkey was a large country with a trillion-dollar economy playing an influential role in world affairs, I couldn’t understand why some people argued that events inside Turkey were determined to a large […]
Read more on Turkey, the EU and NATO | Reply
10th October 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Back in February 2013 I wrote a blog called “How bad is corruption in Turkey?” It noted that in the latest Transparency International Corruption Index, published in December 2012, Turkey had improved its ranking by 7 places to 54th place, putting it ahead of some EU countries. In December 2013, Transparency International produced its latest […]
Read more on How bad is corruption in Turkey? (Part 2) | Reply
19th September 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
I don’t usually write blogs recommending that you immediately click on a link to go somewhere else. But my recent visit to the new British Visa Application Centre in Istanbul leads me to commend to you the blog written earlier this year by Richard Moore, the British Ambassador in Ankara. Richard’s blog is an excellent read, highlighting […]
Read more on The British Visa Application Centre in Istanbul – and Ankara – and five other places in Turkey | Reply (10)
28th August 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
I recently wrote about our quest to find the most brilliant Turkish entrepreneurs and invite them to visit London – at our expense. It’s an incredible offer. Round-trip tickets. Paid accommodation and meals. Guided tours. Visits to venture capitalists. To be honest, we copied it from our colleagues in the British Consulate-General in New York, who have […]
Read more on Fantastic prizes – fully-paid trips to London for entrepreneurs | Reply
17th July 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Did you know that UK Export Finance (UKEF) can help you finance imports from the United Kingdom? And that they have their own resident expert, Sinan Ozcan, right here in Turkey, responsible for project business development? UK Export Finance is the UK’s export credit agency. It works closely with overseas buyers to help them finance […]
Read more on How to finance imports from Britain to Turkey | Reply
14th July 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
The sculptures are exquisite. Graceful birds and pouncing animals reminiscent of ancient Egypt are carved onto Stonehenge-sized stone monoliths. But this artwork dates from 6,000 years before the pyramids – or Stonehenge. Welcome to Göbekli Tepe, a Neolithic site about 15 km from Şanlıurfa in south-eastern Turkey. I’ve blogged before about the astonishing history and archaeology […]
Read more on Turkey: Cradle of Civilisation(s) | Reply (3)
3rd July 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
This blog is about a competition for Turkish entrepreneurs with fantastic prizes of five fully-paid trips to London’s Tech City and more. Turkey and the UK are full of exciting, innovative companies. We in the UK believe passionately that the exchange of ideas and trade creates stability, prosperity and well-being. That’s why we strive to […]
Read more on We’re looking for the most creative entrepreneurs in Turkey | Reply
23rd June 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Between 23 and 29 June, Istanbul will be once again be the location for the biggest gay pride festival in the region. Last year more than 100,000 people were reported as participating. The European Commission’s progress report in October 2013 commended the fact that Gay Pride marches in recent years had gone ahead in Turkey without […]
Read more on Gay Pride in Istanbul: Why it matters | Reply