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Leigh Turner

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

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23rd February 2016

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by Leigh Turner

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

#AdiosIstanbul 2: my favourite walk (and pictures)

I wrote recently that as my departure from the fabulous city of Istanbul loomed, I would be writing blogs about my favourite places and activities under the heading #AdiosIstanbul. One of my favourite activities in Istanbul is walking.  I have wandered all over the European side, taking in places from Zeytinburnu and Kumkapı to Okmeydanı […]

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16th February 2016

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by Leigh Turner

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

Yeni Şafak and Yeni Akit: freedom of expression matters

I was pleased on 16 February to visit the editorial offices of Yeni Şafak with a number of EU Consuls-General.     We went to Yeni Şafak on a “geçmiş olsun” visit after last week’s attacks on Yeni Şafak and Yeni Akit.  This followed similar visits to Hurriyet and Sabah after attacks in 2015.  The UK […]

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15th February 2016

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by Leigh Turner

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

How Turkish whizz-kids can scale-up fast

A young Turkish entrepreneur enters a hotel meeting room.  She comes face-to-face with some of Turkey’s top business gurus. ‘OK,’ says the chair, ‘you have five minutes to convince us.’ Five minutes later, after the young whizz-kid has set out her plans for growing her business by establishing a foothold in the UK, the assembled […]

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12th February 2016

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by Leigh Turner

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

#RegisterToVote

A guest blog by HM Consul Timothy Fisher, British Consulate-General Istanbul 100 years ago my great grandmother was protesting on the streets of London with other Suffragettes campaigning for the right for women to vote in Britain. It was a time when the right to vote was a hot political topic.  A century later, voting remains as […]

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9th February 2016

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by Leigh Turner

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

#AdiosIstanbul

How many reasons are there to like Istanbul? Since I arrived in Istanbul in August 2012 I have featured over 500 #reasonstolikeistanbul on my @leighturnerFCO twitter account.  The response has been mostly enthusiastic. That’s not surprising.  Istanbul is a spectacular city, with an epic past, a potential-packed present and, I hope, a brilliant future. But all […]

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4th February 2016

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by Leigh Turner

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

Conspiracy theories: “Of, ya!”

It may be time for me to shut up about conspiracy theories. I’ve written often on this subject, including: James Bond, conspiracies and the Welsh Secret Service (how, on conspiracy theory logic, the lack of any evidence for the WSS existing must make it utterly all-powerful) The perils of conspiracy theories (with bonus video of […]

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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 the UN and ...

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.