Ambassador Ahmet Üzümcü,
Senior Advisor, Council on Strategic Risks

Ambassador Ahmet Üzümcü is a Senior Advisor with the Council on Strategic Risks. He assumed office as Director-General of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague, on 25 July 2010. He is a career diplomat with vast experience in multilateral diplomacy.

Prior to his appointment as OPCW Director-General, Ambassador Üzümcü served as the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Turkey to the United Nations Office in Geneva from 2006 to 2010. In an earlier assignment, he was the Permanent Representative of Turkey to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Council in Brussels, from 2002 to 2004. Ambassador Üzümcü also held the post of Ambassador of Turkey to Israel, from 1999 to 2002. In the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Ankara, Ambassador Üzümcü has served, inter alia, as Deputy Under-Secretary of State for Bilateral Political Affairs in charge of Russia, Central Asia, Caucasus, the Middle East, Asia and Africa, from 2004 to 2006 and as Head of the Personnel Department from 1996 to 1999.

From 1989 to 1994, Ahmet Üzümcü served in an international capacity as Staff member in NATO’s Political Directorate. During this posting he contributed to NATO’s initiatives in the aftermath of the Cold War, such as the Partnership for Peace (PfP). In this capacity he travelled extensively to Eastern European countries and former Soviet Republics. Ambassador Üzümcü received the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the OPCW in December 2013. In December 2015, H.E. Mr Laurent Fabius, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development of France, decorated Ambassador Üzümcü with the Légion d’honneur (rank of officer). Ambassador Üzümcü is fluent in English and French and a native speaker of Turkish. He is married and has one daughter.