No: 102, 2 April 2014

The Permanent Council of the OSCE has reached consensus on establishing an OSCE Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, in view of the developments in the country. In this context, the deployment of observers from various OSCE countries has already begun in Ukraine.

Retired Ambassador Ertugrul Apakan, an experienced and distinguished diplomat and former Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey has been appointed as the Head of the Special Monitoring Mission as of 2 April 2014. Candidates from Switzerland and the UK will be assigned as deputies to Ambassador Apakan.

During his tenure as the Permanent Representative of Turkey to the United Nations between 2009-2012, Ambassador Apakan has effectively represented Turkey at the UN Security Council on the occasion of Turkey’s non-permanent membership. In this capacity, he also played a leading role in preventive diplomacy, reconciliation and peace initiatives on UN’s agenda.

Turkey will also deploy observers in the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine which has been established for an initial period of six months.