Conversations with Turkey's Career Pioneers - Sönmez Köksal

CONVERSATIONS WITH TURKEY'S CAREER PIONEERS - SÖNMEZ KÖKSAL

This week’s guest on our Career Pioneers Talk was former National intelligence Organization Undersecretary and retired ambassador Mr. Sönmez Köksal. Mr. Köksal, who started his talk by telling his life story, said that when he finished primary school he knew he wanted to be a diplomat and that he planned his career accordingly. After graduating from Izmir Saint Joseph High School and Ankara University, Faculty of Political Science, he started working at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs following the training he received on the foundations of the European Union. In the following years, he served as Secretary of the Turkish delegation to the UN in Geneva, Consul General in Bulgaria, Counselor at the Turkish Embassy in Paris, Director of the Policy Planning Department, and Director of the Middle East and Africa Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The vision he gained during these years, his knowledge on customs tariff negotiations, and his refusal of ambassadorship at the age of 40, foreseeing the coup, lead to his appointments as Deputy Permanent Delegate to the European Economic Community, Deputy Director General in charge of Multilateral Economic Relations, and ambassador to Baghdad. During his assignment in Baghdad, when his predictions on Saddam’s invasion of Kuwait stated in his telegraph to Ankara came true in 6-7 months time, he was appointed as National Intelligence Organization Undersecretary in 1992. After completing his four-year assignment as Ambassador to Paris, he requested early retirement.

In the question and answer part of his talk, he talked about the rise of the extreme-right in Europe, Turkey’s European Union accession negotiations, Russia’s imperialistic attitude, and the changing conditions in Turkey. He advised our students to know at least one language extremely well, further their knowledge by reading and learning, and experience the pleasure of public service. Mr. Köksal, who ended his speech with a message from his wife Filiz Akın, a member of our Board of Trustees, later attended a program on Radio TEDU.