Şensoy, who is due to retire in 2010 due to age limitations, resigned from his former job after a protocol dispute with Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu during Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s White House talks with US President Barack Obama on Dec. 7. Media reports said Davutoğlu was asked to leave the meeting room by US officials after Obama announced it was time for one-on-one talks with Erdoğan because Turkish Embassy officials had not informed the US side that Erdoğan wanted Davutoğlu take part in the talks. When asked by Davutoğlu why US officials were not informed of the Turkish request, Şensoy said he was responsible, according to reports.
A formal decision to appoint Şensoy to his new post at the Foreign Ministry was published in the Official Gazette yesterday. Ambassador Namık Tan, currently serving as deputy undersecretary, is now expected to be appointed Turkey’s new envoy to the US.
Tahsin Burcuoğlu, secretary-general of the National Security Council (MGK), was appointed the new Turkish ambassador to France, according to another announcement published in the Official Gazette.
Meanwhile, Ambassador Mehmet Kenan Tepedelen, an advisor to the ministry, has been appointed to Ghana, and the Turkish ambassador to Uzbekistan, Mehmet Kemal Asya, has returned to the Foreign Ministry.
