10 August 2010 / TODAY’S ZAMAN, İSTANBUL
Former Turkish envoy to Israel Ahmet Oğuz Çelikkol, who has survived several crises between Turkey and the Israeli state, has been appointed Turkey’s ambassador to Thailand, while many other diplomats were dispatched to serve in various African nations.
A decree summoning Çelikkol to Ankara was published in the Official Gazette and thus went into force only days before Israel’s attack on civilians in a flotilla carrying aid to the Gaza Strip. According to the same decree, Çelikkol will be replaced as ambassador to Israel by Kerim Uras, a young diplomat with expertise on Cyprus. Çelikkol was immediately recalled to Ankara in early June for consultations after the flotilla incident took place on May 31.
Çelikkol became well known by the Turkish public following an incident with Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon in January of this year. Ayalon summoned Çelikkol for meeting, but had him sit on a much lower chair and refused to shake his hand. Ayalon later apologized for the flagrant insult.
