Leigh Turner | |
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British Ambassador to Austria | |
In office 2016–2021 | |
Monarch | Elizabeth II |
Prime Minister | Theresa May Boris Johnson |
Preceded by | Susan le Jeune d'Allegeershecque |
Succeeded by | Lindsay Skoll |
British Ambassador to Ukraine | |
In office 2008–2012 | |
Monarch | Elizabeth II |
Prime Minister | Gordon Brown David Cameron |
Preceded by | Tim Barrow |
Succeeded by | Simon Smith |
Commissioner of the British Indian Ocean Territory and the British Antarctic Territory | |
In office 2006–2008 | |
Monarch | Elizabeth II |
Prime Minister | Tony Blair Gordon Brown |
Preceded by | Tony Crombie |
Succeeded by | Colin Roberts |
Personal details | |
Born | [1] | 13 March 1958
Nationality | British |
Alma mater | Cambridge University |
Occupation | Writer |
Robert Leigh Turner CMG (born 13 March 1958) is a writer and British former diplomat. His final role was British Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Vienna from August 2016 to September 2021. [2]
From September 2012 to July 2016 Turner was British Consul-General in Istanbul,a post which included responsibility for UK Trade and Investment work in Turkey,South Caucasus,Central Asia and Ukraine. From June 2008 to July 2012 he was British ambassador to Ukraine,resident in Kyiv. From 2006 to 2008 he was Director,Overseas Territories in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office;Commissioner of the British Antarctic Territory;and Commissioner of the British Indian Ocean Territory.
Born in March 1958,he graduated from Downing College,Cambridge in 1979,joining the Civil Service as an administrative trainee the same year. After working in the Departments of Transport and Environment,and the Treasury,he joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1983 and had postings in Austria,Russia,Germany,Ukraine and Turkey before returning to Vienna. [3]
Whilst on unpaid leave,between 2002 and 2006,he wrote travel articles for the Financial Times,The Boston Globe and other newspapers.
Turner was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 2014 New Year Honours for services to British interests in Ukraine and Turkey. [4]
Turner was succeeded as Ambassador to Austria and Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Vienna by Lindsay Skoll in September 2021. He then retired from the Diplomatic Service. [5]
As Ambassador,Turner wrote and published fiction under the name Robert Pimm. Since his retirement he continues to write a blog [6] and has published several novels and a collection of short stories [7] under his own name. His latest book (April 2023) is "The Hitchhiker's Guide to Diplomacy - Wie Diplomatie die Welt erklärt",a diplomatic and life handbook published in German by Czernin Verlag,Vienna.
An ambassador is an official envoy,especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sovereign or appointed for a special and often temporary diplomatic assignment. The word is also used informally for people who are known,without national appointment,to represent certain professions,activities,and fields of endeavor,such as sales.
The Heads of British diplomatic missions are persons appointed as senior diplomats to individual nations,or international organisations. They are usually appointed as ambassadors,except in member countries of the Commonwealth of Nations where a high commissioner is appointed. The head of mission to an international organisation is usually a permanent representative. For some nations a consul or consul-general is appointed.
In the Commonwealth of Nations,a high commissioner is the senior diplomat,generally ranking as an ambassador,in charge of the diplomatic mission of one Commonwealth government to another. Instead of an embassy,the diplomatic mission is generally called a high commission.
Foreign relations exist between Austria and the United Kingdom,and have been positive and friendly since Austrian independence in 1955. Both nations are members of the Council of Europe. The two nations share close economic and technological ties,and cooperate in a variety of fields,particularly when the UK was a member of the European Union and also more recently in condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine. They have also agreed to cooperate on mutual interests over matters involving security in the Balkans,including regarding Kosovo,Albania and Serbia and furthermore to work together on countering subversive Russian activity in the region.
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Susan Jane le Jeune d'Allegeershecque is a British diplomat who,most recently,served as British High Commissioner to Canada from 2017 to 2021. She previously served as British Ambassador to Austria from 2012 to 2016.
Lindsay Skoll CMG is a British diplomat. Since 2021,she has served as the Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Austria and the UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna.