Ambassador of the United States to Cyprus | |
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![]() Seal of the United States Department of State | |
Nominator | The President of the United States |
Appointer | The President with Senate advice and consent |
Inaugural holder | Fraser Wilkins as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary |
Formation | August 27, 1960 |
Website | U.S. Embassy - Nicosia |
This is a list of ambassadors of the United States to Cyprus.
Until 1960 Cyprus had been a colony of the British Empire. On August 16, 1960, Cyprus gained its independence from the United Kingdom. The United States recognized the new nation and established an embassy in Nicosia on August 16, 1960, with L. Douglas Heck as Chargé d'Affaires ad interim. Diplomatic relations between the United States and Cyprus have been continuous since that time.
One ambassador, Rodger P. Davies, was assassinated by a sniper while at his post in 1974.
The United States does not recognize the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, proclaimed November 15, 1983, by Turkey.
The U.S. Embassy in Cyprus is located in Nicosia.
U.S. diplomatic terms |
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Career FSO After 1915, The United States Department of State began classifying ambassadors as career Foreign Service Officers (FSOs) for those who have served in the Foreign Service for a specified amount of time. Political appointee A person who is not a career foreign service officer, but is appointed by the president (often as a reward to political friends). Appointed The date that the ambassador took the oath of office; also known as "commissioning". It follows confirmation of a presidential appointment by the Senate, or a Congressional recess appointment by the president. In the case of a recess appointment, the ambassador requires subsequent confirmation by the Senate to remain in office. Presented credentials The date that the ambassador presented his letter of credence to the head of state or appropriate authority of the receiving nation. At this time the ambassador officially becomes the representative of his country. This would normally occur a short time after the ambassador's arrival on station. The host nation may reject the ambassador by not receiving the ambassador's letter, but this occurs only rarely. Terminated mission Usually the date that the ambassador left the country. In some cases a letter of recall is presented, ending the ambassador's commission, either as a means of diplomatic protest or because the diplomat is being reassigned elsewhere and replaced by another envoy. Chargé d'affaires The person in charge of the business of the embassy when there is no ambassador commissioned to the host country. Ad interim Latin phrase meaning "for the time being", "in the meantime". |
Name | Title | Appointed | Presented credentials | Terminated mission | Notes |
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Fraser Wilkins – Career FSO | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | August 27, 1960 | September 19, 1960 | April 6, 1964 | |
Taylor G. Belcher – Career FSO | May 1, 1964 | May 11, 1964 | June 23, 1969 | ||
David H. Popper – Career FSO | May 27, 1969 | July 18, 1969 | May 31, 1973 | ||
Robert J. McCloskey – Career FSO | May 24, 1973 | June 20, 1973 | January 14, 1974 | ||
Rodger P. Davies – Career FSO | May 2, 1974 | July 10, 1974 | August 19, 1974 | Assassinated. Davies and three others were killed by sniper fire, believed to be perpetrated by gunmen from EOKA B, a Greek Cypriot nationalist paramilitary organization. [1] [2] | |
William R. Crawford, Jr. – Career FSO | August 23, 1974 | August 31, 1974 | March 27, 1978 | ||
Galen L. Stone – Career FSO | March 2, 1978 | April 6, 1978 | September 30, 1981 | ||
Raymond Charles Ewing – Career FSO | September 28, 1981 | October 30, 1981 | August 11, 1984 | ||
Richard Wood Boehm – Career FSO | August 13, 1984 | August 28, 1984 | August 15, 1987 | ||
Bill K. Perrin [3] – Political appointee | April 1, 1988 | May 3, 1988 | July 21, 1989 | The following officers served as chargés d’affaires ad interim: John U. Nix (July 1989–July 1990) and Carolyn Huggins (July 1990–November 1990). | |
Robert E. Lamb – Career FSO | October 30, 1990 | November 30, 1990 | October 24, 1993 | ||
Richard A. Boucher – Career FSO | October 8, 1993 | November 22, 1993 | June 12, 1996 | ||
Kenneth C. Brill – Career FSO | June 11, 1996 | July 11, 1996 | July 25, 1999 | ||
Donald Keith Bandler – Career FSO | July 7, 1999 | August 23, 1999 | July 18, 2002 | ||
Michael Klosson – Career FSO | August 8, 2002 | August 29, 2002 | July 3, 2005 | ||
Ronald L. Schlicher – Career FSO | November 22, 2005 | December 20, 2005 | January 5, 2008 | ||
Frank C. Urbancic Jr. – Career FSO | August 14, 2008 | September 9, 2008 | July 24, 2011 | ||
John M. Koenig – Career FSO | August 2, 2012 | September 12, 2012 | July 26, 2015 [4] | ||
Kathleen A. Doherty - Career FSO | March 24, 2015 [5] [6] | October 7, 2015 [7] | January 31, 2019 | ||
Judith G. Garber – Career FSO | January 10, 2019 | March 18, 2019 [8] | December 22, 2022 | ||
Julie D. Fisher – Career FSO | December 13, 2022 | February 21, 2023 | Incumbent |
Cyprus is a member of the United Nations along with most of its agencies as well as the Commonwealth of Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund and Council of Europe. In addition, the country has signed the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency Agreement (MIGA). Cyprus has been a member of the European Union since 2004 and in the second half of the 2012 it held the Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
Normal diplomatic relations were established between the Republic of Turkey (Türkiye) and the United States of America in 1927. Relations after World War II evolved from the Second Cairo Conference in December 1943 and Turkey's entrance into World War II on the side of the Allies in February 1945. Later that year, Turkey became a charter member of the United Nations. Difficulties faced by Greece after the war in quelling a communist rebellion, along with demands by the Soviet Union for military bases in the Turkish Straits, prompted the United States to declare the Truman Doctrine in 1947. The doctrine declared American intentions to guarantee the security of Turkey and Greece, and resulted in significant U.S. military and economic support. This support manifested in the establishment of a clandestine stay-behind army, denoted the "Counter-Guerrilla", under Operation Gladio. After participating with United Nations forces in the Korean War, Turkey joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1952.
Rodger Paul Davies was an American diplomat born in Berkeley, California, who was killed in the line of duty on August 19, 1974, in Nicosia, Cyprus, by Greek Cypriot gunmen during an anti-American demonstration outside the U.S. Embassy in Nicosia, sparked by the U.S's failure to stop the Turkish intervention in Cyprus.
Northern Cyprus is recognised only by Turkey, a country which facilitates many of its contacts with the international community. After it was occupied by Turkey, Northern Cyprus' relations with the rest of the world were further complicated by a series of United Nations resolutions which declared its independence legally invalid. A 2004 UN Referendum on settling the Cyprus dispute was accepted by the Turkish Cypriots but rejected by the Greek Cypriots. After that, the European Union declared its intentions to assist in reducing the economic isolation of Northern Cyprus and began giving aid to the territory. However, due to pressure from Greece and the Republic of Cyprus, this aid coming from EU funds cannot be used on Greek Cypriot land and property nor on public bodies. As a result, these funds can be used only on 29 percent of people on the island of Cyprus.
Relations between Cyprus and the United States can be described as excellent, both sharing membership in the United Nations, International Monetary Fund, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the World Bank and the World Trade Organization. Cyprus has been an observer to the Organization of American States.
John Rodney Bass II is an American diplomat, who has served as the Under Secretary of State for Management since December 2021. He was the United States Ambassador to Afghanistan from 2017 to 2020, the United States Ambassador to Turkey from 2014 to 2017 and the United States Ambassador to Georgia from 2009 to 2012.
Jeffrey D. Levine was nominated by U.S. President Barack Obama to be the United States Ambassador to Estonia on February 17, 2012 and was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 29, 2012. He presented his credentials to President of Estonia Toomas Hendrik Ilves on September 17, 2012. He left his post in 2015.
The clashes at the Turkish Ambassador's Residence in Washington, D.C. broke out on May 16, 2017, between Turkey's Police Counter Attack Team and a crowd of protesters, some of whom carried flags of a Kurdish political party. According to Turkey, Turkish bodyguards were acting in self-defense and the protesters were tied to a terrorist group. However, according to US officials the Turkish bodyguards attacked the protesters unprovoked. A protest leader denied that any participants had ties to any terrorist group. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was in Washington that day to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump and observed the clashes from a distance.
Jonathan Raphael Cohen is an American diplomat and most recently served as the United States Ambassador to Egypt from November 17, 2019 to March 31, 2022. He previously served as the United States Deputy Representative to the United Nations. From August 2016 to June 2018 he served as a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs. He was nominated by President Donald Trump in early 2018 to become United States Deputy Representative to the United Nations and was unanimously confirmed by the Senate on May 24, 2018. On January 1, 2019, Cohen assumed acting duties of Ambassador to the United Nations following the resignation of Nikki Haley the previous day; with the installation of her successor Kelly Craft in September, he relinquished those duties.
The 1974 anti-American riots in Cyprus were violent anti-American rioting that took place in front of the United States embassy in Nicosia, Cyprus on August 19, 1974. The events took place days after the second phase of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus which resulted in Turkey controlling 36.5% of the island. The Greek gunmen murdered the American ambassador in the American embassy in the Cyprus.
Bridget Ann Brink is an American diplomat serving as the United States Ambassador to Ukraine. In April 2022, she was nominated by President Joe Biden to be the United States ambassador to Ukraine, and presented her credentials in May 2022. She previously served as the United States Ambassador to Slovakia from August 20, 2019, until May 18, 2022.
Cyprus–Mexico relations are the diplomatic relations between the Republic of Cyprus and the United Mexican States. Neither country has a resident ambassador. Both nations are members of the United Nations.
Northern Cyprus and the United States do not have official diplomatic relations as the United States does not recognize Northern Cyprus as a sovereign nation and instead recognizes the region of Northern Cyprus as part of Cyprus. Despite no formal relations between the two nations, Northern Cyprus has appointed Ambassadors to the United States and has a representative office in Washington, D.C. which serves as its de facto embassy. Northern Cyprus also maintains a Representative office in New York City serving as a de facto consulate-general and as a de facto Permanent Mission to the United Nations. The United States on the other hand has a diplomatic office in North Nicosia as part of its embassy in Nicosia to Cyprus.
Relations between East Germany and the United States formally began in 1974 until the former's collapse in 1990. The relationship between the two nations was among the most hostile during the Cold War as both sides were mutually suspicious of each other. Both sides conducted routine espionage against each other and conducted prisoner exchanges for their respective citizens which included spies for both the Americans and Soviets.
Pamela Marie Tremont is an American diplomat who is the nominee to be the United States ambassador to Zimbabwe.