| Sönmez Köksal | |
|---|---|
| Chief of the National Intelligence Organization of Turkey | |
| In office 9 November 1992 –11 February 1998 | |
| Preceded by | Teoman Koman |
| Succeeded by | Şenkal Atasagun |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 8 March 1940 |
| Nationality | Turkish |
| Spouse(s) | Filiz Akın (m. 1994) |
| Alma mater | Ankara University |
| Occupation | Civil servant |
Sönmez Köksal (born 8 March 1940) is a career Turkish civil servant. He served in a variety of positions largely in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in international organisations representing Turkey, and was Turkey's Ambassador to Iraq (1986–1990). He was head of the National Intelligence Organization (Turkish : Milli İstihbarat Teşkilatı, MİT) from 1992 to 1998, and subsequently Turkey's Ambassador to France (1998–2002). [1] [2] Köksal was the first civilian head of the MIT, breaking the tradition of appointing generals. [3]
Turkish people or the Turks, also known as Anatolian Turks, are a Turkic ethnic group and nation living mainly in Turkey and speaking Turkish, the most widely spoken Turkic language. They are the largest ethnic group in Turkey, as well as by far the largest ethnic group among the speakers of Turkic languages. Ethnic Turkish minorities exist in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire. In addition, a Turkish diaspora has been established with modern migration, particularly in Western Europe.
The National Intelligence Organization is the governmental intelligence organization of Turkey. It was established in 1965 to replace the National Security Service.
Turkish, also referred to as Istanbul Turkish, is the most widely spoken of the Turkic languages, with around ten to fifteen million native speakers in Southeast Europe and sixty to sixty-five million native speakers in Western Asia. Outside Turkey, significant smaller groups of speakers exist in Germany, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Northern Cyprus, Greece, the Caucasus, and other parts of Europe and Central Asia. Cyprus has requested that the European Union add Turkish as an official language, even though Turkey is not a member state.
