Ahmet Üzümcü (born August 30, 1951) is a Turkish career diplomat, who previously served as the Director-General of the

Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW; French: ''Organisation pour l'interdiction des armes chimiques'', OIAC) is an intergovernmental organisation and the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), ...

(OPCW). He graduated from Foreign Relations Department of the

Faculty of Political Science, Ankara University The Faculty of Political Science of the University of Ankara (, more simply known as "''SBF''") is the oldest institution of administrative sciences in Turkey. It is the successor of the "Mekteb-i Mülkiye" ('), also known simply as "Mülkiye," wh ...

. Üzümcü was consul at the Consulate General in

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

, and ambassador to

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

from July 28, 1999, to June 30, 2002. Between 2002 and 2004, he served as the Permanent Representative of Turkey to

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

. Üzümcü was appointed Permanent Representative of Turkey to the

United Nations Office at Geneva The United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG, ) in Geneva, Switzerland, is one of the four major offices of the United Nations where numerous different UN agencies have a joint presence. The main UNOG administrative offices are located inside ...

in 2006, serving at this post until 2010. In 2008, he became chair of the

Conference on Disarmament The Conference on Disarmament (CD) is a multilateral disarmament forum established by the international community to negotiate arms control and disarmament agreements based at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. The Conference meets annually in ...

. Üzümcü received an Honorary Doctorate for ''Lifetime Achievements in Arms Control and Disarmament'' in 2010 from the Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations, a for-profit business whose lack of university accreditation has put it under the spotlight of the news media, prior to taking up his position at the OPCW. In 2013, during Ahmet Üzümcü's mandate as Director-General, the

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...

was awarded to the OPCW. Ahmet Üzümcü is married to Işıl Üzümcü. In 2016 he inaugurated the academic year of the master's course in International Affairs and Development –

Peace Studies Peace is a state of harmony in the absence of hostility and violence, and everything that discusses achieving human welfare through justice and peaceful conditions. In a societal sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such ...

Paris Dauphine University Paris Dauphine University - PSL () is a Grande École and public institution of higher education and research based in Paris, France, Collegiate university, constituent college of PSL University. As of 2022, Dauphine has 9,400 students in 8 fields ...

. In 2019, he was appointed Honorary Companion of the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III ...

(CMG), for services to international diplomacy and the rule of law. He is a Senior Network Member at the

European Leadership Network European Leadership Network (ELN) is a pan-European think-tank focusing on European foreign, defence and security issues based in London, United Kingdom. History and organisation The ELN was founded as part of a project by the Nuclear Security ...

(ELN).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Uzumcu, Ahmet 1951 births People from Armutlu, Yalova Ankara University Faculty of Political Sciences alumni 20th-century Turkish diplomats Ambassadors of Turkey to Israel Permanent representatives of Turkey to NATO Permanent representatives of Turkey to the United Nations Directors-general of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons Living people Honorary companions of the Order of St Michael and St George 21st-century Turkish diplomats