Burak Akçapar
Welcome to my personal webpage!
This site shares information about me, what I do, the books I have authored, the newspaper column that I wrote, and some...
I am a career diplomat currently serving as Ambassador of the Republic of Türkiye to the Kingdom of Spain.
My previous Ambassadorship was to the Republic of India between 2011-16, accredited simultaneously to Nepal and Maldives. For a brief period I was also accredited to Sri Lanka.
Other postings included Deputy Head of Mission of Turkish Embassy in Washington DC, USA; Member of the NATO International Staff's Directorate for Defence Planning and Operations; Vice Consul of the Turkish Consulate General in Hamburg, Germany; Deputy Head of Mission of Turkish Embassy in Doha, Qatar.
Before coming to Spain, I served as Director General for Foreign Policy, Analysis, and Coordination (aka Policy Planning) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Türkiye.
That unit has had duties of analysis, planning, speech writing, and coordination in all aspects of Turkey's foreign policy. My unit also coordinated Turkey's mediation efforts at the United Nations, OSCE and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. Overall, I served three terms as part of the policy planning team; twice at the arms control directorate; and led the South Asia desk of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
I thrive in developing strategies, planning policies, and designing and managing complex operations, as well as exploring innovative solutions. Researching, negotiating, mediating, and arbitrating have also been my fortes. I feel confident in leading teams in national and multinational environments.
Issues of international high politics and security have always enjoyed a favoured place among my interests. However, over the years I have developed an understanding for regional and global business, including business strategy and business development, but particularly Political Risk assessment and management. I developed a curriculum and taught Political Risk Analysis at graduate level.
My rank in the academia is Associate Professor Doctor of International Relations. My Doctorate is in International Law; received it with Magna cum Laude from Universitaet Hamburg. My alma mater is Boğaziçi University and I remain a political scientist at heart. I also had interactions as student or instructor with TOBB ETU, Middle East Technical University, Christian Albrechts Universitaet Kiel, and Harvard University.
In addition to numerous articles and book chapters, I published 3 books with the Nomos Verlag, Rowman and Littlefield, and the Oxford University Press. The latest that was released in December 2014 by the Oxford University Press was translated to Turkish by the Koç University Press in 2022. More publications are on the way...
I read Turkish, English, German, French, and Spanish in varying degrees of proficiency.
For my professional achievements I was awarded the NATO Secretary General's Award for Excellence. I was also awarded an Honorary Doctorate and an International Achievement Award in India.
I wrote a monthly column entitled Theory and Practice in The New Indian Express and Sunday Standard.
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