Australia appoints new Ambassador to Turkey

Australia's Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne announced last week the country's new ambassador to Turkey.

According to the announcement,  Mr Miles Armitage is Australia’s next Ambassador to Turkey and will also be accredited to Georgia and Azerbaijan.

"Our relationship with Turkey covers a broad range of areas including ANZAC Day commemorations, cooperation on security and participation in the G20 and MIKTA Forums.

"Our economic relationship with Turkey continues to strengthen, with two-way trade valued at almost $2 billion in 2019-20," added Payne in her announcement.

Australia and Turkey also enjoy close people-to-people links, with around 73,000 Australians claiming Turkish ancestry.

"We enjoy positive bilateral relations with both Georgia and Azerbaijan. We cooperate on international security with Georgia and are supportive of its sovereignty in the face of significant challenges."

Mr Armitage is a senior career officer with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and was recently Australia’s Ambassador to Jordan. He has previously served overseas as Australia’s Ambassador to Timor-Leste. Deputy Head of Mission, Australian Embassy, Philippines as well as postings in New York and Islamabad. He also served as Ambassador for Counter-Terrorism

Mr Armitage holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours); Diploma of Museum Studies, from the University of Sydney; and a Diploma of Foreign Affairs and Trade from the Australian National University.