Nabi Şensoy

Nabi Şensoy grew up in Istanbul and graduated from Ankara University’s political science faculty in 1968. His diplomatic career included an earlier Washington posting, the consul-generalship in London, and work as President Turgut Özal’s chief of staff. He became ambassador to Spain in 1990 and later represented Türkiye in Russia. ^{1, 2}

Şensoy returned to Washington as ambassador in 2006. His work included relations with the Turkish American community; the Turkish Coalition of America, founded during his tenure, later acknowledged his support. The posting also brought recurring disputes over recognition of the Armenian genocide. In October 2007 Ankara called him home for consultations after a House committee approved a recognition resolution. ^{1, 3}

His departure followed a different disagreement in December 2009. According to journalist Sedat Ergin’s later account, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu blamed Şensoy when the foreign ministers were excluded from a private meeting between Erdoğan and Barack Obama. Şensoy requested recall. He retired to İzmir and died there in February 2018. ^{2, 4}