Sedat Önal

Sedat Önal entered the Turkish foreign service in 1989 after graduating from Ankara University’s Faculty of Political Science. His early career included Kuwait, Münster, and New York, followed by service as deputy chief of mission in Tehran and consul general in Vienna. Those assignments preceded increasing responsibility for Middle Eastern affairs in Ankara. ¹

Önal served as ambassador to Jordan from 2012 to 2016 and then held senior regional policy positions before becoming deputy foreign minister in 2018. In April 2022 he and American undersecretary Victoria Nuland led the delegations that launched the bilateral Strategic Mechanism in Ankara. Their discussions covered economic and defense cooperation, counterterrorism, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. ^{1, 2}

He moved to the United Nations as Türkiye’s permanent representative in 2023 and to Washington the following year. The embassy dates the start of his Washington assignment to 24 April 2024; he presented his credentials to President Joe Biden on 17 June. ^{1, 3}