Retired Ambassador Ömer Önhon will sign his book “Syria from the eyes of an Ambassador” after the conference he will give at the İrfan Günsel Congress Center on Thursday, March 28, at 11:00.

The civil war that started in Syria in 2011 disrupted the lives of millions of people and created significant changes in the dynamics of the Middle East. Ömer Önhon, who served as Turkey’s Ambassador to Damascus before the severance of diplomatic relations between Turkey and Syria in 2012, was undoubtedly one of the most important witnesses of the road to civil war in Syria.

The then ambassador Ömer Önhon, who returned to Turkey via Lebanon after the activities of the Turkish Embassy in Damascus were suspended on March 26, 2012, compiled his experiences and testimonies in Syria into a book titled “Syria from the eyes of an Ambassador”.

Ömer Önhon, who will give a conference at the İrfan Günsel Congress Center on Thursday, March 28, at 11:00, at the event organized by the Near East Institute, will evaluate the latest developments in the Middle East as well as Syria in full detail.

The conference will be open to the public free of charge.

The conference, to be moderated by Near East Institute Director Assoc. Dr. Mustafa Çıraklı, will be held free of charge and open to public participation. At the conference, retired Turkish Ambassador Ömer Önhon will discuss the relations between Ankara and Damascus, the role of the Muslim Brotherhood in the tension, the critical Assad-Davutoğlu meeting, the situation of the Kurds in Syria and how events came to this point.

Ömer Önhon, who spent most of his nearly 40-year career dealing with the Syrian file in Damascus and Ankara, will share his experiences at the end of the event and sign his book titled “Syria from the Eyes of an Ambassador”, which sheds light on the period.

Who is Ömer Önhon?

Ömer Önhon graduated from Kingston University’s Department of Economics and served in various positions at the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 1985. Önhon, who took on important positions such as the Consulate General of New York and the Embassy of Damascus throughout his career, also served in positions such as the Head of the Middle East Department and the Deputy General Manager of the Middle East. In 2012, with the changes in Turkey’s foreign policy due to the civil war in Syria, he was appointed as deputy undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Önhon, who last served as the General Director of International Security Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs between 2019 and 2021, retired on April 19, 2020.