Abducted consul general was PM Erdoğan’s advisor

Öztürk Yılmaz, Turkey’s consul general in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul who was abducted by Islamist militants on June 11, has previously served as an advisor to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

In the Turkish state system, the Foreign Ministry appoints a foreign policy advisor to all high level officials. Yılmaz, a career diplomat and a Middle East expert, was appointed to advise Erdoğan when he was in Ankara, the previous post he had before Mosul.

Yılmaz also worked at the Turkish mission to the European Union, and advised Egemen Bağış during the latter’s tenure as Turkish EU Minister.