Today 3 October, Estonian Ambassador to Turkey Annely Kolk presented her credentials to the President of the Republic of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
During the discussion following the presentation ceremony, Ambassador Kolk and the Turkish President discussed the rapid development of relations between their countries and their successful cooperation on security issues.
“Turkey is a good and important ally to us in the area of security, especially in NATO, and we would like this strong cooperation to continue in the future,” Ambassador Annely Kolk said. “I thanked Turkey for its support in the election of Estonia as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, where we can work closely with Turkey on issues related to the Security Council,” the Ambassador added.
The Turkish President emphasised that Turkey never recognised the occupation of Estonia by the Soviet Union. Both President Erdoğan as well as Ambassador Kolk noted opportunities for expanding cooperation in national defence, economy and tourism. “Our experiences and the increasingly digitised world requires more active cooperation in digital and cybersecurity,” Ambassador Kolk said.
Ambassador Annely Kolk has been working at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 1999, when she joined the Legal Department. Between 2007 and 2010, Kolk was a diplomat for policy issues at Estonia’s Permanent Representation to the UN and other international organisations in Geneva. On her return from Geneva, Kolk re-joined the legal department and from 2014 to this autumn, she was the Undersecretary for Legal and Consular Affairs. As the Estonian Ambassador to Ankara, Kolk is also accredited to the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Islamic Republic of Iran. Annely Kolk speaks English, Russian, Finnish and German.