Foreign Minister reshuffle promotes younger diplomats

President Abdullah Gul has approved a decree reshuffling key ambassadorial posts at the Foreign Ministry, including postings to London , Moscow , Rome , and Tel Aviv as well as Balkan capitals. Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu personally telephoned the ambassadors involved to let them know about their assignments and also spoke to their spouses and thanked them for their support. Under the decree, Turkey 's Ambassador to Israel Ahmet Oguz Celikkol, who was publicly humiliated by a senior Israeli official in January, has been posted back to Ankara . Celikkol will be replaced by Kerim Uras, a young diplomat with expertise on Cypriot affairs. Foreign Ministry sources said Celikkol could be posted abroad in the next decree since the ministry has "a high opinion of him." The posting in Tel Aviv will be Uras' first ambassadorship, as the decree in general is a reflection of Foreign Minister Davutoglu favoring appointing younger diplomats to senior posts. In a major reshuffling last summer that included new appointments to 45 key positions, ambassadors who have served only one tour abroad dominated key diplomatic positions, including deputy undersecretary posts. Ambassador Huseyin Dirioz, currently the president's top foreign policy adviser, has been posted to Rome . Ambassador Unal Cevikoz, the Foreign Ministry deputy undersecretary for the Caucasus and Central Asia, who has been closely involved in normalization efforts with Armenia , has been posted to London , replacing Ambassador Yigit Alpogan. Among first-time ambassadors under the decree is Foreign Ministry spokesman Burak Ozugergin, who has been posted to Zagreb at a time when Turkey 's focus on the Balkans affairs is intense. Ambassador Oguz Demiralp, who was posted to Bern last summer, meanwhile, has been appointed Turkey 's Ambassador to the United Nations office in Geneva