Alexey Yerkhov appointed new Russia's ambassador to Turkey

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree appointing Alexey Yerkhov as Russia's new ambassador to Turkey, a decree published on the official portal of legal information Monday states.

"Alexey Yerkhov shall be appointed Russia’s new ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Turkish Republic," a decree says.

Russia’s State Duma International Affairs Committee has endorsed Yerkhov as Russia’s ambassador to Turkey in May.

Alexey Yerkhov was born on October 28, 1960. Until just recently Yerkhov led the Foreign Ministry’s crisis situation management center. In 2011-2015, was Consul General of the Russian Federation in Istanbul.

The deputy head of the Council of the Russian Diplomats Association, Andrey Baklanov, speaking to Vestnik Kavkaza, stressed the vast experience of diplomatic work of the new Russian ambassador in Turkey. "I've known Yerhov for a long time, we worked together in the Middle East and North Africa Department and in the key embassy in the region - in Cairo, where Erkhov was the senior diplomat. He is a very initiative, very well prepared and balanced diplomat who has worked in the Consul General in Istanbul for a long time, He thoroughly knows the specifics of the situation in Turkey and our relations with the Republic of Turkey," he pointed out.

"In addition, now he is one of the most authoritative experts on the topic of unlocking acute situations, whether political or regional aspects or directly a threat to Russian citizens. Given this multifaceted situation in Turkey, I think that his appointment as an ambassador is the best option. We can only wish him success in this important work. I have no doubt that he is a worthy candidate and will be able to fulfill his duty in such a difficult period of time in Turkey," Andrey Baklanov said.

Director of the Center for Partnership of Civilizations of MGIMO, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador Veniamin Popov, also described Aleksei Erkhov in a positive way. "I have known him for a long time, since the time when he started working in junior diplomatic ranks in Cairo. I was the ambassador to Libya and brought the Foreign Minister of Libya to Cairo for a meeting with our representatives. Then Alexei Yerkhov, the beginning diplomat, impressed me very much with a level of his analytical abilities," he noted.

In this regard, according to Veniamin Popov, the appointment of Aleksey Yerkhov as Russia's ambassador to Turkey is a good choice. "He represents a new cohort of thinking diplomats: Alexey has worked in the presidential administration for some time. He is well versed in Turkish politics, which is especially important now. Alexey Yerkhov understands what forces oppose Erdogan, who supports him, knows both the Syrian region, the Iraqi region and the Iranian region.His appointment as head of the crisis department of the Foreign Ministry was no accident," the diplomat pointed out.

"He also has a remarkable feature that manifested itself precisely when he was director of the crisis department - initiative: he is the author of many innovations that were actively welcomed by the leadership of the ministry. In particular, he made successful attempts to review the prediction of the development of events. Forecasting is Yerkhov's strong suit. So I think that it is a very good appointment. Despite the complexity of the Russian-Turkish relations, he will be in his place there," Veniamin Popov concluded.