Washington, DC (March 1, 2005) – The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) has appointed Suat Kiniklioglu, founding director of the Ankara Center for Turkish Policy Studies (ANKAM) and former GMF transatlantic fellow, as director of its soon-to-open office in Ankara, Turkey. Mr. Kiniklioglu will help GMF to build a policy center in the Turkish capital at a time when the country will be negotiating EU membership and deepening its ties to the transatlantic community.

During its first year of operations in Turkey, Kiniklioglu will help GMF to develop policy programs, fellowships, and grantmaking activities that will encourage more active and prominent Turkish participation in the Euro-Atlantic community. Additionally, GMF seeks to support stronger civil society in Turkey and its neighboring countries and to create a forum where Americans, Europeans, and Turks can learn from one another and address shared challenges.

Mr. Kiniklioglu brings to GMF extensive expertise in Turkish domestic and foreign policy as well as in security and strategic issues in Russia, the South Caucasus, and the Black Sea region. As director of ANKAM, he also served as editor of Insight Turkey, the center’s quarterly publication on Turkish foreign policy issues. Before establishing ANKAM in 2003, Mr. Kiniklioglu was a development officer responsible for Turkey, Georgia, and Azerbaijan at the Canadian International Development Agency, in Ankara. He has also worked as senior political research officer at the Australian Embassy in Ankara, as a foreign policy correspondent for the Turkish newspaper Yeni Yuzyil and as first lieutenant in the Turkish Air Force.

The creation of a Turkey office is a logical next step in the development of GMF’s European programs. Over the past five years, GMF has established offices in Brussels, Paris, Bratislava, and Belgrade, in addition to its Washington, DC, and Berlin locations. This expansion reflects the institution’s increasing focus on policy challenges along Europe’s border, including the Balkans, the Black Sea region, and the Middle East. Through its new presence in Turkey, GMF expects to significantly deepen its impact on the formation of strategic priorities for these regions.

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The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) is a non-partisan American grantmaking and public policy institution founded in 1972 through a gift from Germany in honor of post-war Marshall Plan assistance. GMF’s mission is to promote the exchange of ideas and cooperation between the United States and Europe in the spirit of the Marshall Plan. GMF gives grants for the study of international and domestic policies, sponsors fellowships that support comparative research and foster debate, and promotes information sharing that strengthens understanding of transatlantic issues and perspectives.