Ross Wilson to Turkey as Chargé d’affaires

The United States has surprisingly decided to send its former ambassador to Turkey as chargé d’affaires[1] to Ankara, four years after he retired from the Department of State. The decision comes due to the delay in the Senate’s confirmation of the ambassadorial nominee for the Turkish capital city. “John Bass, President [Barack] Obama’s nominee as ambassador to Turkey, is waiting for a vote of confirmation from the U.S. Senate. He is joined by more than 50 other ambassadorial nominees waiting for confirmation. Facing a gap in this crucial position and recognizing the centrality of strong Turkey-U.S. ties in responding to urgent regional challenges, Secretary of State [John] Kerry has asked Ross Wilson to temporarily return to Ankara, where he served as U.S. Ambassador from 2005-2008, as chargé d’affaires,” the U.S. embassy in Ankara announced in a written statement released Sept. 5. 

He currently teaches part-time at the George Washington University. Ambassador Wilson is also the current Director of the Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center at the Atlantic Council.

Mavi Boncuk |

Ross Wilson was nominated by President George W. Bush on October 28, 2005 to serve as the American Ambassador to Turkey.  He was confirmed by the US Senate in November and presented his credentials in Ankara to Turkish President Sezer on December 8, 2005.

A career officer in the US Foreign Service with the personal rank of Minister-Counselor, Ambassador Wilson has worked since 1979 at the Department of State and at American missions abroad.  Immediately before coming to Turkey, he served as Executive Assistant and Chief of Staff for Deputy Secretary of State Robert B. Zoellick, providing policy and staff support to the Deputy Secretary on the entire range of issues in American foreign policy.  Between June 2003 and February 2005, Ambassador Wilson was the US Senior Negotiator for the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) at the Office of the US Trade Representative, developing, coordinating and implementing US government negotiating positions and strategies in these trade talks.  Before that, he was the American Ambassador to the Republic of Azerbaijan in 2000-2003.

From 1997 to 2000, Ambassador Wilson was Principal Deputy to the Ambassador-at-Large and Special Advisor to the Secretary of State for the New Independent States of the former Soviet Union.  He worked for Secretaries of State Baker, Eagleburger and Christopher in 1992-94 as Deputy Executive Secretary of the Department of State.  He was Special Assistant to Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs and Counselor of the Department Zoellick in 1990-92.  Earlier in his career, Ambassador Wilson served in the State Department’s offices dealing with the Soviet Union and Egypt.  He also served overseas as US Consul General in Melbourne, Australia (1995-97), twice at the American Embassy in Moscow (1980-82 and 1987-90), and at the American Embassy in Prague (1985-87).

Born in 1955 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Ambassador Wilson received a Bachelors degree magna cum laude from the University of Minnesota in 1977 and Masters degrees from Columbia University (1979) and the US National War College (1995).  He is the recipient of the President’s Meritorious Service Award (2005), Azerbaijan’s Order of Honor, and numerous State Department awards.  Ambassador Wilson is married to Margo Squire, who is also a career diplomat with the State Department.  They have two sons.

[1] In diplomacy, a chargé d'affaires (French for "charged with (in charge of) matters"), often shortened to simply chargé, is a diplomat – usually a diplomatic secretary, counselor or minister – who heads a diplomatic mission (e.g., an embassy) in the absence of its titular head (e.g., an ambassador). A chargé d'affaires represents his or her nation in the country they are accredited to, and enjoys the same privileges and immunities as a regular ambassador. However, chargés d'affaires are outranked by ambassadors and have lower precedence at formal diplomatic events. In most cases, a diplomat would only serve as a chargé d'affaires on a temporary basis in the absence of the ambassador. In unusual situations, a chargé d'affaires may be appointed for an indefinite period, in cases where disputes between the two countries make it impossible or undesirable to send agents of a higher diplomatic rank.