Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s chief press advisor, Lütfullah Göktaş, has been appointed as Turkey’s new ambassador to the Vatican, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported on Thursday.
Göktaş served as chief press advisor to Erdoğan for eight years. Before that, he had worked as Turkish TV station NTV’s Italy representative, between 1998 and 2011, and then was the Italy correspondent of the Anadolu news agency between 2004 and 2011.
It is very common for Erdoğan to appoint individuals in his close circle as ambassadors.
Recently, Şaban Dişli, one of the co-founders of Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) who served as a party deputy for several terms, was appointed as Turkish ambassador to the Netherlands.