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Leigh Turner

Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna

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28th September 2011

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by Leigh Turner

Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna

Running the gauntlet: why English is wonderful

What is a “Chicken Chernobyl”?  How about “the Order of the Golden Toecap” or “buckets of sunshine”? I’ve blogged before the constant evolution of the English language (see “Brainiacs, dwarf planets, podcasts and tweets in Kyiv“).  For another take on this, setting out the contribution made by the British Royal Navy with what is known […]

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27th September 2011

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by Leigh Turner

Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna

How to make Ukraine more European

Negotiations at a summit later this week will revolve around the question of “how European is Ukraine”?  It sounds a bit academic, since anyone looking at a map can see that Ukraine is a European country.  But negotiations at the Eastern Partnership Summit on 29-30 September will revolve around the question not of geography but […]

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23rd September 2011

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by Leigh Turner

Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna

Lviv literature

A guest blog by Martin Dowle, Director, British Council The west Ukrainian city of Lviv is an intriguing location for a literature festival.  Breath-taking views of spires and domes, offset with hidden courtyards, make this city on the cusp between East and West a crossroads for cultural exchange. Some 300 events are packed into four […]

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20th September 2011

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by Leigh Turner

Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna

Tymoshenko in Yalta

The tiger is gigantic, looming against a glowing golden background.  Behind it, cubs frolic.  Near the work, Tiger Club by Japanese artist Takashi Murakami, Ukrainian and foreign politicians including President Victor Yanukovych, Israeli President Shimon Peres and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair engage at the 8th annual Yalta European Strategy Forum (YES) “Ukraine and […]

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16th September 2011

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by Leigh Turner

Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna

Brilliant British Business in Ukraine #9

The sun is setting magnificently over the skyline of Kyiv.  All around, commercial deals are being planned, connections established and views on business conditions exchanged.  We’re at a major gathering of the British business community in Ukraine at my residence on 14 September. Supporting British business in Ukraine and attracting investors to the UK is […]

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16th September 2011

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by Leigh Turner

Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna

Kyiv: art, football and Charles Dickens

One of the most striking buildings in Kyiv is the Mystetskyi Arsenal, or “Art Arsenal”, whose opening I attended back in August 2009.  Built between 1783 and 1801, it has been restored to provide over twenty thousand square metres of dramatic exhibition space arranged in massive, high-arched rooms and is always worth a visit whatever […]

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12th September 2011

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by Leigh Turner

Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna

Ukrainian sport and London 2012

One of the best things about being an ambassador is the opportunity to meet a wide range of people.  So I was delighted on 10 September to attend the Day of Physical Culture and Sport in Kyiv to talk about London 2012. Ukraine has a terrific sporting tradition and it was a privilege both to […]

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9th September 2011

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by Leigh Turner

Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna

Andy Warhol and Ukraine

To the Mironova Gallery in Kyiv for the opening of the exhibition “Pop Art and its Kings”, featuring rare, recently rediscovered 1963 and 1964 photos of cult pop artists Andy Warhol and Robert Indiana by the photographer William John Kennedy.  The black and white pictures are fascinating, showing the two artists on the eve of their […]

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9th September 2011

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by Leigh Turner

Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna

Shoah by Bullets

What is a French Catholic priest doing uncovering mass graves from the shootings of Jews, gypsies and others in Ukraine in the years 1941-1944? It’s a question which Father Patrick Desbois asks at the opening of the exhibition “Shoah by Bullets: Mass Shootings of Jews in Ukraine 1941-1944” at the Ukrainian House in the centre […]

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7th September 2011

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by Leigh Turner

Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna

Tweeting in Kyiv

For the last few months, I have been using Twitter to tweet about new blogs and occasionally to tweet or retweet (RT) on other subjects of interest about the UK and Ukraine.  As a result I now have a number of followers on Twitter including members of the public, students, diplomats, business people and opinion […]

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About Leigh Turner

I hope you find this blog interesting and, where appropriate, entertaining. My role in Vienna covers the relationship between Austria and the UK as well as the diverse work of…

I hope you find this blog interesting and, where appropriate, entertaining. My role in Vienna covers the relationship between Austria and the UK as well as the diverse work of the UN and other organisations; stories here will reflect that.

About me: I arrived in Vienna in August 2016 for my second posting in this wonderful city, having first served here in the mid-1980s. My previous job was as HM Consul-General and Director-General for Trade and Investment for Turkey, Central Asia and South Caucasus based in Istanbul.

Further back: I grew up in Nigeria, Exeter, Lesotho, Swaziland and Manchester before attending Cambridge University 1976-79. I worked in several government departments before joining the Foreign Office in 1983.

Keen to go to Africa and South America, I’ve had postings in Vienna (twice), Moscow, Bonn, Berlin, Kyiv and Istanbul, plus jobs in London ranging from the EU Budget to the British Overseas Territories.

2002-6 I was lucky enough to spend four years in Berlin running the house, looking after the children (born 1992 and 1994) and doing some writing and journalism.

To return to Vienna as ambassador is a privilege and a pleasure. I hope this blog reflects that.