Ambassador Gökçe has studied in the USA at Baltimore City College, Georgetown University and in the Faculty of Political Science of Ankara University, majoring in international relations, economics and finance. As a career diplomat he has served at Turkish Embassies in Nicosia, Cyprus, Washington D.C. the United States and in the position of Deputy Permanent Representative at Turkey’s Permanent Missions to the United Nations both in New York and Geneva and worked as an international civil servant in the Secretariat of the United Nations Organization in N.Y. as Director of UNDRO on loan from his government between 1984-1987. He has represented his country in various international meetings such as the Conference on Security and Economic Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) and the European Union (EU). At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs he held high level positions such as Director of the Foreign Policy Planning Department, Director General of the Department for Cyprus-Greece, Maritime and Aviation Affairs and was appointed Director General of State Protocol by the President of Turkey. Prior to his retirement he held the position of Foreign Policy Advisor to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was appointed as Turkey’s first ambassador to Israel in 1991 and retired in 2003 after his last ambassadorial post in Helsinki, Finland.
