U.S. Mission Leaders Archives - U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Türkiye https://tr.usembassy.gov/category/u-s-mission-leaders/ Wed, 16 Jul 2025 08:56:48 +0000 en-US hourly 1 U.S. Ambassador to Türkiye and Syria Envoy Thomas Barrack’s Statement on Meeting with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa and FM Asaad al-Shaibani https://tr.usembassy.gov/u-s-ambassador-to-turkiye-and-syria-envoy-thomas-barracks-statement-on-meeting-with-syrian-president-ahmed-al-sharaa-and-fm-asaad-al-shaibani/ Sat, 24 May 2025 17:02:22 +0000 https://tr.usembassy.gov/?p=25346

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U.S. Ambassador to Türkiye and Syria Envoy Thomas Barrack's Statement on Meeting with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa and FM Asaad al-Shaibani

Statement by U.S. Ambassador to Türkiye and Special Envoy for Syria Thomas Barrack

May 24, 2025

Today, I met with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa and Foreign Minister Assad al-Shaibani in Istanbul to implement President Trump’s bold decision to provide a path for peace and prosperity in Syria. President al-Sharaa praised America’s fast action on lifting sanctions, welcoming Secretary Rubio’s landmark announcement yesterday waiving Caesar Act sanctions for 180 days and the U.S. Treasury Department’s announcement of General License 25 and other sanctions relief measures. I reiterated the United States’ support for the Syrian people after so many years of conflict and violence and reiterated Secretary Rubio’s position that if we had not acted so promptly and deliberately to remove sanctions our partners in the region would not be able to provide donor dollars, supplies, and energy to relieve the plight and trauma of the traumatized Syrian population. President Trump’s goal is to enable the new government to create the conditions for the Syrian people to not only survive but thrive.

I stressed the cessation of sanctions against Syria will preserve the integrity of our primary objective – the enduring defeat of ISIS – and will give the people of Syria a chance for a better future. I also commended President al-Sharaa on taking meaningful steps towards enacting President Trump’s points on foreign terrorist fighters, counter-ISIS measures, relations with Israel, and camps and detention centers in NE Syria. The Syrian side and I affirmed our commitment to continuing these important conversations and to working together to develop private sector investment in Syria to rebuild the economy, including through investment by regional and global partners such as Türkiye, the Gulf, Europe, and the United States.

This meeting was historic, putting the issue of sanctions – as President Trump has indicated – far behind us, and resulting in joint commitment of both our countries to drive forward, quickly, with investment, development, and worldwide branding of a new, welcoming Syria without sanctions.

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U.S. Ambassador to Türkiye and Special Envoy for Syria Thomas Barrack: Implementing President Trump’s Vision for a Prosperous, Stable Syria  https://tr.usembassy.gov/u-s-ambassador-to-turkiye-and-special-envoy-for-syria-thomas-barrack/ Fri, 23 May 2025 14:53:11 +0000 https://tr.usembassy.gov/?p=25311

President Trump has outlined his clear vision of a prosperous Middle East and a stable Syria at peace with itself and its neighbors.

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U.S. Ambassador to Türkİye and Special Envoy for Syria Thomas Barrack

Implementing President Trump’s Vision for a Prosperous, Stable Syria

President Trump has outlined his clear vision of a prosperous Middle East and a stable Syria at peace with itself and its neighbors.  On May 13, the President committed to lifting the United States’ crippling sanctions against Syria to enable the new government to stabilize the country.  Secretary Rubio now has the responsibility of executing the President’s vision and has said “the lifting of the sanctions opens up incredible opportunities around the region for all kinds of peace and security and the end of conflicts and wars.” As President Trump’s representative in Türkiye, I am proud to assume the role of the U.S. Special Envoy for Syria and support Secretary Rubio in the realization of the President’s vision.

The cessation of sanctions against Syria will preserve the integrity of our primary objective — the enduring defeat of ISIS — and will give the people of Syria a chance for a better future. In this way, we, together with regional partners including Turkiye and the Gulf, are enabling the Syrian government to restore peace, security, and the hope of prosperity. In the words of the President, we will work together, and we will succeed together.

 

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Deputy Chief of Mission Michael Goldman https://tr.usembassy.gov/dcm-ankara/ Mon, 16 Sep 2024 11:46:27 +0000 https://tr.usembassy.gov/?p=23280 The post Deputy Chief of Mission Michael Goldman appeared first on U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Türkiye.

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Deputy Chief of Mission
U.S. Embassy Ankara

Deputy Chief of Mission Michael Goldman

Mike Goldman joined the U.S. Diplomatic Mission to Türkiye as Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) in July 2024.  He served as Charge d’Affaires from September 2024 until the arrival of Ambassador Barrack in May 2025.  Prior to arriving in Ankara, Mike was DCM and Charge d’Affaires in Canberra, Australia (2020-2023) and Suva, Fiji (2017-2020).

A career member of the Senior Foreign Service, Mike joined the State Department in 2000. He recentlyserved inWashington as Deputy and Acting Director for China and Mongolia in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs (2015-2017). Previous assignments include Kathmandu (2012-2015), where he was Political and Economic Counselor; Hanoi (2008-2011) and Tashkent (2002-2005) as a political officer; and Taipei (2000-2002) as a consular officer, as well as an earlier stint on the China Desk (2005-2007). He’s the recipient of several State Department honors, including recognition as the Department’s outstanding human rights officer for his work to combat torture and safeguard vulnerable NGOs in Uzbekistan.    

 Prior to joining the Foreign Service, Mike worked as a dock worker on an oyster farm in Washington State’s Puget Sound and as an adjunct professor of political science at San Francisco State University.  Mike earned a Ph.D. and MA in political science from the University of California, Berkeley and an undergraduate degree in international politics from Georgetown University. He completed his dissertation research on a Fulbright scholarship at the Univesiti Sains Malaysia in Penang, Malaysia and has studied at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Taiwan Normal University, and the State University of Makassar in Ujung Pandang, Indonesia.  Mike speaks Turkish and Mandarin Chinese, and at one time or another has also been fluent in Nepali, Vietnamese, Russian, and Indonesian.    

Mike has three children and is married to USAID Foreign Service Officer Brett Jones.  

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Adana Consul https://tr.usembassy.gov/adana-consul/ Sun, 25 Jun 2023 09:26:00 +0000 https://tr.usembassy.gov/?p=17417

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Consul Catherine J. Westley
U.S. Consulate Adana

Catherine J. Westley is a career member of the United States Senior Foreign Service. During her last assignment as the Deputy Chief of Mission for the U.S. Embassy to Yemen, she served as Chargé d’Affaires for 14 months. Her other overseas tours include U.S. Embassies in Sanaa, Ankara, Baghdad, and Cairo, as well as Arabic language study in Muscat. Her Washington assignments include Deputy Office Director for Levant Affairs, Special Assistant to the Under Secretary for Political Affairs, Deputy Office Director for Nordic/Baltic Affairs, and Croatia Desk Officer. Prior to joining the U.S. Department of State, Ms. Westley worked for a democratic development NGO. She earned a master’s degree with distinction from the U.S. Naval War College. She hails originally from the Chicago area.

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U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Türkiye
Deputy Principal Officer Michael Kidwell https://tr.usembassy.gov/istanbul-deputy-principal-officer/ Fri, 25 Nov 2022 08:56:00 +0000 https://tr.usembassy.gov/?p=17398

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Deputy Principal Officer Michael Kidwell
U.S. Consulate General, Istanbul

DPO Michael KidwellMichael Kidwell currently serves as the Deputy Principal Officer for Consulate General Istanbul.  A career Foreign Service Officer since 2002, Michael previously served in Embassy Ankara as well as overseas postings in Egypt, Afghanistan, Italy, and Vietnam.  In the United States, Michael served most recently as Deputy Director of the Office of Southern European Affairs as well as in prior roles as Acting Director of the Office of Analysis for Europe in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Deputy Director of the Office of Regional Security and Arms Transfers in the Political Military Affairs Bureau, Rusk Fellow at Georgetown University, and as a special assistant in the Executive Secretariat.  Prior to joining the Foreign Service, Michael was liaison to the Congressional Appropriations Committees for the U.S. Department of Energy.

Michael earned an M.A. in international relations from the University of Chicago and B.A. and A.A. in liberal arts from Simon’s Rock College/Bard College.  He is married to Tiffany Murphy, also a career member of the Foreign Service.  They have 2 children. 

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Ambassador https://tr.usembassy.gov/ambassador/ Sat, 25 Jun 2022 10:28:00 +0000 https://tr.usembassy.gov/?p=17446

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Ambassador Thomas J. Barrack
U.S. Embassy Ankara

Thomas J. Barrack was nominated by President Trump to serve as the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Türkiye in March 2025 and confirmed by the Senate in April 2025.

Ambassador Barrack is the Founder and former Chairman and CEO of Colony Capital, Inc., a Los Angeles-based global private equity investment firm (now known as DigitalBridge), one of the world’s largest digital infrastructure investors with approximately $80 billion in assets under management and operations in 19 countries.

Over the course of his four-decade career, Ambassador Barrack and the companies he has founded and led have invested more than $200 billion of capital across nearly every continent and a multitude of industries. Recognized as a visionary, contrarian, and first-mover, Ambassador Barrack has built a global network of relationships, particularly among the world’s most prominent institutional and Middle Eastern investors and governments. As the leader of a firm with global reach, Ambassador Barrack has extensive experience managing complex business, banking, legal, governmental, and cultural matters in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.

Ambassador Barrack began his professional career as a finance attorney with a major international law firm, working and living in Europe and the Middle East. He later had tours on Wall Street and as a Principal of the famous Robert M. Bass Group, of Fort Worth, Texas.

In 1982, Ambassador Barrack was appointed by President Ronald Reagan as Deputy Undersecretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, and in 2016, was selected by President Donald J. Trump to serve as Chairman of the 58th U.S. Presidential Inaugural Committee.

Ambassador Barrack is the grandson of Catholic Lebanese immigrants. He holds a B.A. from the University of Southern California and a J.D. from the University of Southern California and University of San Diego School of Law, where he was an editor of the law review.

He has received numerous honors, including the Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur from French President Nicolas Sarkozy. In addition to English, he speaks conversational Spanish, French, and Arabic.

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