The new United Nations Resident Coordinator to Guyana, Ms. Yeşim Oruç, presented her letter of credence to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Hugh Todd, MP, on Friday.
This presentation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation’s Takuba Lodge signaled Ms. Oruc’s official start of her mandate in the country.
The new UN representative, who is a dual national of Turkey and the United States of America (USA), is replacing Ms. Mikiko Tanaka, who served in Guyana for the past five years.
Prior to her appointment as the highest-ranking UN Official in Guyana, Ms. Oruç served as UNDP’s Deputy Director in Washington (2016-2021), UNDP Country Director in Albania (2012-2016), and UNDP Resident Representative and Deputy Resident Representative (2008-2012) in Romania. The new UN Resident Coordinator joined UNDP in 1996 as a national officer in Turkey.
Ms. Oruç holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science (Comparative Governments) from Yale University, Connecticut, USA and a Masters of Art degree in Middle East Studies from the American University in Cairo, Egypt.
Ms. Oruç is bilingual in English and Turkish and is proficient in Arabic and German. The mother of Akay Kaya, Ms. Oruç is joined in Guyana by her spouse Mr. Mehmet T. Kaya, also a national of Turkey.
