Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has appointed former communications chief Fahrettin Altun as Turkey’s ambassador to the Vatican, according to a presidential decree published in the Official Gazette on Saturday.
Altun, a longtime Erdoğan aide who led the presidency’s Directorate of Communications from 2018 until July 2025, was one of the main figures behind the government’s media messaging at home and abroad.
He was removed from the communications post last year and named head of the Human Rights and Equality Institution of Türkiye, a state body critics have said lacks independence.
His appointment to the Vatican is part of a wider round of ambassadorial changes announced by Erdoğan.
The Vatican posting is seen as a symbolic diplomatic role because the Holy See wields influence in interfaith relations and Middle East diplomacy despite its small size.