Pirkko Hämäläinen starts as Finland’s Ambassador to Türkiye
Ambassador Hämäläinen started her work as the Ambassador-designate in September and officially became Finland's Ambassador to Türkiye in November. Ambassador Hämäläinen has already had the opportunity to meet plenty of stakeholders.
Ambassador Hämäläinen started her work as the Ambassador-designate when she arrived in September. She officially became the Ambassador of the Republic of Finland to Türkiye on November 11 when she presented her credentials to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The credentialing ceremony was completed a few days later by a ceremony in Anitkabir, honouring the memory of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
The entire Embassy staff was happy to participate in celebrating the Ambassador’s official initiation after already successfully working with her for a few months.
Ambassador Hämäläinen was accompanied to Türkiye by her husband Juha Niemelä, a retired history teacher. The couple also have two adult daughters.
Ambassador Hämäläinen joined the Finnish diplomatic service in 1989. Ambassador Hämäläinen has previously served as Finland’s Ambassador to Latvia from 2012-2014 and as Ambassador to Austria and Permanent Representative of Finland to the International Organizations in Vienna from 2019-2023. Hämäläinen has also held several administrative positions from in Helsinki, including as the Under-Secretary of State for Internal and External Services from 2014-2018. She has also served in New York, Reykjavik and Tallinn.
Ambassador Hämäläinen has been active in attending events and already has had a chance to meet many members of the diplomatic community in Ankara. She even hosted her first event as the Ambassador in cooperation with a local civil society organization. The Ambassador looks forward to continuing to be actively engaged in strengthening relations between Finland and Türkiye and promoting Finland.
Last week, Ambassador Hämäläinen had a chance to travel to meet stakeholders in the business community in Istanbul. During her visit to Istanbul on November 16-17, Ambassador Pirkko Hämäläinen met with key Team Finland stakeholders.
A breakfast meeting was held, with 30 participants from the Finnish-Turkish business community. DEİK Türkiye-Finland Business Council hosted an introductory meeting to discuss joint efforts to increase trade between the two countries. Team Finland Türkiye held a planning meeting at the Business Finland Beşiktaş office. Ambassador Hämäläinen emphasized the positive momentum in bilateral trade and extended her staunch support to growing the business between Finland and Türkiye.
