Between his two assignments in Afghanistan, he was as undersecretary-general for special assignments in support of the secretary-general's preventive and peacemaking efforts.
In a sign of renewed tension between the Turkish army and the government, eight special-forces soldiers were briefly arrested for allegedly plotting to assassinate a senior politician from the ruling Justice and Development (AK) party.
Also, however, dons fear that the vice-chancellor's proposals threaten the very thing that makes Oxford special: undergraduate teaching in tutorials between one don and two students.