OPCW Director-General to speak on chemical weapons in Syria

Press release

Published October 23rd, 2016 - 04:54 GMT

H.E. Ahmet Üzümcü

The on-going war in Syria has resulted in one of the biggest international concerns about the use of chemical weapons in recent times. An upcoming public lecture by H.E. Ahmet Üzümcü will focus on the use of this extreme form of warfare, and offer added insight into the complexities of prohibiting its use.

The director-general of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) will be speaking at Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q) building on Sunday 23 October at 6:00 p.m.

The event will be hosted in collaboration with the Qatari Ministry of Defense’s National Committee for the Prohibition of Weapons, the body responsible for implementing and raising awareness of international weapons conventions in the State of Qatar. It will focus on the role of the OPCW in prohibiting chemical weapons in Syria, the challenges faced, and his predictions for the future.

“Chemical weapons are an on-going threat to safety and security in the region and beyond,” said Senior Assistant Dean for Faculty Affairs and Research Administration at GU-Q, Dr. Kai-Henrik Barth, who helped organize the event. “We hope that events such as these can build a greater understanding of the challenges of preventing their use, and help raise awareness of the issue among our students and the wider community in Qatar.”

Üzümcü, who has served as director-general of the OPCW since 2010, has a history in international affairs, having previously served as the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Turkey to the United Nations in Geneva. He has also represented Turkey at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Council, the Conference on Disarmament, and other international organizations. In 2013, he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the OPCW.

In a bid to increase familiarity with the conventions related to weapons of mass destruction, the National Committee for the Prohibition of Weapons and GU-Q also recently hosted an awareness workshop, which was attended by students from seven local universities.

Background Information

Georgetown University in Qatar

Established in 1789 in Washington, DC, Georgetown University is one of the world’s leading academic and research institutions. Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q), founded in 2005 in partnership with Qatar Foundation, seeks to build upon the world-class reputation of the university through education, research, and service. Inspired by the university’s mission of promoting intellectual, ethical, and spiritual understanding, GU-Q aims to advance knowledge and provide students and the community with a holistic educational experience that produces global citizens committed to the service of humankind.

Located in Doha’s Education City, GU-Q offers the same internationally recognized Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service degree as Georgetown’s Capitol Campus in Washington, DC. This unique, interdisciplinary program prepares students to tackle the most important and pressing global issues by helping them develop critical thinking, analytic, and communication skills within an international context. GU-Q alumni work in leading local and international organizations across industries ranging from finance to energy, education, and media. The Qatar campus also serves as a residency and delivery location for the Executive Master’s in Emergency and Disaster Management along with the Executive Master’s in Leadership.