Turkey's ambassadors to Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo and Undersecretary of the Permanent Mission of Turkey to the United Nations have been changed following a decree issued by the government Wednesday.

With the new decree, former Virtue Party (VP) lawmaker Merve Kavakçı, who was kicked out of the parliament in 1999 for wearing headscarf, became Ankara's new ambassador to Kuala Lumpur. She replaced Başak Türkoğlu, who served in various positions at the foreign ministry.

Kavakçı was elected as a Virtue Party deputy for Istanbul on April 18, 1999 however she was not allowed to take her oath in the swear-in ceremony for Turkey's Grand National Assembly by Prime Minister at the time Bülent Ecevit and lawmakers, who were mainly members of the Democratic Left Party (DSP).

Murat Mercan became Turkey's new ambassador to Tokyo.

Meanwhile, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Ahmet Gün has been appointed as the Undersecretary of the Permanent Mission of Turkey to the United Nations.

Other ambassadors appointed with the decree include, Serap Özcoşkun to La Paz, Kemal Demirciler to Manama, Ersin Elçin to Seoul, Ceren Yazgan to Valetta, Hasan Ulusoy to Sofia, Oğuzhan Ertuğrul to Kabul, Emre Yunt to Stockholm, Levent Gümrükçü to Brussels, Süleyman Gökçe to Guatemala, Akif Oktay to Budapest and Ela Görkem to Santa Domingo.