Mark Lowen was the BBC Correspondent in Turkey for five years between 2014 and 2019, before moving to Rome to take up the post of Southern Europe Correspondent. His posting in Turkey coincided with a period of intense turbulence, including terror attacks, the attempted coup, the migrant crisis – and the increasing clampdown on the media and civil society. Prior to Turkey, he was based in Athens and Belgrade for the BBC, starting his career with the broadcaster in its Paris bureau in 2005. Mark studied History and French at Oxford University and was born and raised in London.