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Posted by on Mar 28, 2022 in Blog, Personal | 0 comments

Memories of the Turks

 

 

I have to share this photo of my former superior, which is really cool. She granted me permission to do so.

From 1994 until 2001, I worked at the Turkish Embassy in Washington, D.C. This is Ayla Karamete, the Turkish diplomat who first hired me and then served as my superior for a few years until her tour of duty ended, and then Mustafa Siyahhan became my boss, and then it was Sami Orcun after that. I was lucky, I learned so much working with them and for them and still consider them my friends.

This photo shows Ayla out in front of the Turkish Ambassador’s residence, just off Massachusetts Ave., known as “Embassy Row.” The irony of all ironies, the Romanian Embassy is directly across the street from the Turkish Ambassador’s residence (my wife is Romanian). In this photo, you can see the Romanian Embassy in the background with both the Romanian and EU flags. I don’t remember the statue of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk being out in front of the residence. That must be new. The statue was not there when I worked for the Turks.

This whole area was and is very special to me. For seven years, each and every day I walked past these buildings as Dupont Circle (metro station) is a short distance away. The new Turkish Embassy was constructed and opened in 1999. Another interesting tidbit — right after the 1979 Iranian revolution, the Iranian Embassy (on Mass. Ave.) closed and was seized by the State Department, and the Turkish Government eventually took it over which was used as an annex. It was pretty remarkable to work in these buildings with so much history. If only the walls could talk.

Thanks for your friendship and support, Ayla — and thanks for sharing such fond memories!

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