In an exclusive interview with Today's Zaman, Sharon Anderholm Wiener, US consul general in İstanbul, shared her perspective on Turkey and explained how things have changed since 1975, when she and her husband served at the İncirlik air base. "Turkey was very isolated economically then," she recalls, "but now it is very much tied to the global economy." Wiener also notes that the change can be felt most in İstanbul, where many international companies base their regional operations.

 
Wiener was an instructor in Ankara and Adana from 1975 to 1978, teaching American servicemen and women under a program run by the University of Maryland Overseas Division. "I barely recognized Adana when I went to visit there this summer for a couple of days," she says. Wiener also notes that Adana was where she and her husband, who was a US Air Force lawyer at the time, decided to enter diplomatic service.

But the most dramatic transition in her life happened when she spent a year in Lebanon as an exchange student enrolled in the American University of Beirut. "I was actually a pre-med major," she recalls. "Then in 1968 ... I went to Lebanon for a year." The year 1968 was a turbulent time for US politics as both Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy were assassinated. "It was the first time I watched the US elections from abroad," says Wiener, referring to the 1968 election. "And during that year I decided I wanted to switch [my major] to international relations." She went on to receive a bachelor's degree from Ohio Wesleyan University.

She pursued graduate studies at Duke University and decided to head back to Lebanon to do some research. Her husband, Howard C. (Kerry) Wiener, asked the US Air Force to station him at a nearby base. "They assigned him to the İncirlik base," she says. But her dream of going back to Lebanon was shattered when civil war erupted in the country.

She decides to become diplomat in Turkey

Turkey was a major turning point in the careers of both Sharon and Howard Wiener as they decided to enter diplomatic service with the US State Department. "Even after our first year in Turkey, we found living in this country so interesting that my husband and I both decided that we would be interested in becoming diplomats. So we actually took the exam to get into the Foreign Service in Adana," she says. "For 28 years we were a diplomatic couple but never had a chance to come back to Turkey."

But destiny brought the Wiener family back to Turkey -- the country that transformed their careers. Sharon Wiener became the US consul general in İstanbul, but her husband may have gotten the better end of the bargain. Since Howard Wiener retired two years ago, he has no further responsibilities in diplomatic affairs. Sharon Wiener explains that her husband "gets to live in İstanbul, meet all sorts of interesting people, take courses in archeology, participate in charity programs." He does all of that without any need to go back to the consulate to take care of official business, she notes.

The arrangement seems to be working well for both of them. "I would not be able to [be consul general] if my husband was still a diplomat," she says. The US State Department does not allow couples to serve at the same post when one of them is in charge. Howard Wiener "thinks that the only job that is better than the American consul general in İstanbul is to be the spouse of the consul general, likes to be called 'Ms. consul general's spouse' and says it is the best title he ever had," Sharon Wiener shares.

Wiener sounds very happy with the assignment she took on last year and says she accepted the post with great "memnuniyetle" (happiness). As she knows Turkish well, she often makes reference to Turkish words when emphasizing a point.

In Turkey, Wiener watched the US presidential election from abroad for the second time in her life. "Forty years later, I'm here [in İstanbul] in a similar part of the world, watching another historic [US] presidential election." When asked if she ever thought the time would come that the US would elect an African-American president, Wiener shakes her head and says "never." "Even as an a optimistic student in 1968, I don't think I ever would have dreamed that we would have elected an African-American president with as much enthusiasm and support, not only in the United States, but worldwide."

Wiener considers enhancing economic relations with Turkey one of her prime responsibilities as consul general. She laments the fact that so many news reports confine the relations between the US and Turkey to security and foreign affairs. "It is so much more than that," she emphasizes. "Business relations have flourished tremendously." In fact US foreign direct investment (FDI) in Turkey was $5.2 billion over the last three years. US exports to Turkey in the first eight months of 2008 increased by 75 percent compared to the same period last year.

Wiener argues that American investors see real opportunity in Turkey. "Businessmen vote with their dollars," she notes. She mentions that trade delegations from different states have come to Turkey to promote business ties. In fact a group of 24 American businesspeople, state government officials and university representatives from North Dakota came just last week to meet with their Turkish counterparts. The US Department of Commerce organized a conference titled "Trade Winds Europe" in İstanbul in April 2008. According to Wiener, 67 major US companies set up 400 meetings with Turkish businesses.

Wiener concedes that the global economic slowdown may impact next year's numbers, but she is confident that the positive trend in trade relations between the US and Turkey will continue. "The pattern is set. I think US companies are looking to Turkey as a place that does represent a good future market, a good place to invest," she says. The American diplomat adds a caveat, however: "It is going be important for certain economic reforms that still need to be carried out to actually be carried out. As Turkey moves toward its EU membership, those reforms will be necessary."

The US diplomat agrees that the US has image issues in Turkey but questions the Pew report indicating that only 9 percent of Turks had a favorable opinion of the US in 2007. The number increased to 12 percent this year. She says polls do not tell the whole story. "What if you ask, if you could go anywhere in the world to study, where would you go? Or if you could travel on vacation to any country in the world, where would you want to travel?" She points out that the facts do not support the Pew results. "Turkey sent more students to the US than any other European country," she says, adding that "around 12,000 Turkish students are studying in the US." According to consulate figures, İstanbul alone issued over 5,000 student visas this year. "The number of visas we issued overall has gone up 17 percent in the last year," she stresses.

The US consul general explains that her country has devised many exchange programs to better inform foreigners about the US. "The best way is to travel to the United States and see that America is a multifaceted society," she says. Participating in a program like the International Visitors Program, she notes, "may not change Pew next week, but it can have a big impact down the road." Even Turkish President Abdullah Gül joined one of those programs, Wiener says, adding, "If we are good in predicting who the future leaders will be, we can have a real impact on the attitudes of foreigners towards the US." According to data provided by the consulate, 45 Turks went on such a trip in this year alone.

"Then we have Fulbright scholarships," Wiener continues. About 70 people were sent to the US to get master's degrees and doctorates through the program this year. The US contributes over $3.5 million to the program, which has been expanded to include community colleges. The Turkish government also contributes financially to the program. University-to-university exchange programs are also on the rise between the two countries. Wiener reveals that some American investors would like to establish American colleges and universities in Turkey, but bureaucratic impediments prevent them from doing so.

Wiener understands that the image problem goes both ways. "We try to make sure that Americans who come here get a good understanding of how important Turkey is to the United States."

"There are a lot of cultural elements that Americans share with Turks: hospitality, being open to people from the outside," she notes. "Turks are pleasantly surprised when they get to the United States because they feel much more at home there than they do other places." The number of Turks visiting the US has been rapidly increasing, says Wiener, adding that the US Consulate General issued 51,000 visas in the past year.

On the other side of the aisle, American visitors to Turkey are also on the rise. Wiener says she has yet to meet anyone who has complained about his or her stay in Turkey. "Hospitality is way beyond anybody's expectations," she emphasizes. She expects, however, that a big boom in travelers will occur after 2010 because the American Society of Travel Agents will hold their annual convention in İstanbul in the spring of 2010. "That means you bring thousands of travel agents to Turkey. They go back, and they are going to recommend Turkey to their clients."

Turkey and the US share common values

The American diplomat also talks about the common values the US and Turkey share. She says "democracy, economic prosperity and peaceful relations" are of the utmost importance for the two allies. Referring to the 2006 Shared Vision Document signed by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and then-Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül, she says both countries have a common stake in maintaining Iraq's integrity and keeping it a viable democracy in the region. "That comes from our shared values. A democracy next to Turkey in Iraq would be very good for Turkey," she notes.

She also mentions that the intelligence exchange on outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) terrorism also comes from those values, noting that the PKK represents everything opposed to those values. Wiener sees Turkey's mediating role between Syria and Israel in this context, too.

She disagrees with Turkey's relations with Iran, however. "We understand Turkey has serious energy needs and has to have good relations with its neighbors. Developing new sources of economic ties with Tehran sends a mixed message to the Iranians," she adds. Describing Iran as a country "trying to develop military nuclear capabilities," the US diplomat says, "The UN and [Turkey's] key allies, including the United States, are trying to pressure Iran into abandoning those capabilities." Wiener stresses that the US is supportive of alternative routes to foster a safe and reasonably priced supply of energy to Turkey and the rest of Europe. Many high-level US delegations have come to Turkey to talk about those issues.

When asked what the biggest problem American expats experience in Turkey is, the US consul general says, "The one I hear about the most is the difficulty of getting work permits." She says it is a serious problem not only for US citizens but also for other foreigners in Turkey. She sees the complex Turkish bureaucratic system as an impediment to Turkey's potential to become an international hub. "It is really unfortunate. Turkey deserves a better system. Because for the way Turkey would like to move forward there has to be more flexibility in the bureaucracy," she adds. "It is really important that foreigners be able to get work permits under some sort of reasonable system."

She regrets that she does not have much time to read these days. "I don't have time to read as much as I would like to. But I collected lots of books. If and when I retire, I will have a whole library."

Wiener is a great fan of İstanbul and loves to go sightseeing. "If I really have time, I travel all around Turkey," she says. Still she tries to visit different places during her spare time on weekends. "I like to walk around in old neighborhoods and see old ruins," she notes. "Some people like to go for shopping," she says, "I don't do that. I'd much rather go and visit a Sinan [famous Turkish architect] mosque. That is my real hobby."

When asked if she is a collector, Wiener replies,

"I collect memories."

TODAYSZAMAN