Turks in America

Turks in America

Unlike in Europe, there are more qualified Turkish citizens residing in the United States, even though they are lesser in overall number. These people are active in a number of fields, ranging from academia to business, yet have been unable to achieve various levels of success and make themselves noticeable.

However, I noticed this is changing during a trip to Los Angeles last fall, as well as a recent meeting sponsored by the Turkic-American Alliance held in Washington, D.C. last week. The alliance, which has six federations and 180 associations across the US, hosts federations founded by immigrants from Anatolia, Central Asia and the Balkans. The alliance has been fairly active and has managed to maintain close ties with a number of senators and members of the House of Representatives, including US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Dignitaries including Richard Lugar, Robert Casey, Frank Lautenberg, Jeff Bingaman, Roger Wicker, Mark Warner and Kay Hagan attended an alliance meeting last year in Washington. This year’s meeting, titled New Challenges and Opportunities, was attended by Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek as speaker; and frankly, he attracted a great deal of attention. A number of senators and representatives attended the closing gala Wednesday. How this came about is a question that needs to be considered.

This successful Turkish presence in the US is attributable to the influence and activities of various associations at a local level. They might have waited long time to get an appointment or attract support but they never give up. They created a network of contacts and ties and established friendships with lawmakers at the state level. They got in touch with politicians before elections and supported their campaigns. They expanded their sphere of activities to maintain direct ties with senators and representatives; their activities often become invaluable for the politicians, so valuable that they could not be ignored. That is, they do not limit their activities to lobbying in Washington; they reached out to the grassroots. And they also brought influential leaders on regular trips to Turkey and hosted them in lovely destinations such as Hatay, Konya, Cappadocia and İzmir.

The increased presence of Turkish Airlines (THY) in the US also served an important role in this success. For instance, THY will launch a new route between Houston and İstanbul in March 2012, in light of the activities of Turkish associations in Texas. The approach of direct contact and getting to know a culture allows obstacles to be overcome. Thousands of volunteers have tirelessly made an effort to better promote Turkey. Of course, an improved relationship between Washington and Ankara has also constructively contributed to the current atmosphere.

Washington realizes that Turkey has greater influence in the transformation efforts of the people in the region due to its soft power. Moves such as reduced tension with Israel, the creation of the UN radar system and secular messages to Arab nations were properly read in the US capitol. Reconciliation between the state and the Turkish people has also contributed to this process. Turkish Ambassador Namık Tan maintained constructive and influential ties with Turkish associations and extended his support for their activities. The outcome of this is now becoming visible with Turkey’s growing influence and its changing perception and image in the US.

via Turks in America.

Ergun Babahan