UKinTurkey Newsletter
March-April-May/ 2013 (Nr:2)
Message from the British Ambassador Welcome to the second edition of the UK in Turkey newsletter. In offering this publication to all British residents in Turkey, our aim is to give you an insight into how, through the UK’s diplomatic and trade network in Turkey, we are promoting UK interests here. There is obviously a limit to what we can say here about political developments; but I am sure that all of you will have been following media reporting about the demonstrations which have taken place in cities across Turkey in recent days. We are regularly updating our travel advice to reflect developments. Please follow our Twitter and Facebook accounts for updates. The key message is that you should avoid areas where demonstrations are taking place. In this issue you’ll find details of the Turkish Government’s new Foreigners and International Protection Bill, as well as of the implementation of a new electronic visa system for all foreigners travelling to Turkey. Both measures will clearly have a direct impact on British residents living in Turkey. I’m pleased to say that, as far as we are aware so far, the introduction of the e-visa system appears to have caused minimal disruption for British travellers. Indeed, based on some of the comments I have seen on the Embassy’s Facebook page, many compare the system favourably with the previous (and still operating) “ visa on arrival” system. It has been a busy few months for our trade and investment relationship. We have hosted important visits by the UK’s Sport and Tourism Minister, Hugh Robertson, to showcase our expertise in delivering major sporting events (most prominently London 2012, looking ahead to the possibility that Istanbul will win the 2020 Games), and by the Lord Mayor of the City of London to promote the UK’s world-class reputation in financial services and set out what we can offer the Istanbul Financial Centre. And in March, we launched the GREAT campaign at Turkey’s annual gathering of business leaders at the Uludag summit. Over the coming twelve months, through events across Turkey, we will be highlighting British expertise in innovation, design and technology to ensure that our companies remain well-placed to benefit from the huge commercial opportunities that exist in one of the world’s main emerging markets. If you would like to stay up to date with all of our recent activities, please check our Facebook and Twitter accounts (note - attach addresses). We update these accounts every day. Among other things, you’ll find details there of all important travel advice updates for Turkey. I wish you all an enjoyable summer David Reddaway Ambassador, Ankara
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Message from HM Consul General GREAT campaign in Turkey: Olympian Ambition On 29 March we launched the GREAT campaign for Turkey at Uludag (the mythical Mount Olympus) Economic Summit, near Bursa. The Summit is a conference of 500 of Turkey’s top business leaders and opinion formers. We were delighted that Turkey’s Minister of Finance, Mehmet Simsek, the CEO of Koc Holding, Turgay Durak and other top business leaders, were able to join us at a Gala Dinner to mark the launch. As well as new business contacts, the launch at Uludag achieved almost £250,000 worth of coverage through online, print and TV media channels. (Leigh Turner’s blog on Uludağ GREAT Campaign Launch: http://blogs.fco.gov.uk/leighturner/2013/04/03/turkish-britishpartnership-hits-a-high/) The GREAT campaign has the personal backing of the Prime Minister David Cameron. In Turkey the campaign will focus on increasing UK exports to Turkey, on promoting inward investment by Turkish companies to the UK, and on attracting more well-qualified Turkish students to study in the UK. The campaign also aims to improve awareness of UK strengths among the Turkish business community through the use of several GREAT themes including Innovation, Entrepreneurs, Creativity, Technology and (most important to some!) Shopping. We will be organising a series of events to illustrate what makes the UK GREAT in these areas. Since the campaign began at the end of March we have held a GREAT fashion event, run a GREAT stand alongside those of other EU member states in Istanbul to mark Europe Day and welcomed the Deputy Mayor of London, Kit Malthouse, with a business delegation. Two weeks ago eagle-eyed visitors to Istanbul will have seen 50 GREAT posters dotted around the city. Over the coming months we are planning other GREAT events, including a larger fashion show and an infrastructure seminar to promote UK expertise for Turkey’s huge public investment programme. Our largest GREAT event will be a British Business Summit early in 2014, which will focus on sectors such as energy, advanced manufacturing and ICT. We plan to work with partner organisations to create some eye catching and fun events too. Finally, since we want GREAT to reach out beyond Istanbul and other large cities, we hope to arrange a regional tour to Anatolian cities where the UK is less well-known. Did you see the Prime Minister on a brand new hybrid GREAT double decker bus in New York last week? We’re looking forward to seeing an identical bus in Turkey this autumn, attending events and travelling around the country. Look out for more GREAT news on Facebook and Twitter as the campaign unfolds.
Leigh Turner Consul General, Istanbul 2
Message from HM Consul I replaced Susan Wilson as HM Consul and Director Consular Services (Turkey) in February this year and have been joined by Joanne Pietsch as Consular Network Co-ordinator. Between us, we are responsible for managing our extensive consular network around the country, ensuring that we continue to offer the best consular service to British nationals in Turkey that we can. We are based in Istanbul but travel frequently to our consulates around the coast. I have worked for the Foreign & Commonwealth Office for 15 years, most recently as Deputy High Commissioner in Cameroon. Joanne has lived in Turkey for the past 7 years working in Fethiye for Tui. She brings valuable experience of the tourism sector in Turkey to our consular operation. Consular services are constantly evolving and we have arrived at an interesting time. A new 2013 -2016 Consular Strategy has just been launched which focuses on doing more for the most vulnerable people needing our assistance. We are working with colleagues around Turkey and in London to streamline routine services such as issuing birth and death certificates to enable staff to spend more time working with those who most need our help. How we keep in touch with people is also evolving. In our more digitally connected world, we will be doing more to keep in contact with people through social media including Facebook and Twitter. Also, as many readers will be aware, we recently switched off our Locate registration system and are encouraging people to sign up through our website to email alerts and follow us on social media. We are aware this isn’t for everyone and we will continue to keep in touch in other ways such as through this newsletter and through community meetings through the year. We welcome feedback on our consular service so please do let us know your experience of our services. Timothy Fisher HM Consul, İstanbul
NEWSLETTER CONTENT News from the Embassy Consular Projects Trade Consular links
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NEWS FROM THE EMBASSY The Rt Hon. Hugh Robertson MP, Minister for Sports and Culture, led a 15-strong UK business delegation to Ankara and Istanbul from 18-20 February.
Alderman Roger Gifford, Lord Mayor of the City of London, led a 20-strong UK business delegation to Istanbul and Ankara from 17-21 March.
In Ankara, The Minister Roberston met the Turkish Minister for Youth and Sports, to discuss Turkey’s interest in UK’s expertise in delivering a successful Olympic Games.
The Istanbul leg of the Lord mayor’s visit began with a dinner hosted by top businessman Mustafa Koc to discuss investment in the UK. The Lord Mayor opened a series of packed business events at Pera House focusing on London as an investment destination for Turkish financial institutions; London as a dispute resolution centre; and delivering large scale infrastructure projects.
The Minister also opened a GREAT-branded, “Delivering Great Global events” seminar hosted by the Turkish Contractors Association (TCA) and held a separate meeting with the President of the TCA.
İstanbul’s ambitions to become a leading International Financial center (IFC) dominated meetings In Ankara. At a lunch hosted by Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan, the Lord Mayor set out how the City could help realise Turkey’s IFC aspirations.
In Istanbul, the Minister had dinner at Pera House with leading members of the Turkish Olympic Committee and Turkish business representatives, establishing a strong relationship and discussing informally the strengths of London 2012 and how British business could help Turkey’s global sporting ambitions. The highlight of the Istanbul leg was a call on the Mayor, Kadir Topbas. This included discussion on Istanbul’s ambitions and how UK firms could help.
In discussions with the Environment and Urban Development Minister, the Finance Minister and the Development Minister on the IFC, Ministers said London was the partner of choice.
GREAT campaign launches in Turkey The UK’s GREAT campaign was launched in Turkey last month at the annual Uludağ Economic Summit - known locally as the “Turkish Davos”.
Chevening scholars for 2013/2014 announced This year, around 13 scholarships will be awarded in order to study Master’s degrees at the UK’s top universities as part of the Foreign Office’s Chevening Programme.
As part of the launch, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg addressed the audience for a gala dinner via video message. In his message, the Deputy Prime Minister highlighted the UK’s ambition to double the volume of bilateral trade with Turkey by 2015.
Chevening Scholarships are the UK government’s global scholarship programme, funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and partner organisations. Since 1983, the Chevening programme has offered financial support to more than 41,000 students in 116 countries in order to study a Master’s degree at the UK’s leading universities.For more information on the Chevening Programme in Turkey, you can visit: http://www.chevening.org/turkey/
The Turkish Finance Minister, Mehmet Şimşek underlined his support for this goal, and his belief that the UK would become the EU’s biggest economy by 2050 (with Turkey in second place).Five hundred representatives from Turkey’s business elite attended the summit, making it an ideal platform to promote the UK’s GREAT campaign trade and investment messages.
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HMA David Reddaway visited a camp in Adiyaman
“Turkish Local Media On The EU Path”
On 22 February the British Ambassador to Turkey, David Reddaway, visited a camp in Adiyaman province which is hosting around 10,000 Syrian nationals who have fled the violence in Syria. The Ambassador met Turkish officials, and Syrian nationals who are being hosted in the camp.
The Embassy has been working with its partners in the Turkish EU Ministry to support Turkey’s aspiration to join the EU. The latest seminars to promote this goal took place in Afyonkarahisar, Balıkesir, Isparta, Karabük, Kayseri, Siirt and Artvin. At the outset, we envisaged training 250 local journalists within the framework of this project. But as it attracted a huge amount of interest from the local media across Turkey, number of applications to the seminars reached over 800.
Speaking ahead of the visit, the Ambassador said: ”I am delighted to announce that the UK is to provide a further donation of £330,000 to the World Food Programme to help those who have fled the violence in Syria. Since the beginning of the crisis, the UK has provided some £42 million to alleviate the suffering of those trapped inside Syria. This money has put food and medicine into the hands of those who need it most. Overall, the UK is one of the world’s largest bilateral donors of humanitarian assistance to the Syria people. Thus far, we have made almost £140 million in funding available.
The latest seminars took place in 7 provinces attracting interest from local journalists. High level panelists as well as speakers from the British Embassy, highlighted the case for Turkey’s accession to the EU. In the words of the Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, this is a “strategic necessity” for the UK.
Turkey now hosts some 180,000 Syrian nationals in camps across the country. The hospitality shown by the Turkish people has been a great example to the world.”
Children and staff from the British Embassy School Ankara (BESA) celebrated Children’s Day on 23rd April. Pupils came to the Embassy School dressed in red & white and were treated to ice-cream and flags. The BESA dance group represented the school at the Ari Kolej celebrations, by performing a black sea dance, which they later performed for the pupils of school at a Children’s Day special assembly.
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Chevening Alumni Engagement Activities: Alumni Receptions by HMA and HMCG In order to gather the Chevening alumni together and create networking opportunities for them, HMA David Reddaway and HM Consul General Leigh Turner hosted two receptions for the alumni in Turkey. We were delighted by the turnout and enthusiasm from the alumni and it was a great opportunity for sharing project ideas in order to promote UK/Turkey relations. The Chevening network in Turkey is the largest in Europe, with approximately 1600 alumni from various sectors. The alumni are specialists in a wide variety of subject areas such as European affairs, diplomacy, public administration, politics, finance, business, economy, social sciences, environment, law, human rights, media, while many hold positions of leadership and influence in both the private and public sector in Turkey.
British Consulate helps with safe blood for Turkey “Expanding Standards“
Foster
Care
in
Line
with
EU On 21 March the Turkish Red Crescent organised a mobile blood collection at the British Consulate-General in Istanbul so that volunteers could contribute to the Red Crescent Safe Blood Supply Programme.
In February, auditors from the Ministry for Family and Social Policy and from provinces around Turkey, as well as NGO representatives working in the field of foster care participated in a workshop. Supported by the Embassy, two British experts on foster care travelled out from the UK to share UK best practice.
Over a couple of hours, volunteers contributed 70 units of blood
The participants got together to learn about the UK foster care system, and to identify areas that could help improve the development of foster care in Turkey.
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CONSULAR E-visas for tourists and business visitors to Turkey
British Embassy in Ankara and the British consulate offices in Turkey moved to Clickbook
On 24 April 2013 the Turkish government formally launched a new online system for applying for and receiving visas for Turkey. In the first week of operation, more than 5,300 e-visas had been processed. According to the Turkish MFA, of the 30 million visitors to Turkey each year, 10 million received their visas on arrival. This is the target audience for the e-visa. By enabling people to apply for and receive their visa before they travel, visitors will no longer have to queue for a visa on arrival. The eligibility criteria for the visa have not changed, only the delivery method. One advantage for travelers is that they will know in advance if there is going to be a problem with their visa and have the opportunity to resolve this with the Turkish Embassy in London before travel. We have been informed that this system will be made compulsory in 3-4 months and the visa-on-arrival service will be withdrawn. So please tell family, friends and other contacts to check before they travel and encourage them to use the new system if they can. The practicalities of applying for and receiving the visa are fairly straightforward. The website is currently available in English and Turkish although other languages will follow. There is a contact form on the website and replies should be received within 24hrs. Fees are payable by Mastercard or Visa credit or debit cards. The visa cost remains the same (£10 for UK nationals) although credit card payments attract an additional charge. The Turkish government plans to introduce kiosks at airports, travel agents and airline offices where applications can be made. Travel Agents or other third parties can apply on an individual’s behalf as long as they have all the relevant information. Although this is a Turkish government system, we would welcome comments on how this system is working for British travelers to Turkey. You can send feedback to britembcon@fco.gov.uk
Since May 2, the British Embassy Ankara and consular offices in Turkey have been offering a new way of scheduling appointments for various notarial and documentary services: the Clickbook online appointment system. British expatriates/visitors and consular staff can now conveniently and securely manage their appointments online with less hassle, whilst also taking advantage of automatic appointment reminders and a 24/7 service from ClickBook scheduler. “Clickbook Consular Appointment” site is the new avenue for people to book appointments for: · Legalization, · Notarial Services, · Births/Marriages/Deaths, · Nationality oaths · Emergency Travel Documents Those using the service for the first time need to register their names, email addresses and telephone numbers. For future appointments, the email address registered will be the one used to access the service. People may then select the service they require, select a date from the calendar in the site (available days are shaded in green) or click on “next available,” and then select the time suitable for them. A confirmation email will be sent once an appointment has been booked. For those who need to cancel their appointments, they need to sign in and click the link “cancel appointment.” Complete applications The British Embassy reminds applicants to bring correct documentation to their appointment as failing to do so may cause refusal leaving no choice but to set another appointment online. For more information visit our page. https://www.gov.uk/notarial-and-documentaryservices-guide-for-turkey#book-an-appointment-for-anotarial-act-or-certificate
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Foreigners and International Protection Act On 10 April, Turkish President Abdullah Gϋl signed Turkey’s new law on foreigners and international protection. The draft law had been under formal preparation since 2008 and will provide for a more stable and transparent framework to manage in-country migration issues for foreigners in Turkey. The British Embassy has been working with the Turkish government to develop this law and will continue to support them in the lead up to implementation in April 2014. The main features of the law are: A path to free permanent residence for foreigners that have completed 8 years residence; Processes to cover future mass migration situations such as the Syrian crisis; A system to assist the operation of a comprehensive asylum system Rights of appeal and review against some decisions; A new civilian General Directorate (similar to an Agency) to operate the law and offering a migration career track for staff; The agency will begin to take over in-country migration function from the police in the next 12 months and include the processing of irregular migrants. New agency will have branches in 81 provinces and some holiday locations. Before the law becomes fully operational, the new agency will have to recruit a workforce of 3000 staff and borrow others from the police force. There will also need to be some secondary legislation. The British Embassy will be supporting Turkey with this process. The changes around permanent residence have been of particular interest to British residents in Turkey – very few, if any, foreign residents have ever qualified for permanent residence under the current regulations. Our Consul has already met Director Atilla Toros of the new General Directorate on Migration Manegeent to discuss co-operation on explaining the changes to British communities around Turkey. We will aim to ensure that these new provisions are clearly understood as and when they come into force. There should not be any major changes in the immediate future and British residents should follow existing processes until advised otherwise.
Our website is moved! We joined the UK government platform GOV.UK. Our website address is now: https://www.gov.uk/world/turkey
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PROJECTS Training for Local Lawyers in Manisa Under our “EU Chapter 23: Judiciary and Fundamental Rights” project, Stuart Adam (Head Political Section Ankara) joined a training event for local lawyers in Manisa. The Manisa Governor, the Undersecretary at the EU Ministry, delivered speeches to open the event. Project Closure in Istanbul We closed our Prosperity Fund project “Capacity Building of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) on Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Inventory Accounting” on 18 April. Mr. Cevat Yaman, Head of Environment Protection Department, underlined that Istanbul had made important international commitments on climate change and that, without the outputs provided by this project, his department would not have been able to take further steps to meet them. According to the report, Istanbul is responsible for 11% of Turkey’s emissions (based on 2010 data).
UK Funded Documentary screened for MPs in Ankara This year the Embassy supported a ground-breaking, “My Child Documentary”, which covered the experiences and lives of Turkish parents with LGBT sons and daughters. The film was screened for members of the Turkish Parliament in Ankara on 15 April. As well as parliamentarians, leading NGOs and human rights activists attended. The film has attracted some rave reviews in the Turkish media.
Budapest Process 5th Ministerial Meeting in Istanbul The meeting was chaired by the Turkish Interior Minister, Muammer Güler, and organised by the International Centre on Migration Policy Development (ICMPD). The UK Immigration Minister, Mark Harper, represented the UK. Mr. Harper held bilateral meetings with Turkey and a number of countries, including Pakistan and Afghanistan. A Ministerial declaration on a “Silk Routes Partnership” was signed by the Ministers.
Strengthening civil society links between Turkey and Armenia Finally, under the FCO’s Expertise Fund colleagues from the British Embassy in Ankara and Yerevan held meetings in each country to exchange ideas on how to strengthen civil society links between Tur key and Armenia. Please see below the link for a joint blog written by the participants in this project. http://blogs.fco.gov.uk/ukinarmenia/2013/04/19/the-way-to-come-to-changes3/
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TRADE UK-Turkey GREAT Fashion talks
GREAT billboards in Istanbul
The Consulate General in Istanbul partnered with the British Chamber of Commerce on 5 April to host a GREAT fashion event to mark London Fashion Week. Speakers included Turkish fashion designers such as Arzu Kaprol and Deniz Berdan
GREAT was on the streets of Istanbul between 5 th -12th May 2013. The GREAT team in Turkey, with the support of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, advertised the following pillars of GREAT:
The event received coverage in the press and social media.
Doing Business in the UK is GREAT UK Trade and Investment in Turkey held a “Doing Business in the UK is GREAT” conference on 9 May 2013 at Pera House.
GREAT Europe Day Staff from the British Consulate General in Istanbul and the British Embassy in Ankara helped to promote the GREAT campaign on Istanbul’s iconic Istiklal Street on 11 May.
The conference consisted of opening remarks by the HM Consul General and the Chairman of BCCT (British Chamber of Commerce in Turkey) and panel discussions on doing business in the UK, investment in the UK.
Visitors to the stand heard about why the UK was a world class destination for tertiary education, and how recent changes to our visa regime in Turkey were helping to boost trade ties.
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CONSULAR LINKS (Please click on the titles for the relevant web page)
Online Consular Appointment System Travel advice Passports and emergency travel documents Births, deaths and marriages Legislation service Notarial and documentary services List of lawyers Driving in Turkey Mobile phone use in Turkey Entry and residency requirements in Turkey Residency permits in Turkey Work permits in Turkey Turkish healthcare for British visitors and residents Prepare for earthquakes in Turkey Earthquake contact information Traffic accidents in Turkey
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