people
Interview
THE
By Lauren Carmon
I
IF MAGAZINE INTERVIEW QUESTIONS THE HONORABLE
FERHAT ALKAN, CONSUL GENERAL OF THE REPUBLIC OF
TURKEY IN HOUSTON
First tell us a little about yourself and walk us through
your background
I was born in Kayseri,
a 5,000 years old city
in Central Anatolia. I
studied International Relations at the
Middle East Technical University in Ankara and received my
master’s degree at the
University of Nottingham on European Integration.
I joined the Turkish
Ministry of Foreign
Affairs in 2001 where
I worked at Middle East Political Department, Iraq Desk.
I served at Turkish Embassies in Kabul-Afghanistan and
Washington DC. Before resuming my duties in Houston as the Consul General of the Republic of Turkey on
October 2014, I worked for three years as the Chief of
Protocol to the Turkish President.
What does a Consul General in your capacity do?
My main duty and function as the Consul General is to
represent my country, as well as protect the interests of
Turkey, of our citizens and corporate bodies. My consular function also consists in furthering the development
38 iF Magazine | DECEMBER 2016
of commercial, economic, cultural and scientific ties between Turkey and the states in my consular jurisdiction
as well as promoting people-to-people relations.
Tell us about the Consulate General of Turkey in
Houston. What parts of America are covered by the Consulate and what are the services it provides?
Turkish Consulate General in Houston was established
in 1985. In addition
to Houston and the
Consular Section of
the Turkish Embassy
in Washington DC,
Turkey has Consulate
Generals in Boston,
Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami and New
York.
Eight states … namely: Alabama, Arkansas,
Louisiana, Mississippi,
New Mexico, Oklahoma, Tennessee and
Texas are in our area of consular jurisdiction.
The Consulate General primarily provides all consular
services to Turkish citizens residing permanently or temporarily in the United States by functioning as notary
or civil registrar, issuing passports or travel documents,
safeguarding the interests of our nationals and corporate bodies. Thanks to the advancement of technology,
Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs introduced an electronic consular services module (www.konsolosluk.gov.
tr) where Turkish citizens living abroad complete most
of their consular transactions online, without visiting the
Consulates.