lpappas

On Friday I asked Mrs. Aldrow about when to inform Ambassador Kakouris about my obligation to invite the Turkish Ambassador. She told me she wasn't sure and that I would need to consult either my Dad or Aris. My Dad wasn't sure how to handle it either, so, I asked Aris Chronis.  

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This morning I talked with Aris about my senior exhibit. Our conversation was extremely enlightening. The first thing we talked about was my fax to the Cypriot Ambassador. Since I sent it last Friday, he told me not to expect a reply before this Friday. Since the Embassy is usually busy (and running on Greek-time), they tend to take a week to respond to requests like mine. We also talked about when to inform the Cypriot Ambassador about my obligation to invite the Turkish Ambassador. His advice was solid. I should send a request to the Turkish Ambassador now, so I don't seem like I am setting up the event so that he is unable to attend. I also need to be upfront with the Ambassador Kakouris (Cypriot) about the possibility of the Turkish Ambassador attending. When Ambassador Kakouris replies to my fax, I need to let him know about the Turkish Ambassador. Aris told me that if I really want to make this presentation significant (and more than just a school project), I have to show that the Turkish Ambassador couldn't attend because he refused to participate, not because of an arbitrary factor like the time and date of the presentation. I need to make a great faith effort to schedule the event around three schedules: FA, the Cypriot Ambassador and the Turkish Ambassador. Today, I am going to send a fax to the Turkish Ambassador and invite him to participate.

While we were talking about the Turkish Ambassador, he informed me of the recent political occurences in Turkey. I had known that the Turkish president had received permission from his Congress to invade the Kurds. However, Aris imformed me that the Kurds, in a preemptive strike, invaded Turkey. Shortly after, the United States Congress declared the situation between Turkey and Armenia was a genocide, thus holding Turkey responsible for (what is now known as) the Armenian Genocide. Ever since the Armenian occupation bugun, Turkery has denied its status as a genocide since it began. Now that it has been offically reported as such, their government is under pressure to qualify their actions. Now Turkey will come under renewed questioning for all their actions: the Kurds, Armenia and Cyprus. As a result of Congress's vote, the Turkish government recalled their Ambassador to Turkey until the situation in the United States calmed down. Whether or not he has returned to Turkey, I am not sure. However, I find this interesting because the Turkey-Cyprus issue might be prominent in current events by the time March (when I would like the Ambassadors to come speak) rolls around. These recent occurrences make this project even more interesting to me. I am now really anxious to see how things turn out, both for my project and for International politics. Now, I am not sure if the Turkish Ambassador will accept my invitation.

Later:

I faxed the letter to the Turkish Ambassador. Now I just have to wait for a reply from the Embassy. If he has returned to Turkey, it might take a couple of weeks (or a month). Either way, I am sure my request is not the highest thing on his list of priorities right now!