US embassy cable - 02ISTANBUL2088

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ISTANBUL 002088 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
FOR ECA HARRISON, ECA/A/E BALLOW; ECA/A/E/NEA-SA 
SEDLINS, KLUTTZ, TAFT; ECA/A/S/U GIBSON; G/IWI; 
EUR/PPD 
 
 
E.O. 12958:N/A 
TAGS: KPAO, SCUL, TU, Istanbul 
SUBJECT:  REVIEW OF THE FULBRIGHT GLOBAL WOMEN'S 
CONFERENCE IN ISTANBUL, SEPTEMBER 18-21, 2002 
 
 
1.  SUMMARY.  PA Istanbul cooperated with the Bureau 
of Educational and Cultural Affairs in executing the 
first-ever Fulbright-sponsored conference bringing 
together 110 r 110 women from the Middle East, North 
Africa, South Asia, Europe and Central Asia to focus 
on the role of women as leaders in the global 
community.  The conference was amplyheavily covered 
by Turkish media. Assistant  Assistant Secretary 
Harrison personally presented to Turkish recipients 
both a scholarship and an award under the ECA 
Partnerships for Learning Initiative.Preparation of 
a final text of the conference presentations and 
proceedings awaits selection of an editor END 
SUMMARY. 
 
 
2.  The Fulbright-sponsored "Women in the Global 
Community" conference was hosted on the historic 
campus of Bogazici University (originally founded by 
Congregationalist missionaries in 1863 as Robert 
College) on September 18 - 21, featuring sessions on 
a wide array of topics, including education, public 
health, information technology, war and peace, 
culture and ethnicity, and the role of women in the 
political process. 
 
 
3.  Assistant Secretary of State Patricia Harrison, 
Ambassador Pearson, Senior Coordinator of the Office 
of International Women's Issues April Palmerlee, and 
the Consul General participated with university vice 
rector Sevket Pamuk in ceremonies opening the 
conference.  During the course of the conference 
Assistant Secretary Harrison met with several 
leading Turkish businesswomen, resulting in plans 
for the establishment of a chapter in Turkey of the 
International Women's Forum, as well as with a group 
of American Fulbright students who related their 
experiences in Turkey and who were invited by the 
Assistant Secretary to write recommendations for the 
program.  The keynote address, "Historical 
Perspective: The Turkish Example," was delivered by 
Professor Akile Gursoy, prominent sociologist and 
granddaughter of Turkey's third president, Celal 
Bayar. 
 
 
4.  The conference attracted more than 110 overseas 
participants from the Middle East, South Asia, North 
Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean, including 
scholars from Afghanistan, Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, 
India, Israel, Jordan, Morocco, Nepal, Palestine, 
Tunisia, Europe and the United States.  More than 
150 Turkish women NGO leaders, academics and 
business persons, as well as former Fulbright and 
Humphrey grantees, constituted the main conference 
audience.  Sessions were varied in style and 
presentation, and debate throughout was lively. The 
most heavily-attended panels were on "The Role of 
Women in Rebuilding Afghanistan," "Women in Turkey," 
and "Civil Society: War and Peace."  The conference 
program included evening screenings of award-winning 
films produced/directed by women filmmakers at the 
Mithat Elam Film Center on campus and an exhibit of 
books by women writers (to be donated to the host 
institution). Turkish print and electronic media 
covered the opening ceremonies and concluding 
banquet.  In addition, the Library of Congress film 
team recorded the entire conference for display on 
its website. 
 
 
5.  During the final banquet of the conference a 
Fulbright scholarship provided by the Bureau of 
Educational and Cultural Affairs for $50,000 was 
announced in honor of the late Inci Pirinccioglu, 
one of the first Turkish Fulbright students, who 
returned to Turkey from study at Columbia University 
during the 1950s to build a successful travel and 
events planning business.  The Pirinccioglu family 
was present at the occasion, spoke of the effect of 
the Fulbright program on their mother's life, and 
announced their intention to establish a reciprocal 
Fulbright award which would support an American 
student studying in Turkey. 
 
 
6.  In conjunction with the conference, Assistant 
Secretary Harrison announced a $250,000 award under 
 
SIPDIS 
ECA's Partnerships for Learning Initiative to the 
U.S.-Turkish Binational Commission to enable Turkish 
undergraduate students with demonstrated financial 
need to study in the United States at several 
campuses of the State University of New York (SUNY) 
system.  The announcement was made at a press 
conference in the consulate general garden following 
a meeting with the rectors of ten Turkish 
universities, including five universities from the 
southeast of the country.  It is anticipated that 
other donors, including the American university 
sector, will provide additional funding for this 
program. 
 
 
7.  Mass circulation Turkish dailies Hurriyet and 
Milliyet carried prominent coverage with photographs 
both of the $50 thousand Inci Pirinccioglu 
Scholarship award and of the $250 thousand 
Partnership for Learning Initiative scholarship 
announcement.  Clips of the press conference in the 
consulate garden were aired on NTV and other 
stations.  In addition, a long interview with 
Assistant Secretary Harrison conducted by senior 
columnist Ferai Tinc (cited two years ago by a UK 
paper as one of the most respected women journalists 
in the world) was featured in the Sunday, September 
22, edition of Hurriyet daily.  Lively TV interviews 
with conference participants, especially with the 
Afghan women, were among the event highlights picked 
up by the Turkish media. 
 
 
8.  The staff of PA--Istanbul wish to express their 
collective thanks and appreciation to numerous 
individuals in ECA and to their colleagues at the US 
Mission and the Fulbright Commission in Turkey for 
the impressive cooperation and teamwork which made 
this program possible. 
ARNETT