Statements by U.S. Officials

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HARTY: Good morning. Thank you all so much for coming. I am really delighted and honored by this kind of turnout, and I very much appreciate the chance to be here. Just for a quick minute of context, what is consular affairs? Consular affairs is a part of the State Department, it’s a bureau. If we were an American business, we would be a Fortune-1000 company. We have 7,800 people around the world who do consular work in 211 different offices. Consular work has three major components to it. We are the people who adjudicate and issue passports to US citizens is they need them. We do a profound amount of work on what we call American Citizen Services. That is, we provide overseas at our embassies and consulates services that encapsulate the very cycle of life. We start with issuing a report of birth of a brand new American citizen baby born overseas, and go all the way to the other side of it. If an American citizen dies abroad, we will help settle the estate, get the remains home, or do whatever needs to be done in that case. In between, everything from taking care of an American who gets sick, who gets robbed, who has a mental illness of some sort, who in any way, shape, or form needs help. So that, if they are here in Turkey, for instance, and they don’t speak the language well and they don’t understand how to get what they need in a bad situation or an emergency – well, the embassy can help them find their way through whatever situation they might find themselves in. Finally, the other large element of our portfolio is the adjudication of visas, both for people who immigrate or for people who want to visit. I have come to Ankara -- on far too short a trip -- to talk a little bit about visa work, with particular reference to student visas. I want to say first that for us the context of student visa work is September 11, when on that day so many thousands of people died -- thousands of Americans as well as citizens from 90 different other countries in the Twin Towers in New York, in the skies over Pennsylvania, and in the Washington D.C. area. So after September 11, we virtually immediately as a nation looked at every bit of our system for how we adjudicate visas, who receives visas, and then the entire process of how people come in to the United States. I have to admit that when I came into this job in November of 2002, I found that we had unintended consequences of new procedures. The unintended consequence was that we had become less efficient than any of us would have wanted us to be. Some people took that as an indication that perhaps the United States wasn’t as welcoming a nation as it once had been. I am here to tell you that was never the case. We remain as open, and as interested and welcoming and desirous of facilitating legitimate travel as we ever have been. In the United States, we have a 93.5 billion dollar travel and tourism industry. One out of every 8 civilian adults in the United States is employed in some part of our travel and tourism industry. We absolutely welcome people to come visit. We have a 13 billion dollar student industry. That bottom line is important, of course, to all of the 3,000 premier academic institutions in the United States which welcome foreign students. What’s much more important to us is that I regard the presence of foreign students in our country as a national security issue. That is, we need foreign students to come to the United States so that they can educate themselves, take advantage of the opportunity to be on an American campus, and experience the raucous, lively debate that ensues on an American collage campus about any and every subject. These students can see through their own eyes what America is about, rather than seeing it through a foreign media which might or might not capture that quintessential experience. So we very much welcome foreign students, foreign business people, foreign tourists to the United States. Over the last several years, we have done a number of things to try to facilitate that travel. Specifically for students, in the last two years we have put new systems in place so that students essentially go to the front of the line. What do we know about students? Well, planning is maybe not one of their stronger skill sets. So that if they get accepted to an American collage or university, they perhaps don’t think right away about the need to get the student visa sometimes. Since it takes a few days to get an appointment for visa, they might actually find themselves missing the first day in school because they had not planned early enough for that contingency. So all of our embassies and consulates all around the world were asked by me when I came into the job to put students at the front of the line. Every embassy has a web site -- as does this one -- to put information on how to apply for a visa and what you will need to bring to a visa interview so that students – and every other kind of traveler – can inform themselves well before they ever come to the embassy and know that they have put together the right package and right approach to apply for that visa. The embassy’s web site here is “ankara.usembassy.gov.” Information about all of the things that we do around the world can be found on “travel.state.gov.” Both of those web sites are, I am happy to say, very popular. Travel.state.gov got 170 million page views last year. So somebody is actually reading what we put on there, which makes me very happy and proud. But the embassy’s web site here, ankara.usembassy.gov, will be very, very helpful to anybody thinking of traveling to the United States. It can demystify our processes and let people know what to expect to see when they are applying for a visa. Maybe I will stop there and see if you have some questions that I can answer and expand on things I have said. But again, let me tell you how much I appreciate your time and your coming this morning.

QUESTION: (inaudible) what did you discuss with Turkish authorities?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HARTY: I have only just gotten here, so you are the first Turkish authorities I am discussing anything with. I only arrived last night, so you are first. In fact this morning we had a very nice opportunity to have a conversation with all of our consular officers here, as well as through video conference with our consulate in Istanbul. But after this I am going to go see the Turkish Education Minister, Mr. Celik. I am really excited to meet him, because we have a common goal. As I understand it, he was in the United States just a few weeks ago. As a matter of fact, we were in Miami just a few days of each other. Both of us chose -- I didn’t know his schedule, and I’m certain he didn’t even know I existed -- to go to Miami Dade Community College. I went for similar reasons to those that I believe that he went for. There are 70 different nationalities at that school in a student body of approximately 18,000 students. I was interested in talking to foreigners, and giving the same messages that I’m sharing with you now. I was also interested in talking to the American students because I was interested in recruiting them to join the Foreign Service. But Minister Celik knew that there were 31 Turkish students at that school. So as part of an outreach, I believe -- I will hear more from him today -- I believe he was doing some outreach to talk to that school about how to attract even more Turkish students. So I will talk to him perhaps in a little bit more detail about some of the things we have tried to do to make sure that students feel welcome in the United States. That really is the number one reason for this trip. I will certainly also have that same conversation at the Foreign Ministry. Then I will go to Bilkent University, and have a chance to bring that very message right to students themselves. I can’t wait. I’m just very excited. Then I will leave. It’s far too short a trip, as I said, and I hope to come back at some time and spend considerably more time here. But I will leave for Kiev right after the speech at the university.

QUESTION: After September 11 is there a decrease in the visas that have been applied for in Turkey? Were there many refusals?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HARTY: After September 11, the worldwide desire for visas decreased immediately by 40 percent. Now in Turkey, we haven’t seen that. Is that true?

CONSUL LAURA DOGU: We have seen a decline, but in Turkey it started in February of 2001 with the economic crisis. It seems to be more related to the economic crisis than to September 11.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HARTY: This is Laura Dogu, for those of you who maybe have not met her, the Consul General here.

QUESTION: We quite often hear complaints coming from students – especially students -- that they are being rejected. Do you think that conditions might change now? It has been more than three years.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HARTY: Thank you for asking that question. One of the things that happens -- and it happens all over the world -- is that bad news gets up and runs around the world seven times before good news has breakfast. So what was true in November 2002 is not true today in the same ways. Now Ms. Dogu mentioned the Turkish economic crisis, and I think that, as I understand that, at least to a degree, some people who didn’t find an acceptable employment opportunity here took it as a time during which they might look at going to school. So some of those people a couple of years ago really didn’t qualify for visas at that time. The overwhelming majority of students who are applying to schools in the United States now are getting them. It’s an overwhelming majority. So what I’m interested in saying is, if you are a student right now, look at the web site so you understand before you even come for an interview what are the kinds of things we are going to ask you. Students at the beginning of their lives don’t have some of the things that you or I might bring to an interview. I might be able to say “I want to go to America because I have this business opportunity or because I’m taking my family on vacation, but I have a great job, I’m a journalist in Turkey, I have a house, I have stuff, I’m absolutely rooted to my society.” Students are young. They are not necessarily rooted where they are. So what they need to do during that interview is talk about why or how the academic program they are going to pursue in the United States fits into their life here in Turkey. That is, they go to America to pursue a certain course of study with a plan in mind to come back and use that education in some way that that fits into their carrier goals and patterns. I think you will find us very, very welcoming of students and very, very interested in facilitating their travel to the United States. It enriches my country. I talk on American college campuses all the time, and I tell young American students “Get out overseas. I want you to study abroad. I want you to learn as much about the rest of the world as we hope the rest of the world wants to learn about us.” Many, many American students do that. But I think it works both ways. Every college campus that hosts foreign students is providing another educational opportunity for American students to learn something about another part of the world. So I’d like to see it both ways, and as much exchange as possible. We have great programs. The Fulbright program – in fact, Ambassador Edelman is this weekend on a retreat for American Fulbright scholars who have been here on Fulbright’s this year discussing what they have learned and what kinds of experiences they have had. 255,000 people around the world have been engaged in Fulbright scholarships. We are increasing the funding that we are going to provide to the Fulbright program specifically for Turkey so that we can see even more people coming. We have international visitors programs. We want to bring young prospective leaders to the United States so that they can -- at the beginning of their professional lives -- learn more about the United States. We are interested in exchange in as many different ways as we can find it and build it.

QUESTION: Ambassador, what are the new regulations for student visas? Are you about to change the system?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HARTY: Actually they have not changed. The regulations for student visas – the requirements for a student visa – have not changed since September 11. W have looked at every bit – top to bottom -- about how we do the visa interview, and who goes to America. But the requirements themselves are essentially unchanged. We are desirous of facilitating legitimate travel in any category. But it is the youth that we have a particular interest in. I am concerned, for instance, that in the immediate aftermath of September 11, some people said “maybe this is not the time to go to America.” We saw a 40 per cent drop in demand around the world. So now what you have are students who perhaps decided not to go to America. They are in their second or third year in a school in some other part of the world. I want them to transfer to America. I want them to tell their younger brothers and sisters that America is open and that the welcome mat is out. That is what hope we will see. Turkey, as I think I said, sends more students to the United States than anywhere else in Europe. I am greedy about that -- I want more.

QUESTION: Do you have a kind of analysis of the Turkish students in the United States?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HARTY: They are everywhere, but not enough of them.

QUESTION: I mean, how many of them continue to live in the United States? How many of them come back?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HARTY: No, I have to admit, I don’t. The Department of Homeland Security does keep some statistics on exits – that is, who leaves the United States. In fact we don’t have an automated exit system out of the United States. So we don’t have precise figures on who leaves. Although the exit system is being built now and is at some airports, we don’t have precise figures on that. I’d like to believe that most students who come to the United States take advantage of opportunities of studying there, and if there is practical training that follows their studies that they also take advantage of that. But then they come home and apply what they have learned here in their own country -- to building their professional lives back here in Turkey.

QUESTION: Does your wish to have more Turkish students in the US have anything to do with the increasing anti-Americanism in Turkey?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HARTY: I am not an expert on the field that I hope is very small -- whether anti-Americanism is increasing in Turkey. I hope that is not the case. But this is the first year since September 11 where we actually issued more student visas than the year before. In that decrease in demand of 40 per cent around the world, what I naturally was concerned with was that fewer people were coming to see with their own eyes what America is about. Now in Turkey, as Laura mentioned, we have robust interest in study in the States. I do want more, because I believe that it is among the very best ways for our two nations to engage. As I look at people who have come in the past as students, or international visitors, or on Fulbrights, I know that we understand each other better when we actually experience something of each other’s country. It is why I regret that my own trip is so short. I’d like to see more, I’d like to understand more. But all of us who have had the chance to be students on an American or any other campus, know that very familiar area brings greater understanding of each other.

QUESTION: Will you have any specific proposition for Minister Celik?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HARTY: Actually, I am very interested in what his experiences were while he was in the United States. We will go from there to see whether or not there are other things that we can do together. But frankly, even without having had the opportunity to speak with him but knowing that he was kind enough to make time in his schedule to see me, I think we have a common goal. We have a common interest in seeing Turkish students travel and have their own horizons expanded by an opportunity to travel overseas. I would like that travel to be to the United States. But I am all ears. I can’t wait to hear how he feels his trip went, and whether or not there are some things we can do together to continue to advance that agenda.

QUESTION: Do you have precise figures or statistics about how many students are going to the US and applying for visas -- Turkish students?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HARTY: Turkish students?

CONSULAR LAURA DOGU: I don’t remember the numbers of the top of my head. It’s true that the number of visa applicants declined with the economic crisis. The other important statistic is that the number of student applicants increased during that time. So even though the total numbers went down, the number of student applicants actually went up. So the demand has continued to be there, lots and lots of students have traveled to the United States in the last few years.

QUESTION: I would guess that when you see Minister Celik, that he is going to say that some Turkish universities, some programs are not recognized by the US. Do you have any solution for this to encourage more students to go to the US?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HARTY: I’ll certainly listen to him. I don’t know the answer to that question until I get some specifics from him, but if he raises issues that I can take home and try to solve, I’m happy to. I don’t just talk to foreign officials or to foreign universities. I do a lot in the United States as well. We have a very strong relationship with a number of national organizations in the United States -- of universities, community colleges, foreign student advisors -- and when we can identify an issue or an impediment that we can solve, that’s what we are here to do. That is the best result of any conversation are actions that can solve problems. So that’s part of what I’m here to do – to inform myself and see if we can make it work better. There are a lot of really good exchanges already between American and Turkish universities. We want to build on that. If we see programs that work well, then we’ll see how we can expand those – increase those – and help others understand that they exist and see what we can do to facilitate these kinds of exchanges.

QUESTION: Do you or your colleague think that the ban on wearing headscarves in Turkey is an important issue for visa requests towards United States?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HARTY: I’m not sure I see the nexus between those two subjects.

QUESTION: Because they cannot go to university. There is a ban on headscarves.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HARTY: So will they go to America instead? Is that your question?

QUESTION: Yes. Would you encourage them to go to America?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HARTY: I encourage everyone who wants to study to come to the United States. I make no particular reference to the ban or any other element. I’m here to say that if you have an interest in expanding your horizons, we want to see you in an American college or university. If for whatever reason a student decides they don’t want to study in Turkey, I want them to go to America.

QUESTION: Ambassador, after September 11 there were some reports from America that people from the Middle East region were being treated differently. There were some “rat lists” or “black lists” issued by embassies. Are these reports correct? Is there any “rat list” for Turkey.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HARTY: Is there a rat list? No, there is no such thing as a rat list in Turkey or anywhere else. We did a top-to-bottom review of our practices and procedures all around the world. As a matter of fact, one of the things I have spent a considerable amount of time on is making sure that our procedures are the same in Ankara as they are in Buenos Aires. I have 211 offices, and I want to make sure we are all doing things exactly the way that we need to be doing them. We want to be absolutely facilitative of legitimate travel and welcoming of legitimate travelers. That said, every nation certainly has a right to decide who comes to their country and who does not. So I talk about a balance between secure borders and open doors that is desirous, as I am, of facilitating legitimate travel to my country. It also must be as desirous, as I am, of making sure that if I can identify someone who might be considering doing harm in America, that my consular officers around the world stop that person from traveling to the United States, that they do not give them the visa that they need. So there is a balancing act there. I regret if anybody felt that any of the results of our top-to-bottom review and changing of our own procedures meant that the welcome mat was no longer out. We did put procedures in place that were, as I said, inefficient at the beginning. In some cases, some of those procedures resulted in people waiting several months or longer for a visa decision to be made, because a Washington DC-based name track was required. In November of 2002 some of those checks -- in a small number of cases -- three months, six months. Now, 97 percent of all these applicants who are approved for visa get their visa within a matter of a couple of days. Most of the rest of that 3 percent get them within a matter of 14 days if a special Washington DC-based name check is required. So we have a greatly enhanced and improved our own efficiencies in an effort to make sure people understand what we want to do is facilitate legitimate travel. But we must always keep an eye on the security of our country. September 11 does provide a context for how we do our jobs. My goal is to make sure that we balance those two imperatives of security and openness. I do not think they are mutually exclusive. I think we can do both things simultaneously, and we are doing both things simultaneously and much more efficiently than we were a couple of years ago. So the folks who a couple of years ago thought maybe they didn’t want to go to America because these procedures were a little bit lengthy, we are here to say that those procedures are now exponentially more efficient. We want to continue to welcome people.

QUESTION: Ambassador, (inaudible) there is a famous Turkish singer who lives the US – who used to live in US. His name is Tarkan, and he made a statement saying that after September 11 the US has changed, and I don’t feel welcomed. So this is a very important statement. It’s a message that goes directly to the Turkish people. Do you think that these kinds of statements somehow contradict what you are saying? Where is the problem here?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HARTY: Do I think it is a contradiction? I think it makes me sad. September 11 certainly put a hole in our hearts and, I think, in the hearts of all people of good will everywhere. I’d love to meet this singer and have a conversation with him -- probably you all would love to meet him too -- and have a conversation about why he feels that way. I will tell you about one quick example. I went to Muscat, Oman a couple of weeks ago and talked to university students, my counterparts in the government, journalists, and also with high school students and their parents. And at the end of a session that was supposed to have lasted 45 minutes with high school students and their parents -- that session actually went on for two hours, a man in traditional Omani dress stood up and said to the audience: “I want to tell you that what Ambassador Harty is saying is in fact what I have experienced. I have been back to the United States seven times since September 11, always dressed as I am right now. I was also a student in the United States for 11 years.” Then he elbowed the person next to him and said “stand up.” The person next to him was his son, and he said “and my boy is going to college in America next year.” At the end of the talk, when I really thought I had answered every question, an Egyptian woman stood up, also dressed in traditional Omani dress. She said “I’m from Egypt and my daughter and I live here with my Omani husband, and I would like to echo what Ambassador Harty and the gentleman here have said. My little girl is going to school in America. I, too, have been back repeatedly since September 11, and I have never been treated anything but kindly, accurately, efficiently.” Now one issue is that 1.1 million people enter the United States every single day through our airports, our seaports, and our land border. 1.1 million. Can I say to you that no one will ever have an unpleasant conversation? Of course, I can’t say that to you. In 1.1 iterations, there is going to be some moment in which somebody doesn’t feel treated as perhaps they should have been. But for my part, at embassies abroad, and for the part of the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Commissioner of the Customs and Border Patrol element that works at our ports of entry, we are all very, very aware that everyone is deserving of a dignified experience. So I am profoundly regretful if somebody feels that they are not treated in a way that they should be treated. With 1.1 million, am I willing to acknowledge, sadly, that something might happen to hurt somebody’s feelings? Sure. But that’s why I want that singer, and students, and tourists, and business travelers and anyone else to come and see it for themselves. Because I think when you do that, you realize that we are as welcoming and as open a place as we have ever been. One last little thing. Two weeks ago, I participated in two profoundly touching moments for me and, I think, for my nation. While I was in Miami we did several naturalization ceremonies. 6,009 new Americans, 97 nationalities in the first session of 3,000 people in the morning in Miami naturalized as new citizens. 3,009 people in the afternoon session, with 100 different nationalities represented. Turkish citizens were in both sessions. It was a profoundly moving experience for me, and I know that almost all of those citizens -- including those from Turkey -- started that process by coming to an American embassy and applying for an immigrant visa. They end that process with me swearing them in and issuing them passports as new citizens. I hope they invite all their relatives. I hope they keep talking about what a welcoming place we are. I found it a profoundly touching and quintessentially American experience. Mine is a nation of nations. How many other nations so routinely naturalize that many people in a day? I had a visitor from Los Angeles with me. She said “when we do these ceremonies in Los Angeles, we do them with 10,000 people at a time.” We are a very, very welcoming nation. That really is the bottom line message that I would like to get out to you. I thank you so much for your time this morning, for helping me get that message out.

QUESTION: Ambassador, one last question. All of the children of Prime Minister Erdogan are studying or have studied in the US. This is good publicity for you, isn’t it?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY HARTY: I love that. Thank you. I thank you very much. Good bye.