This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ISTANBUL 000422 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE - NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: CVIS CASC SOCI PREL IR TU
SUBJECT: FROM THE VISA LINE, ISSUE ONE 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  From the Visa Line is a new reporting 
vehicle encompassing vignettes, anecdotes and observations 
from Amconsulate Istanbul Consular officers' daily 
interactions with Turkish--and sometime non-Turkish--visa 
applicants.  Taken together, they offer a unique perspective 
on local society. 
 
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Competing for Her Life, and Others' 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) In February, an Iranian female appeared wishing to 
undertake athletic training in the United States.  The 
applicant sees herself as a champion for equal opportunity 
in a society not generally known for encouraging females to 
realize their full potential.  At the visa window, she 
produced a fat binder full of clippings from her meteoric 
career, including glowing press articles and an autographed 
photo of former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami.  Asked 
about her relationship with the current Iranian regime, the 
applicant shrugged and replied that--so far--President 
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his minions have left her alone. 
However, she continued, their forbearance could end if she 
begins to finish out of the money.  She concluded by stating 
that the U.S. training could prove critical because, to 
remain free to compete and thereby serve as a role model for 
young Iranian women, she needs the skills that will enable 
her to hold her own against the world's top athletes. 
 
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Truth Not Paramount 
------------------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Also last month, a Turkish female claiming to be a 
film producer applied, stating that she was going to meet 
the vice president of Paramount Pictures in Hollywood.  When 
questioned how, without speaking English, she could carry on 
a conversation with the American studio executive, the 
applicant replied that Paramount was providing an 
interpreter.  She then was asked how she planned to care for 
her two young children, whom she planned to take with her to 
the United States.  Without missing a beat, the applicant 
rejoined that the interpreter would pull double-duty as a 
babysitter.  Not surprisingly, when contacted by phone, 
Paramount's vice president denied any knowledge of an 
appointment with the applicant.  A check of her documents 
revealed the applicant to be part of a fraud ring passing 
purloined paperwork. 
 
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Pass the Hand-Basket 
-------------------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU) During an E-2 visa (treaty investor) interview in 
mid-February, the young Turkish female applicant--a 
successful retailer of high-end fashions in Beverly Hills-- 
was asked about her spouse.  Eyes welling with tears, the 
applicant described how she had fallen in love with and 
married an Emirati during graduate studies in the United 
States in 2005.  Matrimonial bliss was short-lived however. 
When she traveled to Dubai to meet the parents in January 
2006, her husband shocked her by abusing his wealthy 
family's servants.  Adding insult to injury, her mother-in- 
law made it clear that, by marrying a Turk--one who worked 
in the United States, no less--her son had sorely 
disappointed her.  The applicant fled to Istanbul while her 
husband remains in the Gulf and refuses to take her phone 
calls.  Her voce swelling with anger, the applicant said 
that he was disgusted wit what she viewed as Arab 
hyocriy.  "Tey tal aboutIslam and brotherhood," h 
bsrve, butthy act as though only Arabs wo think like 
they do will enter Paradise."  The pplicant concluded by 
stating, "If Heaven is ful of those people, I'd rather go 
to Hell with youAmericans." 
 
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Seven Heads are Better than One 
------------------------------ 
 
¶5.  (SBU) A woman from the hintrlands recently applied to 
visit her son studyin in the United States.  The son's 
application inicated that he had departed Turkey only the 
weekbefore and--in marked contrast to his provincial 
other's ragged appearance--his visa photo showed him 
stylishly garbed in a dark maroon jacket and coordinated 
silk tie.  The mystery deepened when an informant 
subsequently accused the young man of having used fake 
documents to obtain his visa.  Months later, a group of men 
claiming to be business owners, as well as another would-be 
student, on the same day were found to have submitted 
applications written in the same hand.  Despite appearing 
for their interviews in street clothes, each of these 
gentlemen--like the student with the fake documents-- 
presented visa photos depicting them nattily attired.  A 
fraud investigation produced a total of 11 applicants with 
matching business information, phone numbers and handwriting 
on their applications.  Seven of these shared an even closer 
connection: The same body.  A magnifying-glass inspection of 
the visa photos revealed that their heads had been 
"Photoshopped" onto the identical jacket-and-tie-clad torso. 
The apparel's color had been altered one to the next, 
perhaps to suit each applicant's fancy. 
 
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What's in a Name? 
----------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Turkish names are a never-ending source of 
fascination.  As one would expect, given names here long 
have reflected Islamic conventions and tribal themes of 
virtue, fortitude and commercial acumen.  Surnames, however, 
date only from the 1934, when Mustafa Kemal Ataturk--the 
founding father of modern, secular Turkey--decreed their 
adoption.  The resulting combinations occasionally produce 
comical results, as revealed by some recent visa applicants 
here:  Harika Akar: "Flows Wonderfully"; Yeter Balik: 
"Enough Fish"; Guclu Cakar: "Nails Strongly"; Serin Keklik: 
"Cool Partridge"; Mutlu Koca: "Happy Husband"; Satilmis 
Ornek: "Sold Sample"; Nukte Toy: "Wit Unexperienced"; Guclu 
Ucak: "Strong Airplane"; Muhtesem Kurt: "Amazing Wolf"; 
Ruhun Acar: "Your Soul Opens." 
 
JONES