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DE RUEHIT #2068/01 3171508
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FM AMCONSUL ISTANBUL
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ISTANBUL 002068 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE - NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: SOCI CVIS PREL SCUL KPAO TU
SUBJECT: SWT STUDENTS SHOW THE WRITE STUFF 
 
REF: Istanbul 1143 
 
¶1. (U) Summary: In preparing for the 2007 Summer Work and Travel 
(SWT) season, we invited representatives of the educational 
companies here that recruit and help prepare the students' 
applications to a kick-off meeting at the Consulate on November 3. 
To pique interest in the SWT program, Post had sponsored an essay 
contest among the 2006 alumni and announced the winners at the 
meeting.  The essays demonstrated the young Turks we sent to the 
United States had powerfully positive experiences that opened their 
eyes, while broadening their horizons.  End Summary. 
 
-------------------- 
Who the Students Are 
-------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) As we noted in reftel, SWT applicants are university students 
who travel to the United States for seasonal jobs, generally in the 
service and tourism sectors.  Among other things, they work as 
waiters, pedicab drivers, ice cream vendors, fish processors, 
housekeepers, and amusement park ride operators.  The program -- 
which we work hard to promote -- enables Turkish university students 
of limited means to garner life experiences they might otherwise 
never have the opportunity to acquire. 
 
¶3. (U) Most of the students we send to America on the SWT program 
are the first in their families to attend university.  Many hail 
from parts of our Consular district that are underrepresented in 
terms of travel to the United States.  Generally less sophisticated 
than their Istanbul-born peers, these are the children of Turkey's 
middle and lower-middle classes. We believe the SWT students present 
a rich and compelling portrait of Turkish youth. 
 
--------------------- 
Telling Their Stories 
--------------------- 
 
¶4. (U) We announced the essay contest at the conclusion of the 2006 
SWT season.  This is the second year we have sponsored the contest, 
with the goal of increasing interest in the program by offering a 
modest prize to students who are best able to put into words how 
their experiences working and traveling in the United States changed 
their perspectives. 
 
¶5. (U) Although this year's premium -- a Bosphorus cruise with the 
Consul General aboard the Consulate's 1923 vintage launch, the 
"Hiawatha" -- was a draw, the overwhelming response to this year's 
contest suggests other factors also were at play.  Indeed, it 
appears to us that the climate of anti-Americanism to which students 
here are exposed fueled both an increase in applications to the SWT 
program -- Mission Turkey processed approximately 6,500 SWT 
applicants during FY 2006, compared to just over 3,200 in FY 2005 -- 
as well as a flood of prose from program alumni that puts the lie to 
the negative views of the United States propagated by some "opinion 
leaders" here. 
 
------------------ 
In Their Own Words 
------------------ 
 
¶6. (U) The following excerpts, drawn from the eight essay contest 
winners' submissions, offer elegant testament to the value of the 
SWT program: 
 
-- "I had the hardest times of my life.  But whatever happened, I 
think I still love the United States as much as I love my home 
country."  Ufuk Yilmaz, Bogazici University, Department of 
Translation and Interpreting. 
 
-- "Our managers always gave me responsibility, no matter how I 
handled it.  It really helped me to learn American business life." 
Seda Derinalp, Mersin University, Department of Tourism and Hotel 
Management. 
 
-- "Communication is the key!  That's what I learned.  If the 
manager calls you 'buddy' and nominates you to be 'employee of the 
month,' that makes you the happiest person in the world."  Niyazi 
Il, Cukurova University, Department of Electrical and Electronic 
Engineering. 
 
-- "It helped me get rid of some stereotypes that had been created 
by media and the society in which I live.  Even the simplest thing 
was done with great seriousness."  Fatma Tarlaci, Kadir Has 
University, American Culture and Literature Department. 
 
-- "I understood that making money is not as fun as spending it." 
Gokhan Basaran, Middle East Technical University, Department of 
Engineering. 
 
 
ISTANBUL 00002068  002 OF 002 
 
 
-- "Can it be possible that a foreigner can feel as if she is part 
of a big family in a completely different culture?  I think yes.  I 
had the biggest family in the world which held Muslims and 
Christians together."  Imren Yelmis, Hacetepe University, English 
Language and Literature Department. 
 
-- "Our boss was not just a boss for us, but a teacher as well.  I 
said, 'I cannot do it alone.'  He said, 'Of course you can.  If 
someone else can do it, you can do it.'  When I went to bed that 
night, the words rang in my head."  Yurttas Yalcin, Yeditepe 
University, Department of Law. 
 
-- "There are rules and people obey them.  They mostly obey the 
traffic rules.  I supposed I was in a David Lynch movie, but it was 
my movie.  The director was me, the lead actor was me."  Cagri Cig 
Sigirci, Bahcesehir University, Department of European Union 
Relations. 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) The SWT program packs a tremendous transformational punch. 
The young people we send today may not become Turkey's leaders 
tomorrow, but they always will carry vivid memories of living and 
working in the United States.  Along with implanting the 
"subversive" idea that responsible citizenship requires drawing on 
personal experiences -- vice others' opinions -- in formulating 
one's views, SWT seeds this society with Turks who, when the United 
States is assailed for one perceived failing or another, will turn 
to their neighbors and say, "Now, wait a minute.  I spent a summer 
in America.  Let me tell you how it really is." 
 
¶8. (U) Full texts of the winning essays can be found on our intranet 
website at http://10.166.64.6/index.html. 
 
JONES