FROM THE VISA LINE, ISSUE ONE

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. -------------- 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. -------------- 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. -------------- 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." -------------- 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. -------------- 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