A Visit

I really enjoyed meeting the new British Ambassador to Turkey, Richard Moore, and his wife Maggie last week.  The total informality of the event was such a breath of fresh air in a country where those in office like to lord it over the rest of us.  I think both Maggie and Richard managed to chat to everyone there and then we settled down to listen to a short talk demystifying what an ambassador actually does, with a follow-up q&a session to clarify the new rules governing foreigners in Turkey. (A post I have been putting off writing for a month and I will continue to procrastinate as the department in charge hasn't decided how to implement the new law yet.)  The message from the British Consulate was a strong "we'll tell you as soon as the Turkish government tells us".  The best way to keep up with the news is the UK in Turkey Facebook page or Twitter, at least it was until last night when our great leader declared to a rally in Bursa that he would eradicate Twitter and he didn't care what the international community thought.  Soon afterward news began filtering through that Twitter was off-line in many parts of the country.  Last week, when asked about the threat to ban Facebook in Turkey,  Richard Moore dismissed the worry saying that it was an impossibility in this day and age.   I wonder if he is quite so optimistic today.

Maggie's guide dog, Star, is already an ambassador  for the canine world,  gaining access to places that a dog in Turkey can only dream about.  I suggested she should "write" her own blog.