Ataturk’s Vision

Think of a building in a wonderful garden, with a majestic entrance gate of giant columns, flashy lounges and corridors, art gallery-like walls with valuable paintings — reminiscent of the famous transatlantic Titanic — chamber musicians in a wide wooden staircase, teakwood floors, ornate fireplaces, gold-plated door handles.

I’m trying to describe the residence of the Turkish Embassy in Washington, D.C., the capital of the USA. If a book about the world’s most brilliant diplomatic residences were prepared, this residence would undoubtedly take first place.

This elegant mansion, on the prestigious Embassy Boulevard, houses the Turkish Embassy. It was built about a hundred years ago by Edward Hamlin Everett, a businessman who acquired substantial wealth as the owner of a glass bottle factory during the Industrial Revolution. To design this mansion, Everett appointed architect George Oakley Totten, Jr., who had established ties with and an affinity for Turkey. Totten’s talent in design — he had built some add-ons for the American Embassy mansion in Beyoglu, Istanbul in 1908 — was discovered by the Ottoman Empire, and Sultan Abdul-Hamid II invited him to the palace to be his private architect.

When he passed away in 1929, in a period of great economic depression, Everett’s family decided to lease the building to the Turkish government. Upon Ataturk’s orders, the building was purchased by the Republic of Turkey for $200,000 dollars in the 1930s. This incident shows once again Ataturk’s genius and farsightedness. The U.S. is the world’s only superpower, and today the building is of priceless value.

On Wednesday evening, the Turkish Ambassador to Washington Namik Tan hosted a dinner reception in honor of the building with Minister of EU Affairs Egemen Bagis, the AK Party, CHP, MHP and BDP deputies from Turkey. The Embassy’s chef, Hasan Siyam, is a first-rate taste master.

As Mr. Tan was telling the story of the building, I was delighted to hear the significance of having such a building in the capital where the world’s most critical decisions are made. Namik Tan is one of the most valuable diplomats at the Department of State. Formerly, he had been appointed spokesman in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; he continued his role successfully during the period of Abdullah Gul. Turkey is lucky to have such an ambassador in Washington — during a critical period — who had previously carried out his tasks as deputy undersecretary and ambassador in Tel Aviv.