Embassy of the United States

Offices and Departments

Public Affairs Section

The Public Affairs Section is responsible for media, cultural, and educational affairs for the U.S. Consulate General in Istanbul.

Working closely with the Turkish media, Public Affairs organizes public outreach for Embassy and Consulate personnel, visiting U.S. officials and American cultural programs.  Our goal is to disseminate accurate information about the United States to a wide audience, including on the topics of politics, environment, business and economics, defense, international relations, civic education, English language teaching, and American culture.

The American Information Resource Center in Istanbul,  can assist organizations and researchers find more information about the United States. IRCs are the best single sources of information about the United States in Turkey. Additional official information about U.S. Society, culture and policy can be found at  America.gov and in Electronic Journals.

Promoting cultural and educational ties with the United States is a major responsibility of the Public Affairs Section in Turkey. We work closely with Turkish institutions in organizing exchanges, lectures, seminars, workshops, and presentations by U.S. academics, specialists, writers and artists. Public Affairs support American Studies programs in several universities and coordinates relations with local organizations, institutions and NGOs.

Public Affairs also identifies future leaders in fields such as business, education and the media to participate in the International Visitor Leadership Program and other exchange programs in the United States. We work with the Commission for Educational Exchange between the United States and Turkey commonly known as the Fulbright Commission which provides a rich variety of academic exchanges through its Humphrey and Fulbright scholarship programs and through educational advising.