With Turkey in headlines throughout the world, G-L student and former envoy share their views.

LILY SPRINGSTEEN, a Glen Lake High School
senior, spent a year in Turkey as a Rotary
exchange student. Her adventures included
participation in a memorial celebration at the
tomb of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder
and first president of the Republic of Turkey.

Current events classes at two public schools in Leelanau County have been enlivened recently not just by big news coming out of the Republic of Turkey – but also by people who have direct
experience there.

Glen Lake High School senior Lily Springsteen recently returned home to Leelanau County after spending a year studying in Turkey. And last week, retired U.S. Ambassador Raymond C. Ewing visited students at Leland High School and Northwestern Michigan College to deliver a presentation titled “Turkey and its Neighbors.”

Events in Turkey have been in the headlines throughout the world in recent months. Just this week, Turkish troops were facing down Kurdish rebels near Turkey’s border with Iraq. Meanwhile, in the U.S. Congress, a resolution to declare the killing of ethnic Armenians in Turkey in 1915 as a “genocide” has been the subject of considerable debate.

U.S. relations with Turkey are vital not only because of Turkey’s proximity to Iraq, where thousands of U.S. troops are fighting, but also because of the country’s status as a longtime U.S. ally, a member of NATO, and a would-be member of the European Union.

In August, Turkey elected a new president, Abdullah Gul, an observant Muslim, breaking an 84-year tradition of purely secular governing in Turkey. Ambassador Ewing told students at Leland he believes that Gul’s election may be a turning point in the Mediterranean nation’s political history.

Lily Springsteen of Glen Lake High School has witnessed some of that history first hand. She was a Rotary Club exchange student in Turkey in 2006 and 2007, living with two families in the historic city of Istanbul for six months each.

“I never had any problems with anyone in Turkey because I was an American,” said Springsteen. “But as tall as I am (five feet, seven inches), with green eyes and blonde hair, I really stood out,” she said.

Springsteen attended a private high school in Istanbul and focused her studies on the Turkish language and culture.

“About 90 percent of the people are Muslim, but not very many of them are conservative Muslims,” she said, “so I didn’t feel a lot of pressure to wear a head scarf or anything. But I did avoid wearing short skirts, shorts or tank tops – never anything low cut. Also, girls there just don’t play sports,” she said.

Raymond C. Ewing, a retired U.S. ambassador,
spoke to Leland students last week.

Springsteen added that she had been paying attention to recent discussions in the U.S. Congress about the alleged Armenian “genocide,” but noted that the topic is rarely discussed in Turkey.

“I met a few Armenian Turks, and one was a student at my school,” she said. “They’re Christians and openly celebrate Christmas in Turkey without any problems,” she said. “Turkish society is really pretty tolerant.”

Ambassador Ewing, who hails from Ohio and California, spent 36 years in the U.S. Foreign Service. His visit to northwestern lower Michigan was sponsored through an International Affairs Forum at NMC. Ewing’s resume includes an assignment as the U.S. ambassador to Cyprus and as director of the Office of Southern European Affairs, which includes Cyprus, Greece and Turkey.

Ewing spoke to about 100 students at Leland Public School last week. He made a pitch for students to consider a career in the Foreign Service. Ewing described Turkey as a “country at a crossroads” at this point in history.

“What happens in Turkey in the coming months and years could have very serious repercussions for the U.S.,” Ewing said.