02 September 2015 - A team from the Philippine Embassy in Ankara conducted the Embassy's monthly mission in Istanbul from August 22 to 24.
In pursuit of its overseas voters registration targets, two members of the Embassy visited the port of Tuzla in Istanbul on August 22 and registered 27 seafarers as overseas voters for the 2016 elections. In the afternoon, Philippine Ambassador to Turkey Maria Rowena Mendoza Sanchez and Philippine Consul General Robert O. Ferrer Jr. attended the the Yunus Emre Institute Turkish Language Festival, “The Voice of 1000 Years”, while the rest of the team went to a famous supermarket to check the presence of Philippine and ASEAN products, and to survey which Philippine products can be additionally promoted.
The next day, the team provided consular services to more than 90 Filipinos in Istanbul. The team processed 22 e-Passport applications, two acknowledgements, one affidavit, one report of birth, received 14 applications for Embassy ID registrations for Filipinos in Turkey, registered 13 additional overseas voter applications, released e-Passports that have been pending, and provided assistance to 16 Filipinos with various issues regarding their employment in Turkey. Some of them were human trafficking victims.
Towards evening, the team proceeded to the awarding ceremony ceremonies for The Filipino Community in Turkey's 1st Summer Sportsfest. Ambassador Sanchez and Consul General Ferrer awarded the winning basketball (men’s) and volleyball (women’s) teams.
Ambassador Sanchez and Consul General Ferrer also called on Ambassador Uğur Kenan Ipek, Istanbul Representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to discuss cooperation on several projects/programs of the Embassy and the Ministry. During the meeting, cooperation in the issues of migration, consular matters, economic, trade and tourism were discussed. END