10 November 2015 - A four-member team from the Philippine Embassy in Ankara conducted the monthly mission at the Headquarters of Hatay Businessmen and Bureaucrats Association (or Turkish, Hatay İş Adamları ve Bürokratları Derneği, HATIAB) in Istanbul on October 25.

During the mission, the team processed 39 e-Passports, one certification, three acknowledgments, two affidavits, one authentication, two reports of birth, and received 26 applications for Embassy ID registrations for Filipinos in Turkey. Philippine Minister and Consul General met with four Filipinos who sought assistance and guidance on their respective employment conditions and other problems. As the final mission before the Commission on Elections’ deadline of October 31 for the processing of applications of Filipinos for the overseas voting exercıse ın 2016, the team processed an additional 50 overseas voter registration applications.

Simultaneous with the conduct of consular services, a three-part documentary series on the West Philippine Sea entitled “Karapatan sa Karagatan”, “Pamanang Karagatan” and “Paninindigan para sa Karagatan” and produced by the Department of Foreign Affairs in partnership with the Philippine Communications Operations Office, were shown at the venue to increase public awareness and understanding on the issues of the West Philippine Sea.

The following day, Minister and Consul General Robert Ferrer Jr. and Ms. Jackie Ong met with Dr. Özge Aktaş Mazman, Executive Director of the Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV) for a possible academic collaboration in 2016. END