ATFC head decries poor promotion of Turkey and Turkish women in the US

Mona Tekin Diamond, the founder of the Turkish-American Friendship Council (ATFC) and Turkey's honorary consul general in the US state of Georgia, yesterday complained that Turkish women are not known well by the foreign public, particularly Americans. Speaking at a meeting in Izmir, she spoke of how American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was impressed by her recent visit to Turkey, and said that they would soon meet with Clinton to tell her about Turkish women both in Turkey and abroad, and to discuss possible joint projects on women's issues. "A few months ago, US Secretary of State Clinton visited Turkey, and was impressed by our country very much," said Diamond. "She wanted to meet with us in July to learn what could be done for Turkish women." Stating that many Turkish businesswomen who want to do business in US know little about to break into the American market, she said Turkey has a huge economic potential but should do more public relations work to promote itself in other countries. "Turkey has a marvelous potential. But we need to improve our public relations. We are not known yet by the world properly," she said. Diamond called on Turkish businesswomen to contact her group to forge business ties with US companies. She added that the ATFC wants to found a platform to bring together American and Turkish businesswomen. The ATFC, founded in 2005, is committed to building relationships and mutual understanding between the citizens of the US and Turkey.