Your Excellency Ambassador Sedat Onal
Embassy of the Republic of Türkiye
2525 Massachusetts Ave NW
Washington, D.C. 20008
October 31 2025
Your Excellency,
I write to you with profound disappointment and deep respect for the office you represent. For twenty-five years the Bowling Green Association joined by New York City’s Mayor’s Office (represented at the highest levels), fellow Americans, professors, civic flag groups, many Turkish Americans, children who took time away from school, and visitors standing near the Charging Bull has observed our annual Turkish Flag raising on Wall Street. This year also marked the fifty-seventh raising of the Turkish flag in the heart of the financial capital of the world. It was an occasion of shared civic pride and solemn remembrance: students, including Ms. Lara Çelik, a medical student at Harvard on full scholarship who travelled from Boston, came to honor those who sacrificed for our Republic and to celebrate the legacy of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
This ceremony is not about any individual or a single organization. It is about the Republic of Türkiye, our history, and the collective respect we pay to those who gave their lives for our nation. It is in that spirit and with that gravity that I must register my astonishment and sorrow that, for the first time in a quarter century, the seated Consul General of the Republic of Türkiye in New York did not attend this important commemoration. While Deputy Consul General Kemal Yüksektep attended and we appreciate his presence, his attendance cannot and should not be regarded as an adequate substitute for the Consul General’s absence on such a significant day.
The absence of the Consul General coming after a pattern of decreasing engagement reported privately by numerous community leaders and even by several foreign consuls in New York has been interpreted by many in our community as a disengagement from the grassroots and from the very people the Consulate is entrusted to serve. I have heard, firsthand and from multiple respected quarters including community activists, clergy, educators, and members of the New York Police Department who work alongside us at civic events a consistent note of concern about the tone and substance of the Consulate’s outreach since his appointment. These are not idle complaints; they are the considered observations of people who care deeply about Türkiye and its standing here. Ambassador Onal, the office of the Consul General carries institutional responsibilities that go beyond personal preference.
The Consul General is the public face of Türkiye in one of the world’s most visible cities: to lead ceremonial observances, to sustain relationships with municipal partners, to support educational and cultural exchanges, and to foster the mutual respect that strengthens Türkiye’s soft power. When the senior representative of the Consulate is absent from an event of such symbolic and civic importance, it sends a message intended or not that the ties between the Republic and its diaspora community are less than a priority. For many of us who have labored for decades to build bridges between our communities and Türkiye, that message is deeply hurtful.
Let me be clear: my criticism is not personal; it is principled. I owe nothing to any political faction in Turkiye , and my sole obligation is to defending Turkiye as I have for 40 years and to the honor our Sehitler . We were honored to receive Ambassador Ahmet Yıldız at the ceremony just an outstanding person like you , and his attendance was warmly received; that very reception underlines how critical visible, respectful engagement is to our shared diplomatic and civic life here.
Your Excellency, Türkiye’s presence in New York is measured not only by the activities that appear in official schedules, but by the relationships cultivated in parks, schools, houses of worship, and community halls. Where My Yazal is missing , but just collecting his $14,000 and seating in his office. I believe Türkiye deserves, and the community expects, steadfast, humble, and consistent representation. I hope you will treat this matter with the seriousness it deserves and help restore the confidence of those who felt overlooked on this most solemn of days.
Thank you for your attention to this matter. I remain available to meet at your convenience and to work with the Embassy and Consulate to rebuild trust and to ensure that future commemorations reflect the dignity and unity our Republic merits.
Respectfully,
Ibrahim Kurtulus
Community Activist
CC: Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan
Ambassador Ahmet Yildiz.
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