Irish Ambassador to Ankara Sonya McGuinness has been in Turkey for over a year. Despite most of her term has been through the pandemic, she is working hard to deepen relations between Ireland and Turkey. “For us, deepening the relationship with Turkey, is understanding Turkey’s motivation in the world and understanding the hopes and ambitions of the ordinary Turkish people,” said Ambassador McGuinness. Ambassador sees Turkey and Ireland close to each other, via the warmth of the people and their hospitality. McGuinness made special remarks to Démarche about her mission in Ankara, the difficulties of being a woman ambassador, and about Halloween which is known as an American tradition, is an Irish tradition.
M. Ferhat Yüksel
It has been more than a year since you were appointed as ambassador to Turkey. How did you spend this process?
There are so many beautiful things in Turkey that sometimes make you think it’s much shorter than a year and much longer than a year. When I first arrived, I was full of plans and expectations to establish Irish-Turkish relations, and then of course COVID appeared. So we spent a lot of time indoors, in our homes, and in the office, which limited my opportunity to go out and see the country and meet the Turkish people. That’s why I can’t wait for the pandemic to end and travel freely. It was very easy to settle in Turkey. Everything is familiar and, like the Irish, the Turks are welcoming. Both Turkish and Irish are extremely friendly. Although other countries interpret it as extraordinary, how friendly Turks are, we find this hospitality completely natural. Another important thing for me here is how good the food is in Turkey! It’s a problem because the food is too good. My favorite is simit and lahmacun. I am also working on how to make good traditional Turkish coffee. I haven’t accomplished that yet. We’re also a tea-drinking nation. Hospitality, where Turkish people come together and chat, is not a situation where we are strangers to Ireland. In short, we are very welcome and happy here.
YOU EITHER LAUGH OR CRY
The Irish are often known as a nation that is always happy, smiling, and relaxed. How do you feel about that?
Our history is a bit like Turkish history. We had so many challenges to overcome that if we weren’t cheerful, we’d be overcome. I think the last 100 years in Irish history have been a journey to find ourselves and our place in the world. Because we, like Turkey, have been successful enough in our economy. Independence has been very beneficial for us, we have discovered who we are as people and it has given us a lot of confidence. We had a very sad and difficult history. As you know, we’ve been colonies for over 600 years. We had a chance to think about what kind of nation we wanted to be. We live in a terrible climate, it’s dark six months of the year. Either you laugh or you cry, and we decided to laugh. We’re a small country, and the way to do business in the world is to make friends. Our successful diplomacy is trying to convince and encourage others to do business with us. We see this working. We’re also an open economy. We welcome every foreigner who comes to Ireland. Currently, one in four workers in Ireland is foreign-born. This is very beneficial for both our society and our economy.
THERE ARE GOOD STORIES ABOUT OUR PAST
Can you talk about bilateral relations between Ireland and Turkey?
I’d say we have very good, warm relationships. We don’t see each other as much as other countries because both countries are on opposite sides of Europe. We don’t have a long-term traditional relationship, but we do have good stories of our past. One of the first people to come to our aid during the ‘Great Hunger’ period was the Ottoman Sultan Abdulmecid, who sent food to Ireland. This is remembered even today. The crescent moon on the Turkish flag is a symbol of one of the cities in Ireland. We want the connections to go deeper. My job is to deepen relations between our countries. Turkey is an important country not only in the region but also globally. We care about how Turkey thinks. We, as a 100-year-old independent nation, like the Republic of Turkey, see many parallels and interests between the two countries.
How did the pandemic process affect you, what did you learn from it?
It’s hard to say because one of the main tools of a diplomat is to go out and talk to people. We have to establish one-on-one relations to meet Turkish interlocutors and get ideas about what makes this country work. We’re spending more time on computers right now, but it’s given us a chance to think about what’s a priority for us. We thought about what issues we should focus on. For us, deepening the relationship with Turkey is understanding Turkey’s motivation in the world, and understanding the hopes and ambitions of the ordinary Turkish people on the street.
BUILDING AN UNDERSTANDING OF TURKEY IN IRELAND
What are the goals you would like to achieve during your term as an ambassador?
It is very important to build an understanding of Turkey in Ireland. Of course, I need to raise awareness of who Ireland is in Turkey. We are also on the United Nations Security Council from January 1, 2021. Turkey is incredibly important, so it is really important to understand what Turkey’s goals are in the world, how our nations, the EU, and Turkey can work together, and think about the benefits of both blocks. Deepening this relationship is my priority.
How did you start your career? What motivated you to become a diplomat?
Ireland is a very political country. We have a large diaspora, there are a lot more Irish people living overseas than there are in Ireland. 70 million people claim Irish heritage. So it always made us look kind of out of this world. In the 80s and 90s, there were major emotional changes in the world, such as the end of the Soviet Union and the fall of the Berlin Wall. In my own country, the Celtic tiger rears up. We were getting richer, as someone who remembered a much poorer Ireland, we evolved into a successful Ireland. Ireland is now a country much more dedicated to equal rights, gender equality, justice and equality of all citizens. We find such values very important. When I joined the State Department in the ’90s, there were literal emotions that we could achieve. As a child, Northern Ireland was seen as challenging, never unraveling. But our experience through diplomacy was that it could be solved. This requires long-term commitment, dialogue and constant political willingness, even when things are politically difficult or unsuccessful.
I WORKED TO MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE
I was a lawyer in the past, and then I got into the State Department. Throughout my career, I have been lucky enough to work in several really interesting areas such as security policy, and the international development assistance department. Ireland has a huge development budget. We pay a lot of money for development and cooperation. I went to work every day because I wanted to make the world a better place. I also had the opportunity to work and live in beautiful countries like Turkey, I had the chance to get to know people, and their backgrounds, cultures, history, and traditions. That’s the best part.
What does it mean to be a woman in this business? Did you have difficulties during your career?
Of course, it’s hard. During the day, you have to work twice as hard as your male colleagues because you need to be taken seriously. When you got married and had kids, there was a feeling that your commitment would diminish. So you have to show that your commitment is getting stronger and you’re not going to quit your job. Age made a difference in my organization. Our ministers and our secretary-general are relatively young and dedicated. They grew up in a world where they were affected by the women around them. So they’re not afraid of that. They are very aware that diversity brings benefits, and they can see these advantages. The truth is, make sure women don’t give up.
YOUR VOICE MUST BE HEARD
What do you recommend to young women to have their rights?
They have to trust themselves. It’s not easy. Women need to know everything about the subject before they feel confident enough to talk about it. Usually when women talk or ask for their rights or say, “I don’t think it’s fair,” other people will join them, but since you never say that, you won’t be able to get attention. My advice is to say what you think you need, you have to make your voice heard, and you have to say what is unfair. In some cases, you have to say it by force, in others gently. But your voice must be heard. No one’s going to come and ask for your opinion. You have to volunteer and trust this idea. So what if you’re wrong? A lot of people are wrong, men make mistakes, and leaders make mistakes. It’s okay to make mistakes.
How do you spend your free time in Ankara?
What I want is to see the rest of Turkey. There are some places within driving distance of Ankara. So I visited Gordion, Safranbolu, Eskişehir, Antalya, and Kars, I was even lucky enough to go to Gaziantep. I’m trying to find out more about Turkish culture. I’ve read a lot about Turkish politics and I’m trying to learn some Turkish. My teacher is trying to teach me, Turkish singers. Ankara is a very modern city but for me, I have to admit it is mostly about food.
What is the importance of Halloween for Ireland?
Halloween is very special in Ireland. Halloween, where children go door to door and collect candy, is known as an American tradition, but it is a tradition of Irish origin. The Celtics, the founding race of the Irish people, had many traditions at this time of year. In Ireland, nights are very long during this season. The Celts believed that the world we lived in during this period and the world of mortals came very close to each other and that the transition between the two worlds could be made. After accepting Christianity, this tradition continued. In Catholic tradition, November 1st is celebrated as ‘saints’ Day’ and November 2nd is celebrated as ‘Spirits’ Day. At the same time, we continue to celebrate October 31st as Halloween. We have great respect for old traditions, and today children still go door to door collecting candy. They wear costumes belonging to creatures thought to be associated with spirits. There are games we play on Halloween. We carve zucchini, decorate our houses, bake cakes, and put things like rings or coins in the cake to dig and find. It is believed that the person who found it will be lucky within the next year.
PUMPKIN BECAME A SYMBOL
The children would go door to door asking for treats and say: ‘We can either scare you or we’ll play a game for you. We can try to scare off your chicken, open your windows, or do something scary. Or if you give us something nice, we’ll go. In English, it’s called ‘Trick and Treat’. Thus, children are given fruit or candy by the people they visit. One of the interesting traditions is pumpkin carving. The story is; that there’s a terrible blacksmith. One day he met the devil and the devil said he would be doomed to roam the world forever. The blacksmith accepted his sentence but wanted something to light his way. In the old days, the Irish used to put fire embers in turnips to shine a light. But in the 19th century in America, they couldn’t find turnips and instead, they used pumpkins. Pumpkins have become a symbol of Halloween today.
