ANKARA, Turkey -- From Oct. 16 to 21, Ms. Pinar Eser, Senior Turkish Liaison Officer, Air Force Office of Special Investigations Detachment 521, Ankara Turkey, assisted the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Attaché Office, U.S. Embassy, Ankara, Turkey, as the CBP funded lead translator for the U.S. visit of Turkish Customs and Trade Minister Bulent Tufenkci and his delegation.
The purpose of the trip was to enhance cooperation on border security concerns between the two governments.
Eser participated as principal translator for Minister Tufenkci’s office call with Jeh Johnson, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.
The CBP and Turkish delegation's U.S. visit also included office calls to key CBP offices in Washington, D.C., New York City and Buffalo, New York. Eser's translation's skills were crucial to the success of the CBP Attachés and Turkish Customs and Trade minister's U.S. visit.
Eser's translation skills also proved invaluable with a non-official but equally important matter.
During the Turkish delegation's visit to the CBP office on the Buffalo/Canada border, Rose Hilmey, Chief of the U.S. Buffalo Regional Border Protection Unit, informed the Turkish Minister that she was of Turkish ancestry.
Specifically, Hilmey said her grandfather had immigrated from Elazığ, Turkey, married and settled in the United States. Hilmey, who does not speak Turkish but had her grandfather's Turkish identification card, asked Minister Tufenkci for help in locating her relatives in Turkey. Upon returning to Turkey the minister located and placed Hilmey’s relatives in contact with her.
Eser, with nearly 13 years of AFOSI Turkish Liaison Officer experience, commendably represented the command, drawing kudos for her support from both the U.S. CBP and their Turkish counterparts.