When I read one of my colleagues informative e-mail about Dr. Morton GULAK’s visit to Turkey, I wondered what I would do. On one side, an important guest from America…speaking only English, a different kind of job, a person I have never seen before…etc. But on the other side, it was a chance for us to do something for our country, and our job by meeting with him and talking about another person’s thinking. Dr. Gulak spoke about Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design at the Pursaklar Symposium on 1 March.

 

         We met Mr. and Mrs. GULAK, two nice people, at the Esenboğa Airport Hotel. Our team was, Kazım SEYHAN (Police Academy) , Yusuf ELGAZ (Police College) Yavûz KAHYâ (Police Academy) and me.

 

         Although we hadn’t had any plans about what to talk about, an efficient dialogue passed between us. It was the second “Turkey visit” of the GULAK family. The first one was at the Global Security Conference in Istanbul, 2007.

 

         After the Symposium, they had visited Urgup, Capodocia, Konya,  Hattusas before our meeting. They had positive images about Turkey. Mr. Gulak is an architect and I am a policeman. Could there be a common point between us?

 

Words, my unique assistants! They helped me. The word “police” had a Greek origin and the meaning of “police” is “city” (Konstantinopolis, Akropolis…etc.). This was the common point between us. I deal with the Security dimension and meaning of the city and Mr. GULAK, as an architect, deals with the structural dimension and meaning of the city. They both liked these sentences.

 

         At the dinner Mrs. Gulak mentioned the large number of “steps” they walked during Turkey tour. She had been tired because of steps…I said then:

 

         -“Step by step you will learn Turkey”…They smiled.

 

         I asked about American films where we learn about America and its people. He said:

         -“Don’t believe them as a true picture of American life.” This was good advice for me. They asked me if I had been in Europe. I answered:

 

         -Yes, the Europe is part of Istanbul… They laughed a lot.They found very delicious what they ate in the restaurant of Estergon Castle. They visited the museum of Castle with admirable looks. There were figures from Anatolian Civilizations. Mr. Gulak said that he liked our old alphabet which was very interesting.

 

         We had good impressions and feelings being together. They were pleasant when we gave our gifts. It was a good experience for all of us. This showed us that:

 

        “Organizations, activities are “pretext” s. Reality is the friendship…