----- Original message -----
From: "guven incirlioglu" <>
To: <>
Sent: Tue, 30 May 2000 15:18:19 EEST
Subject: end of the story


Dear Monika,
For the last time, I was at the consulate this morning exactly at
10:00. At
the visa section, I gave the guard my name, and told him that Mr.
Gevrenov
knows about the situation, and that I came for a visa. He told me to
wait
outside. After waiting for exactly an hour, I went to the main gate,
rang
the bell, and gave the secretary my name (once more) over the intercom.
And
while the gate opened for a car, I slipped in, and I directly went to
the
officials inside the building. I told them my story once more (they did
not
have my name on the list in front of them) and kindly asked them to
call the
counsel, and these were my words: "Please tell him that Monika from
Plovdiv
called him yesterday morning". She went in and came back in 5 minutes
and
told me this: "I am sorry, but Mr. Gevrenov cannot help you. You must
go to
the regular visa section"  I went back there, waited for another 20 
minutes, together with other people who were there for hours (and some,
for
days) For the last time I talked to the guard, this time with an inter-
preter
from Turkish to Bulgarian, and he said there is nothing he can do. So
that
was the end of the story.
Please note this: I am not necessarily asking for a kind of priviledge,
and
I never mind waiting in line with others, as long as I know that I will
apply through regular channels. But I may be the only person of Turkish
origin with a specific purpose, among transport companies, truck driv-
ers,
people from other East European countries, and mainly some go-betweens
fluent in Bulgarian and Turkish that take care of visa problems for all
kinds of commercial applications. So I guess, they did not know what to
do
with me, and just like other few touristic attempts, they kept telling
me to
come back the next day. In the end, after spending four mornings at the
consulate, there is no way that I will go back there and try again.
I hope you don't get me wrong, and I do not want to complain. I know of
exactly the same disinterested attitude within the Turkish official
bureaucracy, not necessarily with bad intentions, but simply genetic
for this part of the world.
And last, if it is fine with you, I am working on a piece somewhat
related
with this situation, and I would like to send it over there to be
exhibited.
It will be printed on several sheets of A4 paper and it may require for
you
to find a suitable frame and glass to be hung. It appears that I can
send it
on Thursday or Friday, via FedEx or UPS, so that you may receive it as
early
as possible. I hope things will work out in better conditions in the
future,
and I'll try to call you over the phone this afternoon. Take good care,
best
wishes, Guven.
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