Secretariat, Taipei City Government

Representative Ismet Erikan of the Turkish Trade Office in Taipei is concluding his term in office and returning to Turkey. On 17 November 2017, Representative Erikan made a visit to Taipei City Government, where he exchanged farewells with Mayor Ko.
Representitive Erikan thanked the Taipei City Government for its support while he was in office, as when the Department of Cultural Affairs assisted a Turkish television station to make a documentary on Taipei which is to be aired on Turkish Airlines flights. The Representative said he will always remember his collaboration with Taipei City schools on culture and tourism. He also said that he has witnessed Taipei City's growth and development in the five years of his term, and that the safety, progressiveness and friendliness of Taipei has made him feel at ease, as if he were in his home country.
Representative Ismet Erikan took office in 2012. In order to improve Taiwanese understanding of Turkey, he made a special effort to visit and give seminars on campuses and in government bodies, and he has made several speeches in Taiwan promoting Turkish culture, including visits to the Department of Rapid Transit Systems and the National Museum of History to talk about the Turkish cradle of culture, to the National Science and Technology Museum to discuss the traditional Turkish coffee and food culture, and to the National Palace Museum, where he told people about Turkish Coffee Day and spoke at the "Why Turkey Matters" event.      In addition, Representative Erikan was the motive force behind the arrangement of direct flights between Taiwan and Turkey. Since his taking office, the number of Turkish tourists has quadrupled, with annual visitors of over seventy thousand people.
Towards the end of his visit, Representative Erikan was thanked by Mayor Ko for his vigorous efforts to expand Taipei–Turkey exchanges, seeking new opportunities and tirelessly pushing for bilateral exchanges. Mayor Ko expressed his hopes that the representative would one day come back to Taipei, and that he might continue to be the city’s goodwill ambassador, thus becoming our city’s most solid international friend and continuing to assist in interaction between our city and Turkey.