US mission hosts iftar for neighbors

ISTANBUL - Anatolia News Agency

The Consulate General of the United States in Istanbul and Sarıyer Municipality hosted a fast-breaking dinner for İstinye residents the night of Aug. 15. Approximately 500 people from Kaplıcalar and Poligon neighborhoods near the consulate attended the event, which took place in the consulate’s parking lot in İstinye while consulate employees joined the locals for dinner.

The U.S. consul general for Istanbul, Scott Kilner; his wife, Jan Kilner; Sarıyer Mayor Şükrü Genç; several Sarıyer City Council members; neighborhood muftis and imams; and diplomats from the consulate were also present at the event. Kilner said the month of Ramadan is a time to be thankful for the love of family, social solidarity and blessings. “We thank you for being with us at this iftar dinner which reminds us of the blessings we have been given and the importance of sharing them.” Kilner also thanked the neighborhood residents for being “hospitable” and “good neighbors.” Answering journalists’ questions regarding fasting, Kilner said he was not Muslim and continued, “However since I’m a diplomat, I am interested in and want to learn the traditions of the country I work in. Ramadan traditions, especially fasting is a very powerful, sincere and profound tradition. Fasting every day is not easy. One has to be very disciplined.”