Eric Edwards (Izmir, Turkey ’08)

Eric Edwards (Izmir, Turkey ’08) currently works as an intern at the U.S. Consulate General in Istanbul, Turkey.  As an intern, Eric has had a number of opportunities to use his Turkish skills, as well as gain valuable work experience in the Consulate.  During Secretary Clinton’s visit to Istanbul in July, Eric served as a site officer for the Libya Contact Group meeting, where he worked with the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs to coordinate the Secretary’s schedule and organized her bilateral meetings with the heads of other delegations.  During the Ambassador’s most recent trip to Istanbul, Eric supported the Ambassador’s visit to a Ramadan iftar with local political leaders. 

Eric first became interested in Turkey as an undergraduate at George Washington University, where he studied European and Eurasian studies, focusing on European political economy and European security integration.  He wrote his undergraduate thesis on Turkish-European security cooperation over the last two decades, and he graduated from the Elliott School of International Affairs summa cum laude. 

In his last year in college, Eric applied for a Critical Language Scholarship for Turkish due to his interest in Turkey and its relationship with Europe.  After spending the summer in Izmir studying beginner Turkish, he decided to move to Istanbul.  There Eric worked as an English teacher from 2008 to 2009 while studying Turkish and learning more about Turkish culture through continued immersion.  In 2009, Eric began a master’s program in Middle Eastern studies at Yeditepe University in Istanbul. He is currently writing his master’s thesis on contemporary liberal Muslim intellectuals in the Turkish press. 

After completing his internship and master’s degree, Eric hopes to join the State Department as a Foreign Service Officer.