With the Sea of Marmara naturally dividing its land, Turkey has the distinction of standing with one foot in Europe and one in Asia. It also has the distinction of claiming the legendary site where Noah's Ark came to rest after the flood subsided. Visual memories of ancient history remain in architectural relics of the Byzantine and Ottoman empires, in domes, spires and minarets, in brilliant jewelry and embroideries, and exquisite pottery and mosaics. Today's life continues to seethe in covered bazaars.
Turkey's ambassador to Japan comes from Ankara, capital city on the Asian side of the country. Solmaz Unaydin grew up where Roman remains and medieval mosques keep their time-honored places among the city's hills. Today Unaydin is one of three female ambassadors in Japan. When she was first appointed to the rank, she was the second woman in Turkey to be named her country's ambassador. "Since then, Turkey has had 16 women ambassadors. That is much more than any Western country. We have won the battle," she said.
She comes from a family of high-level professional people, comprising lawyers and doctors as well as ambassadors. Her husband, a retired ambassador, has a similar family background. A graduate of schools in Ankara using English-language curricula, Unaydin worked for her bachelor's degree in political science at Bryn Mawr College, Pa.