Honorary Consul General of Finland in Istanbul Mr. Jeff Hakko: "I am proud to represent Finland".

In the following newsletters, we will introduce all Honorary Consuls of Finland in Turkey. Here is the first part of the series where we interviewed Mr. Jeff Hakko, who has served as Finland’s Honorary Consul General in Istanbul Turkey since 2015.

Honorary consulates play an important role in Finland-Turkey relations and today there are six Finnish honorary consulates in Turkey, in Istanbul, Antalya, Alanya, Izmir, Kayseri and Adana. This newsletter series will introduce all our Honorary Consuls in Turkey during the summer and coming fall. This is the first interview in the series and presents Mr. Jeff Hakko, who has been Finland’s Honorary Consul General in Istanbul Turkey since 2015.

Mr. Hakko tells a nice story about how as a child, he was asked in England if he talked Finnish, even though he spoke Turkish. He opened a map and wanted to understand where that country locates that is claimed to belong to the same language group as Turkey. Even Mr. Hakko’s earliest memories of Finland are from his childhood he did not visit the country until he decided to accept to become Finnish Honorary Consul General in Istanbul Turkey. Just before his nomination, Mr. Hakko traveled to Finland for the first time for a week to explore the country and meet people. Since then, he has visited Finland almost ten times. In the future, he hopes to experience Northern Finland Lapland, especially now when there is a direct flight during winter from Istanbul to Rovaniemi.

Before being appointed as the Honorary Consul General in 2015, Mr. Hakko had only a little information about the Honorary Consul Institution. However, he was told that such an honorable position cannot be refused and so he responded positively. According to Mr. Hakko, the most important task for Honorary Consul General is to “keep the Finnish flag high”. Economic, social, and cultural aspects are the ones Mr. Hakko highlights the most. During the interview, Mr. Hakko repeats how proud he is to represent Finland, “a shining star of Europe”.

Mr. Hakko runs a major Turkish fashion company Vakko as his main job. Honorary consulate general is in Istanbul, which is the heart of business and commerce in Turkey. The office is in the same building as Business Finland to make collaboration easier. Mr. Hakko tries to “open doors” to increase economic cooperation between Finland and Turkey. He says there are always different events and delegations in Istanbul. For Mr. Hakko, it is an honor to meet Finnish people. He highlights the meetings with president Niinistö, Foreign minister Haavisto and most recently, Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade minister Skinnari.

In the future, Mr. Hakko plans to continue as Honorary Consul General for as long as possible. He wishes to continue to promote Finnish interest and host delegations but also hopes to see economic growth in trade between Finland and Turkey.