Nora Şeni, director of the Institut Français d'Etudes Anatoliennes (IFEA, French Institute of Anatolian Studies), has said the institute helps to acquaint Europeans with the Turkish reality and that the benefits of its work will be seen in time.

“After several migration waves and multiple revolutions in communications, ordinary people in Europe are probably still not very familiar with Turkish reality,” she said, noting that France is among the states in the European Union opposing Turkey's membership in the bloc.In one of her books, “Marie et Marie, une saison à Constantinople, 1856-1858” (“Marie and Marie, A Season in Constantinople, 1856-1858”), she related how the French people viewed Turkey at the time: either indifferently or with an Orientalist approach.For Monday Talk, she elaborated on various issues, from the institute's efforts in uniting the two cultures to a “cultural activities explosion” in İstanbul and its relevance to urban transformation. Would you tell us about the IFEA?One of our main missions is to bring French and Turkish researchers to work together. The institute had concentrated on archaeology but has now developed contemporary studies departments.What are these departments?Mainly history, political science and urban studies. We also have had a branch in Baku since 2003. The culture and the Black Sea studies branches have been added recently. Having noticed that the European Union tries to build up a common policy about the Mediterranean region but does not have a policy for the Black Sea area, I decided to create a research department on this region. Nora Şeni: historian, economist, writer, documentary filmmakerReplacing Pierre Chuvin in September 2008, she became the director of the French Institute of Anatolian Studies (IFEA), which offers researchers a close-up view of Turkey and its history. She adds her own passion to the offerings of the institute, which boasts a new cultural department.After graduating from Notre Dame de Sion High School in İstanbul, she went on to study economics and then history in France. She has been a professor at the Institute of Urban Studies of the University of Paris VIII. She has authored four books, including her doctoral thesis “Dominant Industry in Imperialist Systems,” which was also published in Turkish in 1978. Her book “Marie et Marie, une saison Constantinople, 1856-1858” (”Marie and Marie: A Season in Constantinople, 1856-1858”) was published in Turkish in 1999. Another one of Şeni's books, “Les Camondo oul'éeclipse d'une fortune” (“The Camondos, The Fall of a Dynasty”) was published in Turkish as well. She has another book coming out in Turkish in a few months from her 2005 “Les inventeurs de la philanthropie juive” (“Inventors of Philanthropy”). Have you organized activities regarding the Caucasus yet?Yes, I became the director of the institute following the brief war between Georgia and Russia. I organized a symposium on Black Sea politics together with colleagues from Galatasaray University and from our Baku extension. Peter Semneby, the EU representative for the South Caucasus, was one of our speakers. What does the institute contribute in regards to the relations between Turkey and France?The institute is above and beyond politics. Turkey and France have a long-lasting relationship, but they also have ups and downs. The IFEA represents a pole of stability because of the steady relationships it developed for decades with researchers and research institutions in Turkey. The collaborations, the partnerships in research programs and projects grew into a solid and perennial relationship which is not written in sand. Each French scholar who comes to the IFEA for a few years already has some contacts in libraries and universities when he steps into Turkey. While he works at the IFEA, these relationships diversify and grow even more, and when he goes back to France, because he specialized in studies concerning Turkey, he will be collaborating with Turkish scholars -- to organize common international symposiums, to set up research and teaching programs -- throughout his career. Who comes here to study?They are mostly French researchers, archaeologists, epigraphists, historians who work on Turkey, the Ottoman Empire, Byzantium, prehistoric Anatolia, etc. Famous researchers like Robert Mantran, Xavier de Planhol and Louis Robert worked here long ago, and more recently historians like François Georgeon and Stefan Yerasimos created a considerable part of their work while they were at the IFEA.  You provide scholarships…We now give two-year scholarships to two doctoral students a year. We also give short-term scholarships to students doing their master's degree. We're a laboratory here providing a perspective. It's a historical perspective, not an exotic one. We contribute to acquainting European people with the Turkish reality. It's not in a fast-paced fashion, but it is rewarding in time.In your book “Marie and Marie” you describe how French people used to view Turkey. Would you tell us more about this idea?There are two distinguished young women from an aristocratic background carrying the same name, Marie. They are cousins and they live in İstanbul following the Crimean War of 1856-1858. As one of them carries an indifferent attitude toward Turkish society, the other one has quite an Orientalist approach. Marie and Marie represent how French people viewed Turkey.Even though you presented an era in history in that book, similar views seem to persist today in Europe. Do you agree? What view do you think is dominant today in Europe, and maybe specifically in France, toward Turkey now? First, it is not specific to France and second, I don't trust generalizations. What we might say is that even in this century, after several migration waves and multiple revolutions in communications, ordinary people in Europe are probably still not very familiar with Turkish reality, a notion which is also a generalization. ‘Cultural explosion in İstanbul'What prompted you to develop a department on culture at the IFEA?There is a cultural activities explosion in İstanbul. In the last 10 years we have seen an increased number of museums and art festivals in the city. Library with travelogues of Marco Polo, Ibn BattutaEstablished in 1930, the IFEA operates under the French Foreign Ministry and the French Scientific Research Center. Archaeological research is a key part of the institute, as it was initially intended for promoting such research since its first director, Albert Gabriel, was committed to the field. Thanks to Gabriel, the ancient city walls of southeastern city of Diyarbakır were saved from being demolished as part of an urbanization plan. The institute has many publications. One of its annual publications, “Anatolia Antiqua,” has been put out since 1990 and is read by archaeologists worldwide. The voluminous periodical has articles in many languages from archaeologists around the world. Şeni says French archaeological research on Turkey developed with the aid of the IFEA.Şeni also said the institute has a wide range of collections from such travel writers as Marco Polo from as early as the 13th century, Ibn Battuta from the 14th century and Joseph Pitton de Tournefort from the 18th century. The works of Charles Pertusier, another person who explored İstanbul in the early 1800s, and Charles McFarlane from the same period are featured on the shelves of the institute's library. Could you explain what this development has led to?Culture has been a tool in urban transformation. Through all those festivals and art activities, İstanbul has become a marketing brand. This is also the new identity of İstanbul. And the city is showcased through all these activities.What does the old identity of the city refer to?The enduring touristic image of İstanbul is based on Ottoman and Byzantine architecture. The new İstanbul wishes to exist inside the international contemporary art field through festivals, “biennales” and such new institutions as the İstanbul Modern and Santralistanbul. More interestingly, these are private initiatives rather than state. What does this suggest?It indicates that in İstanbul the actors of urban transformation are private citizens and/or foundations. In Turkey, there have been a few affluent families -- Eczacıbaşı, Sabancı, Koç and Has -- who have symbolized the cultural involvement of the elites. These are new actors in urban and cultural transformation. This is also about being a part of the world elite because being part of the world elite requires taking social responsibility in educational, cultural and artistic development. This is the etiquette of being a part of the international grand bourgeoisie. In that sense the tradition of these families is different from the new bourgeoisie, the “Anatolian tigers.”How do the Anatolian tigers behave in this regard?For people who identify with Islam, the expression of social responsibility is charity, not promoting contemporary arts. How has the elite segment contributed to urban transformation in Europe?It goes back to the 19th century in which the elite invested in such projects as hospitals and educational institutions. Then they showcased their art collections in special museums. They opened art galleries. They became actors in society who do things that the state does not yet do. In the urban centers of Europe today, one of the trends to transform cities is through cultural clusters, usually in places near water. This happens in some areas of İstanbul, too. Look at Santralistanbul; also look at what is happening in Pera. Cultural centers are changing a neighborhood there. It is the same in the surrounds of the Rahmi Koç Museum. There is a discourse about transforming the area into a “valley of culture.”When do you think the cultural explosion started in İstanbul?It started with the İstanbul Music Festival, which was founded by the Eczacıbaşı family. If we go further back, it started in the 1960s when “Cinémathèque” was established. These were the first experiments of private initiatives. And there is the İstanbul 2010 project coming up. I am an advisor for the project in the urban domain.What would you recommend?One thing to start with would be to develop an inventory of all cultural institutions in İstanbul. So there isn't such an inventory currently?There isn't. We have to find a method of categorizing them all, of course. This is open to discussion for now. The classification can be made according to the visions of these institutions, according to their age, or according to their variety. There are many ways to look at that. ‘Longing for Paris and İstanbul'Actually, before İstanbul 2010, comes the “Season of Turkey” in France, starting in July this year and running until March 2010.Yes. The IFEA is participating with conferences and debates during the festivities. We are organizing two conferences in Paris, one about Orientalism and another about Turkish republicanism. Are there any other institute activities that you would like to tell us about?We have new collaborations with some other research institutes in İstanbul that conduct similar works to ours. We are planning to create a new Internet site in a couple of months together with the İstanbul Research Institute, the Orient Institute and the Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations. This should be an Internet site that will provide more visibility and easier access to the resources and programs of these institutes. We are also excited about a new project with the History Foundation of Turkey. We are planning to have the content of our seminars, which occur at least twice a month, published with them.Do you make comparisons between İstanbul and Paris? I live in a continuum which I call “Paristanbul.” Now I try to avoid the feeling of leaving one city for another; I feel as if I was in the same town only in another district. This prevents me from longing for Paris when I'm in İstanbul and vice versa. In my book is the phrase “If I ever forget you İstanbul.” 27 April 2009, MondayYONCA POYRAZ DOĞAN  İSTANBUL