While travelling to a foreign country, it’s recommended to check whether your country of origin has an embassy, a consulate or maybe both in the country of your destination. And if so, to find out where they are located and/or what their telephone numbers are should an emergency arise. Luckily for you, most nations have one or more diplomatic missions in Turkey. Moreover, many of those are located in Istanbul.
Difference between an Embassy, Consulate-General and Consulate
- Embassy – a permanent diplomatic mission is usually known as a chancery, and the person in charge of the mission is known as an ambassador. The ambassador residence is generally called the embassy. If one country recognizes the sovereignty of another, they generally establish an embassy there. An ambassador – a high-ranking diplomatic representative – is sent and acts as the spokesperson for his national government. An embassy is always located in the capital of the host nation. Except for maintaining diplomatic relationships between the two countries, embassies also provide administrative services. Not only do they issue visas to citizens of the host country; they also assist their fellow countrymen in case they lose their passports or need help in the event of a (serious) crime or (natural) disaster.
- Consulate – this can be considered as a ‘mini embassy’, and is mostly located in busy tourist cities (e.g. Istanbul). The head of the consulate is the consul, who is a diplomat appointed to foster trade and take care of expatriates. In other words, except for the diplomatic relationships between the two countries, a consulate carries out the same duties as the embassy.
- Consulate-General – a consulate-general is the office of a consul-general, who is a consul of a higher rank and has one or more consuls working as deputies under him. Consulates-general offer the same services as the consulates.
List Of Countries With Diplomatic Missions In Turkey and/or Istanbul
In this two-post series, we’ll provide you with a list of the embassies, consulate-generals and consulates per country.
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