A €78,500 party in Istanbul to celebrate Malta’s 60th anniversary of independence was largely financed through sponsorships from private companies, the Foreign Affairs Ministry has said.
The 600-person event held at the five-star CVK Park Bosphorus Hotel, organised by Malta’s Consultate General in Istanbul, featured Economy Minister Silvio Schembri and Istanbul’s deputy governor-general, Özlem Bozkurt Gevrek, among the guests of honour.
It was, by far, the most lavish event organised by a Maltese embassy, consulate or high commission anywhere in the world, costing more than the combined total of events organised by Maltese missions in Beijing, Berlin, London, New York, Geneva, Paris, Sydney, Brussels, Dublin, Vienna and Lisbon.
The event and its cost were made public through a parliamentary question asked by PN MP and foreign affairs spokesperson Beppe Fenech Adami, who asked for a breakdown of costs of Independence Day events organised by Malta’s various diplomatic missions.
In response to questions, the Foreign Affairs Ministry said the event was intended to target Turkey’s large shipping industry and was “organised with the strong support of many stakeholders with an interest in furthering Malta’s economic ties with Turkiye.”
That meant that the lion’s share of costs - €65,000 – were covered by private sector sponsorships, the ministry said.
Individual company sponsorships ranged from €5,000 (contributed by entities like golden passport concessionaires Henley & Partners, shipping firms Ciner, Furtrans Tanker and others) to the €1,200 contributed by Mondial Turizm, a Turkish travel agency.
Unlike many other embassies and consulates, which listed their sponsors and thanked them in social media posts about their Independence Day celebrations, Malta’s Consulate General in Istanbul made no mention of any sponsors.
Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey and contributes more than a third of the national GDP. Its population of more than 15 million makes it larger than many European countries, including Belgium and Portugal.
The Foreign Affairs Ministry pointed to the city’s economic clout when asked about the high cost of the Consulate General’s event.
While Malta’s embassy in Ankara (which cost €16,000) was aimed at Turkish dignitaries, ministry officials, diplomats and lobbyists, the Istanbul event had a bigger business focus, the ministry spokesperson said.
Istanbul’s nature as a business hub also means prices for venues, catering and services there are higher than in Ankara, the ministry said.
The ministry spokesperson said that apart from the €65,000 in private sponsorships, the Independence Day event in Istanbul also received €10,500 in sponsorships from other government entities and a €3,500 grant by the Foreign Affairs Ministry given to all Malta’s representations to organise events to mark the occasion.