The event, which occurred over intersession, was attended primarily by the press, graduate students and residents of nearby communities. Many audience members were of Turkish descent.
“I didn’t expect so many inside jokes and questions being asked in Turkish,” Lara A. Setrakian ’04 said.
Laughter and cheers from Turkish-speaking members of the audience often preempted the English translations of the questions and answers.
Shaffer agreed that the speech was “sort of like when you go to a foreign film and people laugh at the jokes before you can get the subtitles.”
—Staff writer Tina Wang can be reached at tinawang@fas.harvard.edu.
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