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Boris Johnson's Ancestral Turkish Village Abuzz With Excitement

Associated Press

   KALFAT, TURKEY - A village in central Turkey where Boris Johnson traces
   his Turkish ancestry to is abuzz with excitement and pride over the
   news that a man they see as one of their own has become the new prime
   minister of Britain.

   Residents of the mainly farming village of Kalfat, in Cankiri province,
   100 kilometers (62 miles) north of the Turkish capital Ankara, gathered
   at its main assembly place on Tuesday to celebrate after Johnson won a
   Conservative Party leadership contest triggered by the resignation of
   Theresa May, according to town administrator, Bayram Tavukcu. Johnson
   took office as British prime minister on Wednesday.

   Residents here dismiss as "political rhetoric" past comments by Johnson
   that were sometimes deemed to be anti-Muslim or anti-Turkish and said
   they hope that he will visit Kalfat while in office.

   "We were honored that someone who has Ottoman genes, who comes from
   these lands, has become the prime minister of a prodigious country,"
   said Adem Karaagac, the former administrator of the village of 1,300.

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