Basketball Fans had a Feast with Mehmet Okur
February 1, 2008

Mehmet Okur and Utah Jazz took on Washington Wizards at the Verizon Center on Friday, February 1. Approximately 110 ATA-DC members and friends attended the game to support Mehmet Okur, who was the most scorer athlete of the entire game. Okur scored 27 points, 19 in the second half, and had 11 rebounds, and the Utah Jazz won with a 96-87 win against the Washington Wizards.

ATA-DC has also secured discounted rates for the Wizards versus Orlando Magic game on Wednesday, March 5th, this time for the fans of Hidayet Turkoglu. Do not miss this game if you would like watch Hido take on Washington, Wizards.

Turkish-Italian Partnership brought Ozpetek Movie to the Italian Embassy
February 6, 2008

Turkish Americans had an art full of evening at the Italian Embassy on Wednesday, February 6th. ATA-DC partnered with the Italian Culture Institute to show “Sacred Heart” an Italian movie made by a Turkish Director, Ferzan Ozpetek. The movie was screened at the state of the art Auditorium of Italian Culture Institute at the Italian Embassy. More than 100 people showed to see the movie. The attendees were mesmerized with the traditional and contemporary pieces of art that was presented at the Embassy as much as the movie itself. Michele Giacalone of the Italian Culture Institute said that it was wonderful to see so many new and young faces at the Institute and emphasized that he would like to continue partnering with ATA-DC in the future.

Lezzet Market’s Gozleme Day raises $500 for ATA-DC’s ATATURK School
February 9, 2008

Lezzet Market organized a Gozleme day to raise funds for the ATATURK School on Sunday, February 9th. A portion of the Gozleme and the grocery sales made on February 9th was donated to the School. Roughly 75 people showed up to have Gozleme throughout the day and $500 was raised for the School..

Turkish Americans Celebrate the Valentine’s Day
February 14, 2008

ATA-DC organized a Valentine's Day happyhour and brought together almost 30 people at a friendly gathering. The event took place at Gua-Rapo in Courthouse, VA on Thursday, February 14. The participants enjoyed latin food and drinks as well as live reggae music. The warm Latin ambiance helped the participants forget the cold weather outside.

ATA-DC Board visits Embassador Sensoy
February 29, 2008

Eight members of the ATA-DC Board of Directors visited Ambassador Nabi Sensoy on Friday, February 29. The board presented the Ambassador the accomplishments from the past year as well the plans for the upcoming year. Ambassador Sensoy emphasized the importance of strong grassroots activities especially in the U.S. and encouraged ATA-DC to keep up with the good work.

ATA-DC’s 21st Annual Teachers Workshop
March 1, 2008

More than 80 teachers from the Washington DC Metropolitan area gathered at the Turkish Embassy on Saturday, March 1st to learn about Turkish culture and history. Since 1985 ATA-DC has been organizing an annual teachers' workshop to educate and inform elementary, middle and high school teachers about Turkey. The objective of the workshop is to equip American teachers with tools that will enable them to better understand the culture and history of Turkey and the part of the World in which Turkey lies.

This year’s program was titled “Turkey: Center of the World History”, and included presentations on Turkish Culture, history, US-Turkish relationships, Turkish cuisine, as well as folk dancing and a raffle, which includes a round-trip ticket and gift certificates from famous Turkish Restaurants in the area including Rose Mary’s Thyme and Café Divan.

At the end of the workshop Ms. Georgie Shurts from the Faixfax County won a trip to Turkey. Ms. Shurts, in tears of happiness, said that she always wanted to go to Turkey and she is trilled to have this opportunity finally. The teacher’s workshop was made available thanks to the generous contributions of the Embassy of Turkey, Turkish Cultural Foundation, and the Turkish Businessmen and Industrialists Association (TUSIAD).

Bulgarian-Turkish Movie Sells out
Marchr 2, 2008

HasNa and ATA-DC joined forces in organizing a screening of an award winning Bulgarian Turkish movie, Stolen Eyes, on Sunday, March 2nd at the Avalon Theatre. Before the movie there was a happy hour at Parthenon, a Greek Restaurant two blocks away from the movie theatre. Both the movie and the happy hour were extremely well attended. More than 170 people attended the screening and many others were left out since the tickets were sold out. The multi-cultural audience greatly enjoyed the movie, which was about the story of a strange, impossible, inexplicable love between a Turkish woman and a Bulgarian man. The movie takes place in the ‘80s when the so-called “regeneration process”, when ethnic Turks names were forcibly changed to Bulgarian ones. Screenwriter Neri Terzieva says: “The most important thing in the film is their love, which endures despite the societal cataclysms brought about by the misguided decisions of the state authorities and politicians. Our desire in making this film was to heal the wound, not to open it back up.” Very appropriately, before the opening of the movie two Cypriots, one Greek and one Turkish, who are in Washington, DC to attend a conflict resolution program gave a speech on reconciliation and how they would like to create a future together for the entire island.

ATA-DC’s first wine tasting event is elegant and successful
March 7, 2008

ATA-DC organized a "Wine Tasting" Event at the beautiful residence of Ms. Deniz Kemaloglu in Vienna, Virginia on Friday, March 7th. Presented by the Curious Grape, and named “French Wines versus the Wines from the New World", the tasting included four different types of French wines and their comparables from the new world, namely New Zealand, Argentina, Australia, and the US. Almost 40 people attended the event and enjoyed the explanations about each wine as well as the wine and the fresh fruits, nuts, chocolate and of course cheese and bread. Ms. Kemaloglu was a wonderful host. All the guests left with a big smile on their faces and wondering when and where the next wine tasting would take place. Also, almost $700 was raised for the Turkish Festival during the event.

Turkish Americans celebrate the International Women’s Day and raise funds for Washington, DC and Istanbul women shelters
March 21, 2008

ATA-DC, Arts for Global Development, and the Ninth Street Gallery joined forces in organizing a special International Women’s Day Exhibit which opened at the Ninth Street Gallery on Friday, March 21st. The event was named Treasure Postcards, and intended to create awareness of global women's issues and raise funds for two women's shelters, one in Washington, DC and another in Istanbul, Turkey.

The event which was attended by about 80 people featured postcard-sized artwork created by FEMALE artists from across the globe to celebrate the 2008 International Women's Day by sharing their visual voices/expressions/perspectives. The opening speech was delivered by Demet Cabbar, the President of ATA-DC, which was followed by a speech by Nil Navaie, the founder and President of the Arts for Global Development,. Ms. Navaie read three stories from three different countries about the postcards which were sent by the artists who contributed to the exhibit. Finally Ms. Nejla Yatkin, an award-winning and internationally acclaimed choreographer and dancer gave a very sincere and friendly talk about being a dancer and the challenges of being a woman in this industry. The event was also supported by the George Washington University Turkish Student Association and the Kardelen Turkish Dance Ensemble. About $1,200 was raised to be split between the Calvary Services in Shaw District of Washington, DC and Mor Cati Women’s Shelter in Istanbul. The postcard exhibit can still be visited at the Ninth Street Gallery until April 5th by appointment. The postcards are also available for purchase online at www.art4development.net/tpp.html. For questions email Nil at tpp@art4development.net

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Rumi Movie screening and Discussion with the Producers attracted 150 at Jack Morton Auditorium
April 4, 2008

On April 4th, ATA-DC along with the Turkish Cultural Foundation and the GWU Turkish Student Association screened “Rumi Returning”, an award winning movie by Kell Kearns and Cynthia Lukas. The event, which attracted a very diverse audience of 150 people, took place at Jack Morton Auditorium at the George Washington University, in which the CNN Cross Fire is also produced. The event started at 7pm with a reception where Turkish food was served. At the opening the Presidents of the three co-organizers spoke. Ms. Deniz Ozkan, Graduate President of GWU Turkish Student Association welcomed everyone to the event; Ms. Demet Cabbar, President of ATA-DC, said there is no better way of opening this event then by Mevlana’s own words and red his “Come, whoever you are” poem and introduced the producers of the movie, and Ms. Guler Koknar, Executive Director of Turkish Cultural Foundation, addressed the importance of Anatolia, Turkey in Rumi’s life and the role of Anatolian tolerance in Rumi’s teachings.

After the screening of the movie Kell Kearns and Cynthia Lukas came up on stage and shared the good news that the movie was going to be broadcast on PBS thanks to a sponsorship by the Turkish Cultural Foundation. This piece of news evoked cheer and happiness among the audience. Later on Kell and Cynthia answered questions on why and how they decided to make this movie. Kell said that they made the movie with very limited resources but they received a big support both from the government and people when they were filming in Turkey. At this point Cynthia jumped in and said “We gambled everything for love as Rumi says” and she repeated “Gamble everything for love if you are true human being, if not leave this gathering”…

Senior Government Officials and Private Sector got together at the Turkish Financial Markets Conference in Washington, DC
April 11, 2008

On Friday, April 11, 2008 roughly 150 government officials, private sector executives, students and representatives of civil society organizations got together at the Renassaince Hotel in Washington, DC to get updates on and to discuss the future of Turkish Financial Markets. The one-day event was organized by ATA-DC, World Bank IMF Turkish Staff Association (WITSA) , The George Washington University School of Business, Capital Markets Board of Turkey and Turk Finans Network. The event started by an opening speech by Dr. Susan M. Philips, the Dean, School of Business and Professor of Finance, The George Washington University who mentioned that the GWU has a very old partnership with the Bogazici University in Turkey and that the GWU School of Business has three Turkish Faculty Members: Dr. Murat Tarimcilar, Associate Dean of Business School, Dr. Refik Soyer, Professor of Management Science and Dr. Senay Agca, Professor of Finance. The other speakers included: H. E. Mehmet Simsek, Minister of the State in Charge of the Economy, Dr. Turan Erol, Chairman, Capital Markets Board of Turkey, Mr. Huseyin Erkan, Chairman and CEO, The Istanbul Stock Exchange, and Mr. Ergun Ozen, President and CEO, Garanti Bank. The sponsors of the event included: Finans Invest, Finans Portfoy, Takas Bank, Garanti Bank and Turkish Airlines.

400 people attend ATA-DC’s 23 Nisan Celebration at McLean High School
April 27, 2008

ATA-DC ATATURK School and the Turkish American Community had a cheerful and well attended “23 Nisan” Celebration at McLean high School on Sunday, April 27. More than 400 people attended the celebration in which The Ataturk School Students as well as children and teenagers from other countries performed. The event started with a speech by Ms. Gulgun Sensoy, the wife of the Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey, addressing the children in particular and wishing them a happy celebration. Ataturk School children illustrated ATATURK’s reforms, sang songs, read poems and performed various theatrical acts to demonstrate their Turkish Language Schools. The program was followed by dances from Azerbaijan, China, India, Ireland, Middle East, the United States and Turkey. After the performances the crowd moved to the Cafeteria to enjoy Turkish food, bake sales, arts and crafts activities, and a magician show. There was also a silent auction which included gift baskets from Godiva, Turkish Towels, and also very beautiful art pieces donated by Mr. Turker Ozdogan. In addition, the t-shirt designed specifically for this event was a big hit both among children and parents. All kids who attended the event received a goodie bag from ATA-DC ATATURK School.

For their contributions to such a successful event, ATA-DC would extend their gratitude to: Atilla’s Grocery, and Atilla’s Resturant, Lezzet Market, Amity Meat and Grocery, Amity Café, Costco, Fatma Polat Catering, Meze Restaurant, Rosemary’s Thyme Bistro, Café Divan, Temel Restaurant, Turcuisine Restaurant, Nizam’s Restaurant, SEG Textiles/Thirstytowels.com, Michaels, The Art and Craft Store, Godiva, Lord & Taylor, Turker Ozdogan, and All Atatürk School Teachers, Students, and Parents

Turkish Americans Guarded the Turkish Embassy on April 24, against Armenian Allegations.
April 24, 2008

Turkish Americans had a successful friendly demonstration in support of the Republic of Turkey, U.S.-Turkish Relations, and Turkish American Solidarity on April 24, 2008, in front of the Turkish Embassy. Thanks to the good leadership of all the Turkish American Associations in the DC Area, Turkish Americans carried out the mission of guarding their heritage and good name, in a noble manner befitting of the flag they carried on behalf of the Turkish people.

According to Gunay Evinch, the President-Elect of ATAA, the most important achievement was the inter-group cooperation and solidarity. We have all joined together to raise the standard of performance and personal conduct around a subject that is important to us all as Turkish-Americans.

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