American Friends of Turkey Have Been Announced

The event, supported by Turkish Philanthropy Funds and Turkish Airlines, honors a number of special people, including; Ertan Yalcin, Turkish Consul General of New York, Ryan Zinke, the U.S. Interior Secretary General, Lola Zinke, wife of American Interior Minister Ryan Zinke; Michael E. McMahon, District Attorney for Richmond County, Liz Morhaim on behalf of Dan Morhaim, Maryland State Delegates, Khush Choksy, Senior Vice President for Middle East and Turkey Affairs at the U.S Chamber of Commerce, Mona Diamond, Turkish Republic Honorary Consul General of Atlanta, Deborah A Hazell, CEO HSBC Global Asset Management (US), Regional Head, Americas, Andrew F. Littlejohn, Executive Director, JP Morgan; William J. Parker III, COO of East West Institute; James Sparks, President of the American Borate Company; George Schieber, the founder of The Sena Eken Schieber fund; Katharine Branning, Author of ‘’Yes I Would Love Another Glass of Tea’’;  and Dr. Brian Rose, The James B. Pritchard Professor of Archaeology.  

Cemil Özyurt, the Co-Founder and Editor in Chief of TurkofAmerica Magazine, reflected that friends of Turkey and Turkish people, who extend their unwavering support during a challenging period of time in US-Turkish relations will be always rewarded. Mr. Özyurt also mentioned that a group of 25 people have worked tirelessly to identify award recipients in 32 different categories, including: academia, business, archeology, literature, finance, and technology.

Cüneyt Gürkan, Executive Director of TOA Consulting and organizer of the event, announced that 250 special guests will attend the ceremony at Harvard Club in NYC on May 30, 2018. Mr. Gürkan also mentioned all the proceeds from the auction during the event, supported by non-profit charity organization Turkish Philanthropy Funds and Turkish Airlines, will be donated to charity projects in Turkey.

The winners are:
-    Eric Adams, Brooklyn Borough President (Mayor)
-    Victoria Barrett, Director of Desperate Hours (Documentary)
-    Katharine Branning, Author of ‘’Yes I Would Love Another Glass of Tea’’ book. (Literature)
-    Khush Choksy, Senior Vice President for Middle East and Turkey Affairs at the U.S Chamber of Commerce (Professional Life)
-    Raquy Danziger (Turkish Folk Music)
-    Meg Davis (Turkish Folk Music)
-    Mona Diamond, Turkish Republic Honorary Consul General of Atlanta (Honorary Consul)
-    Jeff Engell, Lead Consultant of the Cyberpark Accelerator Program (CAP) in Turkey (Technology)
-    Glen Gilmore, A Forbes Top 20 Social Media Influencer (Social Media)
-    Deborah A Hazell, CEO HSBC Global Asset Management (US), Regional Head, Americas (Finance)
-    James Jeffrey, Former U.S. Ambassador to Turkey (International Relations)
-    Patsy Jones, Board member of American Turkish Association-DC (Volunteering at Non-profit organization)
-    Bonnie Joy Kaslan, Former Honorary Consul General of Los Angeles (Honorary Consul)
-    Lawrence Kaye, Partner; Co-Chair, Art Law Group; Co-Chair, Turkish Practice Group (Art Law)
-    Andrew F. Littlejohn, Executive Director, JP Morgan (Banking)
-    Lindsay Lohan, Actress (Entertainment)
-    Prof Heath Lowry (History)
-    Marty Markowitz, Former Borough President of Brooklyn, New York City, (Tourism)
-    Justin A McCarthy (History)
-    Michael McMahon, Richmond County, The Staten Island District Attorney (Elected Official)
-    Dan K. Morhaim, Maryland House of Delegates.  (Elected Official)
-    Dr Demetra George Mustafaoğlu, two-time Grammy List Nominee and opera star (Art&Culture)
-    Shin Joong Oh, M.D., Professor of Neurology, The University of Alabama School of Medicine (Medicine)
-    William J. Parker III, East West Institute (Think-tank)
-    Dr. Brian Rose, The James B. Pritchard Professor of Archaeology at the University of Pennsylvania, who he served as co-director of the excavations at Troy for 25 years (Archeology)
-    David Saltzman (Defending Turkey in Political Cases)
-    George Schieber, the founder of The Sena Eken Schieber Economics Award grants scholarships to women from Turkey, who are admitted to graduate programs for a Masters or PhD degree in Economics at an accredited school in the United States. (Philanthropy)
-    Annie Young-Scrivner, CEO of Godiva (Professional who works for Turkish Owned Corporate)
-    Soh Young Lee-Segredo, Korean American activist. (Community Leader) 
-    Brenda Shaffer, Global Energy Center (Policy Institute)
-    Ana Sortun, Executive Chef / Co-owner—Oleana, Sofra Bakery & Cafè (Turkish Culinary)
-    James Sparks, President of the American Borate Company (Businessman)
-    Jonathan N Stark, Managing Partner for Overseas Operations and Principal of Perkins Eastman Architects (Real Estate)
-    Hon. Robert Wexler (Friend of Turkey in the Congress)
-    Hon. Ed Whitfield (Friend of Turkey in the Congress)
-    Lola Zinke (Society)
-    American Friends of Turkey (AFOT) (Civil Society Organization)

TOA COMMUNITY AWARDS
Dr. Mark Meirowitz is Assistant Professor at SUNY Maritime College
Richard H. Berdnik, Sheriff of Passaic County
Turkish Airlines

JURORS
Ali Çınar, President of Turkish Heritage Organization
Ali Osman Akat, Turkish-American Business Associations (TABA)-AmCham
Ahmet Köse, CEO, BAU Global
Barbaros Tapan, Dogan Media Group Los Angeles Representative, Golden Globe Juror  
Burak Küntay, President of Center for American Studies at Bahcesehir University, Istanbul
Celal Seçilmiş, Executive Board Member, Former Chairman of the America Region Committee, World Turkish Business Council
Faruk Şen, Prof Dr. President of Turkish-European Foundation for Education and Science
Fahir Atakoğlu, Pianist and composer
Halil Mutlu, Co-Chairman of Turkish American National Steering Committee
Haluk Ünal, Prof., President and Chairman of the Board, Turkish American Scientist & Scholars Association
Kenan Çağlar, President of Assemble of Turkish American Associations  
Lincoln McCurdy, President of Turkish Coalition of America
Lydia Borland, President, LB International Solutions LLC
Mehmet Kırdar, Chairman of Turkish Philanthropy Funds
Mustafa Tuncer, President of MÜSİAD USA
Oya Bain, Secretary General of TASC, Activist,
Razi Canikligil, Hurriyet Turkish Newspaper New York & U.N. Correspondent
Uğur Terzioğlu, Founder President of American Turkish Business Development Council

SELECTION COMMITTEE
Cemil Özyurt, Co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of TURKOFAMERICA Magazine
Demet Cabbar, Financial Officer, Development Finance, World Bank. Former President, ATA-DC  
Jimmy Cüneyt Gürkan, COO of TOA Consulting Group LLC
Mustafa Oğuz Aykaç, TurkofAmerica Magazine Boston Representative
Ali Günertem, Member of TURKOFAMERICA Magazine Advising Committee