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TOA Authors

TOA Authors (90)

"Discovering Hidden Gems: Inspiring Stories from New York Life & Beyond"

By Cemil Özyurt - In this edition, we bring you a collection of fascinating stories, unlike anything you've read before. For 22 years, we have been on a thrilling journey, and with our New York Life & Beyond brand, we continue to connect with our readers with the same excitement. In this issue, you will discover stories of women who stand out with their achievements, entrepreneurs making waves, and extraordinary professionals who are reshaping their industries. Our cover story features Onur Şafak, a young entrepreneur who has quickly made a name for himself in New York with his Blue Meze brand. He recently opened his second restaurant in the historic New York Life building. We’ve dedicated this issue's cover to Onur, the new tenant of the building that houses the New York Life magazine. Other stories include Afa Zada, CEO of Palm Beach County-based Zada Advisors, who transitioned from a diplomatic career to visa consulting, and Hürrem Hammam & SPA, which brings a fresh take on the traditional Turkish bath style to Miami.

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Turkish and Greek Culinary Delights: Exploring New York and New Jersey

By Cemil Ozyurt - We are once again presenting you with a special issue filled with exciting interviews, news, and beautiful content. We embark on a new beginning, a new brand, and a new face. Get ready to eagerly flip through the pages of this issue awaiting you. We will continue our journey as TURKOFAMERICA with the brand New York Life & Beyond. In our first edition under the new name, we will focus on Turkish and Greek restaurants operating in New York and New Jersey. The Greeks started to become a prominent presence in the diner business during huge waves of immigration in the 1940s. Many of these immigrants were farmers who knew how to run small businesses, and they learned the tricks of the trade by working at Greek coffee shops. But as quintessentially American as diners are, a large percentage of them are owned by first- or second-generation Greek families.

Mardin in America: Syriacs   

By Cemil Özyurt - We have left behind 20 years in publishing. There is no such continuity in publishing life in America. Since the beginning, migration stories have always intrigued me. The United States is a country of immigrants, and every immigrant has a story worth telling. In New Jersey, especially in Bergen County, I have been meeting Syriacs for many years. I've had good friendships. For a long time, I wanted to draft the story of the Syriac community in America in a special issue. I first told this intention to Erol Devli, one of the leading figures of the society. The aftermath came by itself anyway. I reached out to names that were respected in society. Cebrail (Gabriel) Akyön, one of the leading names in the Syriac community, helped me meeting many names at St. Gabriel Church in New Jersey. And a subject has emerged that has never been covered by any media outlet in the U.S. to date: the Syriac Community in America.   

A New Beginning

By Cemil Ozyurt - The coronavirus outbreak has altered life in the United States in many ways. The differential impact of COVID-19 was felt by low-income, immigrant, and other marginalized groups. As the coronavirus sweeps through the country, Pew Research Center has been surveying Americans to explore its impact on their lives. Job and wage losses due to COVID-19 have hit Hispanic adults the hardest. Most black and Hispanic Americans do not have financial reserves to cover expenses in case of an emergency. The COVID-19 economic downturn has made it harder for some Americans to pay their monthly bills. It was a tough period of time for us as well.

March unemployment rate hits 4.4 % in the U.S

The Employment figures in the U.S. were announced. During the month of March, non-farm employment decreased by 701,000 people, the unemployment rate increased to 4.4%, and the hourly rate rose by 3.1% per annum, with an incremental increase of 0.4% per month.

The data shows that while the coronavirus epidemic has led to an increase in the unemployment rate, there has yet to be any impact on hourly earnings.

The economy in the country is almost at the point of standstill, with the coronavirus pandemic, which began in China and moved its epicenter to Europe, continuing to increase its impact in the US. While the service sector remains the worst-affected, and production has been suspended during this period, the number of applications for unemployment benefits has hit a record—reaching ten million.

In the United States of America, apart from the number of people who have been tested positive for COVID-19, the number of people applying for unemployment benefit has hit a historical high. Only last week, 6.6 million people applied for unemployment benefits.

Following the dismissal of 3.3 million people last week, around ten million people were left with no source of income due to the pandemic. The report prepared by the Ministry of Labor revealed that the economy was dragged into a serious recession with the shutting of businesses worldwide, while unemployment rates increased exponentially.

“It’s only the beginning.”

The high number of layoffs causes many economists to paint a pessimistic picture. It is stated that the current ten million job layoffs may increase as much as another ten million by the end of April. This number is twice as high as the dismissal number (of 8.7 million people) during the Great Depression.

The Chair of the FED: A recession is expected.

Jerome Powell, Chair of the US Federal Reserve, warned that the US could enter a recession. Powell said that the full recovery of the economy was directly linked to limiting the spread of the virus.

International economics specialist James Knightley of Dutch ING Group said that although it was known that tens of thousands of workplaces had been closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, it was shocking that there had been more than 3 million applications for unemployment pay.

“New monetary aid packages could be needed.”

The US Senate already approved the government’s $2 trillion aid package.Speaker of House,Nancy Pelosi stated that more economic relief packages would be needed in the near future.

Within the scope of this fund, three thousand dollars of support per family is planned, while businesses get 500 billion dollars of support.

The hardest decline of the last 33 years in the US travel industry

The hardest decline of the last 33 years in the US travel industry
Travel industry forms in the US have experienced the hardest depreciation of the last 33 years. The travel industry and tourism companies suffered sharp declines following President Trump’s announcement last Thursday that European flights were suspended due to the coronavirus outbreak for 30 days.

According to the news created by the statistical database Statista on Yahoo Finance data, the travel industry has experienced the most severe decline since 1987. Industries such as airlines, cruise, and online reservation platforms have been badly affected.

The Cruise Companies have losses of over 30%
The top three US cruise companies suffered more than 30% loss in stock market shares. Airlines and online booking companies have also suffered double-digit losses. Cruise companies like Norwegian Cruise Line suffered 35.8% losses in shares. Royal Caribbean experienced a loss of 31.8%, and Carnival suffered a loss of 31.2%.

Status of the Airline Companies

While United Airlines suffered 24.9% losses, Delta Air Lines suffered 21% and American Airlines 17.34%. Online reservation platforms ,such as Expedia (15.2%) and Booking Holdings (11.2%), have also suffered losses in the stock market.

Coronavirus Precautions from Turkish Airlines

Announcement from THY: “As Turkish Airlines, our top priority is the safety and health of our passengers and teams. From the first days of COVID-19 news reports, Turkish Airlines has followed the developments closely, evaluated possible scenarios at the highest level, and took all additional necessary measures. All the cabins in our international flights, the interiors of our passenger buses, our passenger lounges, and ticketing areas are going through a detailed cleaning process. This process includes a disinfectant steaming treatment, which has been proven effective against viruses, including the new coronavirus known as COVID-19.

Additionally, Turkish Airlines has announced that ticket changes will be made free of charge for passengers who have canceled flights departing from Germany, France, Spain, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark.”

 

The Distinguished Friends of Turkey and The Loved Ones Whom We Lost

By Cemil Ozyurt - First time ever we have rewarded the distinguished friends of Turkey in 30 different fields from academia to business, from art to social life. We dedicate this special issue to “Friends of Turkey.” We reward Americans who support and strengthen people-to-people relations between America and Turkey by deepening the understanding and appreciation of our two centuries of friendship. We hope you enjoy reading this issue that involves Distinguished Friends of Turkey.  From Boston to Los Angeles, from Silicon Valley to New York finance world, TURKOFAMERICA highlights the great untold stories of friends of Turkey.

Challenges on Turkey-U.S. Relationship

By Ali Cinar - Lately, the relationship between the U.S. and Turkey has taken a severe downfall. During the General Assembly of the United Nations, President Trump met with six world leaders while President Erdogan met with 14. However, other than a brief conversation at the United Nations corridor, the two leaders did not hold a formal meeting. Though there was much hope an improvement of relations would come with the presidency of Donald Trump, it has not occurred. Past disagreement between Turkey’s leadership and President Obama over the so-called Parallel State Structure in Turkey, an arm of the FETO as well as the Kurdistan Workers Party(PKK) seems to have spilled over into the administration of Donald Trump.

What Do Turkey's 2018 Election Results Mean for US?

By Ali Cinar -  The June 24 presidential and parliamentary elections marked the beginning of a new era in Turkey’s administrative system, moving to an executive presidential one, at a time when President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the current government are under criticism from the outside world for taking steps back from democratic gains. If I had to sum up the Turkish election in one word it would be “democracy.” The voter turnout rate was 87 percent and five different political parties passed the 10 percent threshold needed to enter parliament.

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We Should Not Only Face History, We Should Embrace It

It was October 2005; one of our reporters conducted an interview with a young film director, Didem Yılmaz who had shot a short documentary about His Imperial Highness Prince Osman Ertugrul, the head of the Ottoman family. The documentary, “Seeking the Sultan”, showed how a young Turkish-American student came across the Ottoman Royal family in New York.

Since then, I have been very curious about the Ottoman Dynasty, which has lived in exile. I attempted a couple times to reach out to Prince Ertuğrul Osman but I wasn’t able to make it. He died in 2009 and one of my biggest regrets is not meeting with him before he passed away.

Almost 10 years later, I learned that current head of the Ottoman family lives in New York. I couldn’t miss this opportunity once again and I reached him through a friend.
We met with HIH Bayazıd Osman on a cold winter night. Since then we get together once a week for lunch or dinner.  Over the last 30 years of my life, I have been reading history books and autobiographies and watched documentaries about the Ottoman family in exile; now I am a witness to this history.    
 
After serving their country for 622, the Ottoman Empire collapsed and about 300 members of the Ottoman Dynasty were forced into exile in March 1924. They spread out over 15 different countries, from France to Germany, Austria to Switzerland. Some of them ended up in America.  

In this issue, we have researched the family members who came to the United States. TURKOFAMERICA is the first publication, which has gathered family members together in New York.

We have come across very sad stories, heartbreaking memories and inconceivable incidents. The family kept quiet almost 70 years. They declined most interview requests and preferred to stay low profile. While preparing this issue, I have met Princes (Şehzade), Princesses (Sultan), Imperial Princesses (Hanım Sultan), and other members of the family. The Ottoman family members whom I have met are down to earth people, each of them able to speak least three or four languages, generous and very proud of their heritage. Even though they have lived almost 90 years in exile, they don’t say anything against Turkey.

In the last decades, Turkish governments have make reconciliation with different minorities and ethnic groups such as the Kurds, Armenians, Assyrians, and Gypsies who live in Turkey. I think it’s time for the Turkish government to face the last Ottomans who survived in very hard conditions over the past 90 years. The government should consider giving their estates, lands, possessions, and assets back to them along with their Turkish IDs and passports. If Armenian, Assyrian, and Gypsy people in Turkey deserve to have their rights back, the family who served their country for 622 years should have the same rights as the rest.



 
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