Jack Darakjy, attorney in River Edge, NJ. His parents were originally Diyarabakır, the largest city in Southeastern Turkey, on the banks of Tigris (Dicle), one of the greatest rivers of Middle East. His grandparents left Diyarbakır in 1922 to Aleppo, Syria. His eldest uncle came to the U.S. in 1922 and his family moved to the States in 1960. Practicing as a lawyer for 35 years, he speaks French, English, Arabic, Turkish and Armenian. He has an extensive knowledge of Syriacs from Diyarbakır as well. Diyarbakır St. Mary Church has survived 18 centuries throughout history and continues to inspire a strong and growing presence in the United States. With roots planted in 1915 in West Hoboken, N.J., (now North Bergen), the first Assyrian Orthodox church in the U.S. took its name from the original church in Diyarbakir, Turkey. Darakjy answered TURKOFAMERICA’s questions.

Montvale, NJ — population 7,844, 36 miles from New York City’s Manhattan - was incorporated as a borough on August 31, 1894. When he was sworn-in as a mayor on January 4th, 2016, Michael Ghassali made history as the first Christian-born Syrian to become a mayor in the Eastern United States. His mother from Harput, Elazığ in Armenian descent and his father was born in Mardin, a city in southeastern Turkey. He was working as Vice President of Corporate Partnerships for the nonprofit Feed the Children, one of the leading anti-hunger organizations. First, he ran for the city council, later ran for mayor. In the 2016 election, he got 70 percent of the votes and for his second term no one challenged him. He ran for Congress in 2020 election but after COVID he pulled off from the race. Now his Republican party colloquies encourages him to run for as Bergen County Executive. Michael Ghassali answered our questions:  

Mehmet Yeşilbaş has worked as an engineering project manager in countless projects from Libya to the United States, from billion-dollar hospital projects to university constructions. He worked as a senior manager in commercial, residential, warehouse and office and educational building projects, including İzmir City Hospital, University of Acıbadem Mehmet Ali Aydınlar, Libya Tripoli Airport, palace projects, Hovanian Enterprises condominium projects in New Jersey. Having signed construction projects of different sizes in the USA, Yeşilbaş provided Project Management and Contractor services to large companies such as Merco LLC, Hovanian Enterprises, Lehman Brothers, Pella, Andersen.  

Ceylan family from Türkiye arrived in New Jersey on Sunday, July 4, 1993. The shop was closed on Monday. On Tuesday, he and his brother stopped by Dunkin Donuts for a coffee. They made their way to his brother's shop at the Woodbridge Jewelry Exchange, the region’s largest selection of jewelry, with more than 100,000 items in one location in Woodbridge, NJ. "I’ve been working ever since," says Yusuf (Joseph) Ceylan. The Ceylan family, originally from the village of Gülgöze in the Midyat district of Mardin, sought to go abroad when economic conditions in Türkiye became difficult after the Gulf War. Ceylan graduated from high school in İstanbul. His brother and uncle had come to the United States before them. They came to the U.S. with a green card.