Franco Zeffirelli, Florence-born director, set and costume designer, and producer acclaimed worldwide, has been bestowed the Lorenzo il Magnifico Lifetime Achievement Award for Visual and Performing Arts. The Award for Sculpture goes to Mexican sculptor Gustavo Aceves, whilst Turkish-born young artist Refik Anadol receives the Award for New Media Art.

The last rites of internationally acclaimed historian Kemal Karpat were performed on Feb. 25 in a state ceremony. Karpat died of natural causes on Feb. 20 in the U.S. at the age of 96. In a funeral ceremony held at Istanbul University, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said the Turkish people should follow his footsteps and pursue "even greater" academic achievements. "He was able to approach the old debates of Turkey in a much more realistic and moderate way," Erdoğan said. Erdoğan said the birthplace of the historian, Dobruja region of Romania, could seem far from Turkey today, but Karpat was born to Turkish parents.

Internationally acclaimed Turkish historian Kemal Karpat died on Feb. 20 in the United States aged 96, a Turkish official said. Turkish Consul General in Chicago Umut Acar told Anadolu Agency that Karpat died of multi-organ failure in Madison, Wisconsin at around 6.40 p.m (1240GMT). Karpat, an expert on the Ottoman Empire and modern Turkish history, was an emeritus professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He celebrated his 96th birthday on Feb. 15, said Acar.

Last November, 98 Congressional Freshmen were elected in the 2018 midterm elections. This was the most diverse Freshmen group ever to be elected to Congress! Turkish American Steering Committee calls Turkish-Americans to invite Congress' new members to join Turkey Causus.