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The first steps of Taşkın Bakery were taken in Wayne, NJ, at an Italian pizza shop, where Turkish pita was served to the neighboring Syriacs.

‘Kadir Baba’ of Paterson

Afyonkarahisar is a Turkish city with one of the largest migration rates in the country. In Emirdağ, the city’s most populated district, migration to foreign countries mostly began in the 1960’s. It is estimated that the number of migrants from Emirdağ, who mainly moved to European countries, especially to Belgium, as laborers, has now reached almost 150,000. And, the population of migrants from Emirdağ living in Belgium is believed to be around 120,000. One of the migrants from Emirdağ whose migration route led to USA is Kadir Taşkın. Now a resident of Paterson, Taşkın is referred to, by many, as ‘baba’, meaning, ‘father.’ In 1989, just like his countryfolk, Taşkın had also left his town to migrate to Europe. He had a visa both from Germany and the USA. A friend of his suggested he would first move to the USA, and leave he wouldn’t like it. Following along with his friend’s advice, Taşkın moved to Paterson, NJ in 1989. “I have been here since the first day I migrated and I haven’t left at all,” he says.

December 28, 2022
Published in Success Stories
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Thumb Bread is sold in seven different States about 100 locations, such Shoprite, 7 Elevens, and Fairway.

Heart-warming & Inspirational Story of Esendemir Sisters

Füsun, Gonca and Arzu Esendemir sisters started the Flatbread Grill® concept back in 2007 when their father was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. They grew up in poverty, so the family never had health insurance. The father immigrated to American in 1975 in pursuit of a better education and to follow his own dream of entrepreneurship. The restaurant concept was started after Füsun was laid off from her corporate job so they could take care of her parents. Arzu had just graduated college and was trying to decide between a career on Wall Street or law school. The sisters developed the restaurant concept completely on their own: branding, operations, menu, etc. They created a special bread called Thumb Bread®, which played a significant role in the concept's success. The New York Times wrote about their restaurant and their bread two months after they had their grand opening. Fast forward to the present, after opening multiple stores, hand making millions of pieces of bread, and being in the restaurant business for over a decade plus years, they now sell the bread as a CPG product.

December 28, 2022
Published in Professionals
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Romy Kay and Fouad Kashouty got married in 2017. (Photo by By Koray Kasap)

Passion, Brotherhood, Love and Cigar

Fouad Kashouty has been a member of Masonic Lodge for 27 years. He is a Freemasons and founders of Hiram & Solomon Cigars. Everything started in 2014, when he decided to roll 1000 cigars to raise some money for a scholarship for the Masonic Lodge that he belongs to. That was an immediate success among Masonic Brethren that grew amazingly fast and caught the attention of non-Freemason smokers. Now he is selling about 1 million sticks across the world. This was the passion... It took them about four or five years to get the rights of the Square and Compass (masonic symbols) for a cigar, he created a premium cigar. After a few years spent going back and forth with the lab and convincing the more conservative members that it is OK to do this and working with all the masonic charities. That’s how Hiram & Solomon Cigars have expanded. They grew faster than other companies because of the help and support of his masonic brothers in the market. That was the brotherhood...

December 28, 2022
Published in Professionals
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First Syriac Immigrants in the United States

(Dr Abraham K. Yoosuf, and other Syriacs from Mardin, Kharput and Diyarbakır in Worcester, Massachusetts. 1922, July 4. American Independence Day.)

George Anton Kiraz has published extensively in the fields of computational linguistics, Syriac studies, and the digital humanities. He wrote several books, journals, research papers and articles about Syriacs. He is the founder and director of Beth Mardutho: The Syriac Institute, the Editor-in-Chief of Gorgias Press, and a Senior Research Associate at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton. He earned an M.St. degree in Syriac Studies from the University of Oxford (1991) and an M.Phil. and a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge (1992, 1996). His latest books include The Syriac Orthodox in North America (1895–1995): A Short History (2019) and Syriac-English New Testament (2020).

December 27, 2022
Published in Associations
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Gabriel Akyön, Syriac community leader at St Gabriel Syriac Orthodox Church in Haworth, NJ.

Elder Brother of the Syriac Society: Gabriel Akyön

The Mor Gabriel community is extremely tight-knit, and most socialization happens within the community. In addition to weekly church services, there are also many social events throughout the year. The families within the community are not only friends, but most are also related to each other. Even the children, who attend public and private schools in English, do not (usually) become as good of with those who are outside of the community, as those friends would be seen as temporary, while friends from the community are seen as lifelong friends. The young people usually marry within the larger Syriac community. * The Syriac community in the U.S. is small and where everyone knows each other in some way. The majority of them are from the Midyat district of Mardin. (Gebrail) Cebrail Akyön is one of the most loved and respected names of the Syriac community. He is one of well-known names who representing the Syriac community at the official receptions of the Consulate General of the Republic of Turkey in New York.

December 27, 2022
Published in Associations
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Rev. Father Hadodo was born in 1950 in Midyat. He attended primary and secondary school in Midyat, graduated from high school in 1965. (Photo BY KORAY KASAP) RESIMALTI 2: While there were about 20 Syriac families in Hackensack in the early 1990s, the congregation relocated to a new church in Haworth, NJ, in 2014. Photo by Koray Kasap

Rev. Father Aziz Who Teaches the Tongue Jesus Spoke

Rev. Father Aziz Hadodo has served as pastor of St. Gabriel Syrian Orthodox Church in New Jersey since 1994. One of the rare names to have a chance to know his family roots back 400 years. Due to a disagreement between cousins, a group flees from Diyarbakır, the largest Kurdish-majority city in Turkey to Midyat, a town in the Mardin province of Türkiye. Others follow them. They reconcile with the intervention of the clergy. As a result of this event, the family migrated from Diyarbakır to Midyat in 400 years ago. A Syriac patriarch from the family drew up a family tree for the first time 200 years ago. Another relative, who was a member of parliament in Syria, worked on the family tree about 60 years ago and brought it up to date.

December 27, 2022
Published in Professionals
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Aziz Gürbüz after living in Germany and Belgium, he moved to New Jersey in 2014. (Photo by KORAY KASAP) RESIMALTI 2: “I was successful in the restaurant business in Europe, and I wanted to continue it here as well,’ Gürbüz says. (Photo by KORAY KASAP)

Experiencing Europe and America through Restaurant Business

Most of the Syriac community who left Mardin for several reasons came to Europe and some to the United States. Aziz Gürbüz is one of the names who have both European and American experience.
Originally from Altıntaş village of Midyat district of Mardin province. He still has not broken his ties with his village. Last summer, he sent his wife and son Gabriel to Mor Gabriel Church in Midyat for summer camp, so that he could get to know the Syriac culture and understand the religious values.

December 27, 2022
Published in Restaurants
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Washington D.C. Celebrates the 20th Anniversary of the Annual Turkish Festival this October

Washington D.C. (October 5, 2022) - Renowned for building bridges between Turkish and American people for 57 years, The American-Turkish Association of Washington DC (ATA-DC) is pleased to celebrate the 11th Turkish Cultural Heritage Month and mark the 20 th anniversary of the award-winning Annual DC Turkish Festival. Receiving an official proclamation from the Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, the month-long festivities will include a series of cross-cultural events and fun workshops throughout October.

October 8, 2022
Published in Associations
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Why Midsize Firms Are Ramping Up Tech Investments After Clearing the Hybrid Hurdle

Chief operating partner, Barbaros Karaahmet, was quoted in a Law.com article discussing how Herrick has embraced investing in firm wide technology, which in turn streamlines productivity. The article highlighted how Herrick was already ahead of the technology adoption curve when the pandemic hit. In 2012, the firm was forced to briefly close its New York office when Hurricane Sandy hit. Barbaros recalled how, "We couldn’t go into the office for a week and a half. That was a pivotal moment to look at having safety nets and fail-safes. That’s when we decided we needed to invest in more technology."

September 22, 2022
Published in Professionals
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Luxury Residential Complex by DEM Insaat in Istanbul.

New premium life with unbreakable location and remarkable value. The New Eyup project combines peaceful nature with contemporary quality living.
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August 23, 2022
Published in Business
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U.S. Senator Shaheen: "Turkey Remains a Valuable Ally"

U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Member, Democrat Senator Jeanne Shaheen, spoke to Bloomberg HT journalist Ali Çınar. Senator Shaheen said that as a Senate Foreign Relations Committee member, she would look deeper into Turkey's F-16 request.

"We should sell them the F-16 jets and modernize those jets as well. It's not in our interest not to do that, and there's no quid pro quo with that, and it's just that we should sell. But I need congressional approval to be able to do that, and I think we can get that," President Biden said at a news conference after the NATO leaders' summit in Madrid.

President Biden's comments gave the strongest signal of the administration's support for the proposed sale of new F-16s to Turkey.

Senator Shaheen, who makes critical statements about Turkey, spoke to Ciner Media USA Representative Ali Çınar about the new sales of 40 F-16s and nearly 80 F-16 modernization kits for Turkey. Here is Senator Shaheneen's statement:

“Turkey remains a valuable ally and a critical regional security partner for the United States and NATO. I remain committed to maintaining the already robust bilateral security relationship between our two countries. The F16 upgrade package submitted by the Biden administration - like any foreign arms sale - will ultimately have to go through a comprehensive review by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to ensure that the deal will benefit our joint security interests. As a member of that committee, I will work with the committee and ask questions of the administration to thoroughly review their request.” - U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen

Members of the House of Representatives Carolyn Maloney, Gus Bilirakis, and Chris Pappas announced their disappointment with the apparent plan to modernize Turkey's F-16s.

Key Republican Senator Lindsay Graham backed the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey. Upgrading its "aviation capability will benefit Turkey, the U.S., NATO, and regional security," said Lindsey Graham on Wednesday.

While Turkish Parliament Members are preparing to visit Washington D.C. for meetings with their U.S. Counterparts regarding the F-16 request, the U.S. Congress will be closed from August 8 to September 5. In addition, Congressional midterm elections will be held on November 8 for the 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 35 seats in the Senate.

July 1, 2022
Published in Politics
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MicroStrategy CEO Saylor: Of the tokens, 99% will fail, excluding Bitcoin.

Bloomberg HT Journalist Ali Cinar interviewed Michael Saylor, the CEO of Microstrategy. Saylor said that he thinks Bitcoin will survive, unlike most other digital assets.

CEO of Microstrategy Michael Saylor evaluated the decline in cryptocurrencies and the future of digital assets to Bloomberg HT. Having stated that, he thinks Bitcoin will survive. Still, most of the remaining assets will not be able to survive. Saylor also said, "There are almost 20 thousand cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin. The failure rate for tokens, except for Bitcoin, will be 99%."

"Bitcoin is a truly well-engineered decentralized asset, so it will survive," he said. Saylor also emphasized that regulations are required for the cryptocurrency stock exchange, saying, "There is extreme leverage, and with these regulations, they will be further reduced. Besides, it is important for regulators to provide crypto education."

"If you would like to hedge yourself weekly or monthly against inflation monthly or weekly, I have to say that it does not have a safe port strategy in the short term. A thing to do would be to develop a long-lasting strategy. You need to have a strategy that covers four years or more. As for a long-term strategy, different instruments in the basket is a requirement," he added.

Regarding the long-term performance of Bitcoin, Saylor made the following remark: "Considering the periods of two, four or eight years, we can state that Bitcoin has a five to ten times better performance compared to the other alternatives. It showed a better performance than Nasdaq shares, real estate or gold."

Saylor also touched on the regulations issue, commenting, "Bitcoin is actually one of the digital commodities. All of the other 20 thousand cryptocurrency assets are securities. Everything must be explained in these assets as in the other listed companies." They refuse to do this, and problems occur at this point. More transparency will be in question in the next few years because the regulatory authorities have started to work more actively. There is such a transformation, but there are also lots of uncertainties within this transformation. This means if you buy cryptocurrency other than Bitcoin, you take a huge risk.

Asserting that Bitcoin is the best of all digital commodities, Saylor stated that the strategy of Microstrategy is to retain Bitcoin for the long term (longer than ten years). Emphasizing that Microstrategy is already a very profitable company, Saylor also said, "We declared that we bought Bitcoin for an amount of 10 million dollars. We also did this at very different times when we had cash. We are not trying to buy at the bottom and sell at the top. "If you focus on which days will be good or bad, you will fail 98 percent of the time."

June 30, 2022
Published in Economy
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Tim Ozgener Returns To Cigar Business

Tim Ozgener is back in the cigar industry with a new brand bearing his family name. The man who once owned and ran CAO alongside his father and sister is about to launch Ozgener Family Cigars Bosphorus. It’s his first blend in around 12 years, and the beginning of what he expects to be several cigars launched under the Ozgener name. “I still love cigars—and I found I appreciate them more and more,” said Ozgener during a recent visit to the Cigar Aficionado offices in New York City. “Some of the most satisfying portions of my life were in the cigar business. I love the traditions.” He’s been working on the new project, he says, “for close to two years.”

June 29, 2022
Published in Businessman
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Selen Adds to Endorsement List One Week Out from Morris County Republican Convention

(Chatham, NJ) - Seven days before the pivotal Morris County Republican Convention in Congressional District 11, Morris County Commissioner Tayfun Selen continued to add to his endorsement list with a number of key Republican elected officials including from three of the largest towns in the 11th Congressional District. Among the new endorsements Selen for Congress campaign announced today include:

February 26, 2022
Published in Businessman
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