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Businessman Guzel with Congresswoman Wild and Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of House.

Rep. Wild Invites Lehigh Valley Business Owner to State of the Union

Pennsylvania's 7th District representative invited a Lehigh Valley small-business owner to President Donald Trump's State of the Union address Tuesday night. Rep. Susan Wild invited Murat Guzel, who owns a health foods company, to the president's speech, Wild's communications director Zoe Wilson-Meyer said. Guzel immigrated from Turkey three decades ago and works with the state's elected, appointed and non-profit leaders on mentoring and empowerment programs for girls, Wilson-Meyer said.

February 5, 2019
Published in Politicians
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Businessman Guzel Is Honored by NAACP on MLK's Day

Murat Guzel, a prominent Turkish American businessman, is honored for his lifetime membership to the The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) during Martin Luther King Day celebration. Guzel says: "Dr. Martin Luther King once said, "Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?" I have used this as my guiding principle in life . In working with local organizations, I have worked to increase the awareness and the importance of volunteerism and philanthropy among all people including fellow CEOs. Dr. King also often remarked "we can all be great because we can all serve." Let's make 2019 a GREAT year by serving others."

January 28, 2019
Published in Associations
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Interfaith Leaders Gather at NYC

By Ali Cinar - The annual Interfaith Breakfast brought together faith leaders from across New York City and aimed at helping our city's most underserved residents. NYPL President Tony Marx made the first opening remarks at the breakfast. NYPD Commissioner and many NYPD Officials James P. O'Neill also attended the program to suppport the Clergy Leaders.

January 18, 2019
Published in Politics1
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Brooklyn Borough President Supports WeWalk

By Ali Cinar-New York - Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams joined the representatives from WeWalk — developers of a “smart cane” for the visually impaired — to demonstrate the first-of-its-kind technology to Brooklyn and to announce the launch of a pilot program for clients of Helen Keller Services for the Blind, a non-profit organization based in Downtown Brooklyn helping people of all ages who are blind or visually impaired, and students from Lighthouse Guild, an organization dedicated to addressing and preventing vision loss. The technology, which was developed in Turkey through the non-governmental organization (NGO) Young Guru Academy (YGA), facilitates the world’s first open platform “smart cane,” which features security LED lighting, integration with mobile apps such as Google, Lyft, and Uber, and voice-command capability.

January 22, 2019
Published in Businessman
Written by Admin TOA

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NYPD Holds a Special Holiday Party

By Ali Cinar - Police Commissioner James P. O’Neill, First Deputy Commissioner Benjamin Tucker and Chief of Department Terrence Monahan’s Holiday Party and many NYPD Officers enjoyed the Holiday Party that was held on Russo's on the Bay. NYPD Middle East & Turkic Society Members were also present at the Holiday Party. The members were great to see so many colleagues come together to support the great leadership that they have at the NYPD.

January 8, 2019
Published in Politics1
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Selen Comes in Like a 'Typhoon', Turkish Immigrant Voted Chatham Township Mayor in 3-2 Count; Kelly Voted Deputy Mayor

Tayfun Selen takes the oath of office as Chatnam Township Mayor with former Lt Governor Kim Guadagno doing the honors. Credit:TAP Chatnam By ED BARMAKIAN, CHATHAM, NJ - "My name is Tayfun Selen. I'm the mayor of Chatham Township." Those words brought applause from the packed crowd in the Chatham Township Municipal Building meeting room on Thursday night when Selen achieved what he described as the "American Dream" after he was voted in as the new mayor of Chatham Township and sworn in with the help of former Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno. An immigrant from Turkey, Selen came to the United States 22 years ago, starting out as a gas station attendant with little mastery of the English language. It was noted that he is not the first Turkish immigrant to serve Chatham Township since Turkey native Rustem Bey served as the township's very first police chief.

January 7, 2019
Published in Professionals
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Jimmy Cuneyt Gurkan with Turkish actress Tuba Buyukustun.

2018 International Emmy® Winners Announced At Gala In New York

By Jimmy Cuneyt Gurkan - The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced the winners of the 46th International Emmy® Awards tonight at a Black-Tie Gala event attended by 1,000 television professionals from around the world and hosted by comedian Hari Kondabolu at the New York Hilton. I was at the Emmy festival and the Award Gala in New York. There were three nominations for Turkey. Best Performance by an actor nomination for Tolga Saritas for his role in SOZ (The Oath) and Best Telenovela nominations for Istanbullu Gelin (Evermore) producer Kerem Catay and Cesur ve Guzel (Brave and Beautiful) producer Onur Guvenatam O3 Medya. Unfortunately none of the Turkish nominees won but it was a great exposure for Turkish TV. Tuba Buyukustun was also at the Emmy’s representing “Brave and Beautiful”.

November 26, 2018
Published in Culture & Art
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international emmy

Tayfun Selen Becomes First Turkish Mayor to Be Elected in US After Being Voted Chatham Township Mayor

Tayfun Selen was sworn in Friday as the new mayor of Chatham Township in the state of New Jersey, becoming the first Turkish national to hold such a position in the United States. Once an immigrant from Turkey, Selen, a Turkey-born American citizen who came to the U.S. 22 years ago, has been an elected member of the Chatham Municipal Committee since 2017. The election result regarding Selen, who is a member of the Republican Party, was announced by Turkey's Consulate General in New York via their Twitter account.

January 5, 2019
Published in Businessman
Written by Admin TOA

Muslim Academicians from US, Canada Visit Turkey

A group of Muslim academicians teaching at universities in the U.S. and Canada visited Turkey and attended a conference on Tuesday. Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Yavuz Selim Kiran also attended the conference, which was jointly organized by Turkey's Center for Strategic Research (SAM) and Turken Foundation. Speaking at the conference Kiran said Turkey is closely following the U.S.’s investigation into Fetullah Terrorist Organization’s (FETO) activities. FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016 in Turkey, which left 251 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

December 25, 2018
Published in Academicians
Written by Admin TOA

Cagatay Ulusoy, left, and Hazar Erguclu in “The Protector,” Netflix’s first original Turkish-language show.CreditCreditYigit Eken/Netflix

Can Netflix Take Turkey’s TV Dramas to the World?

By Alex Marshall - LONDON — On a recent evening, Nahid Akhtar, 47, sat on a sofa in London shouting at a TV. She was watching “The Protector,” Netflix’s first original series in Turkish. The show, released that day, is about a young antiques dealer, Hakan Demir (Cagatay Ulusoy), who discovers he belongs to an ancient line of superheroes who have to save Istanbul from evil — and find love at the same time. “Oh, please, don’t kill his baba!” Akhtar, a Turkish drama superfan, called out at one point before Demir’s father was, indeed, murdered. “Turkish dramas have so many orphans,” she said. “Every single series I’ve watched the hero never has both parents.”

January 4, 2019
Published in Movie & Theather
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Brooklyn-based firm Studio Vural imagined a funeral memorial for Jamal Khashoggi in front of the White House. (Courtesy Studio Vural)

Studio Vural Designs Memorial to Slain Journalist Jamal Khashoggi

By Sydney Franklin - A Turkish-American architect has designed a speculative funeral memorial for the late Jamal Khashoggi. In an immersive sketch, Selim Vural, owner of the Brooklyn-based Studio Vural, envisioned a traveling memorial for the Washington Post journalist who was allegedly murdered while visiting the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul this October. Vural places the memorial in front of the White House in Washington, D.C., as a nod to President Donald Trump’s business links with the suspected murderer, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia. An axonometric view of the memorial shows the design arranged in the outline of a keffiyeh, traditional Arab headgear, overtop green grass.

January 4, 2019
Published in Culture & Art
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Turkish-American Actress, Jandae Percem Turning Heads In “Entity Project”

By Robert D. Cobb - If you think beauty and brains can’t coexist, you are wrong. We want to introduce you to a woman who has a lot of both. Her name is Jandae Percem, she is a Turkish-American actress, director, producer, model, and mom! Yes, you heard it right. If you look at her photos we can avoid any explanation regarding her beauty, but you should know that this powerful woman founded her own film production company Oceans Filmworks in 2018 and is developing new projects non-stop.

January 4, 2019
Published in Culture & Art
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Judge Delays Trial of Kingston Brothers As More Charges Expected

By Ben Winslow, SALT LAKE CITY — A federal judge has delayed the trial of Washakie Renewable Energy CEO Jacob Kingston, his brother, Isaiah, and a Turkish businessman accused in a half-billion dollar fraud scheme. In an order issued Friday night, U.S. District Court Judge Jill Parrish agreed with Jacob Kingston’s attorney who requested a delay. She rejected demands by Lev Dermen and Isaiah Kingston’s attorneys for a speedy trial. Judge Parrish noted there was a massive amount of evidence in the case, including 500 gigabytes of data and 850,000 items. She said the government was giving the defense 1.3 terabytes of surveillance video and another terabyte of discovery by mid-January.

January 4, 2019
Published in Professionals
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Cihan Terzi, set to become chair of Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ)

First Turk Named to Head UN Budget Committee

By Betul Yuruk, AA - NEW YORK - For the first time, a Turkish citizen has been named the head of the UN’s advisor budget committee, handling a budget of $10 billion. Cihan Terzi, set to become chair of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) on Jan. 1, first took a spot on the committee only this January. The major functions of the 16-person committee is to examine and report on the program budget submitted by the UN secretary-general to the General Assembly.

January 4, 2019
Published in Professionals
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