Two Turkish Americans were elected to public office in the November 7, 2017 elections. This brings the total number of Turkish Americans currently serving in public office to four and the total number of Turkish Americans ever elected to public office to ten.
By Magdalena Yesil* - As you’ve probably heard, if you have not yet experienced it yourself, it’s not easy to power UP as a committed parent in the United States, where business and culture are so invested in rapid growth. It’s even harder in Silicon Valley, where every company is in a race to ship first and where, in large part, men with spouses who take the domestic lead, if not the entire burden, still write the rules of professional engagement.
U.S. director Bobby Roth, known for Lost and Prison Break, has been hired as creative supervisor on Sultan moyego serdsa (The Sultan of My Heart), a Russian-Turkish TV series. "I think this is a classic story and the conflicts described in it will be recognizable to viewers in different countries," Roth said in a press release. "Especially I liked the two main characters." The series is produced by KIT Film Studio, which is part of Gazprom Media, the natural gas giant Gazprom’s media wing, and Turkey's Maya Productions Ltd. The Sultan of My Heart is a combination of a spy thriller and melodrama, set in Turkey in the 1920s and centered on Russian diplomats and their families as well as the Ottoman dynasty.
The Turkish American National Steering Committee (TASC),representing the broadest diversity of Turkish Americans nationwide, and the Turkish Consulate General in New York is proud to co-host a concert by The Civilization Choir of Antioch 7:30 pm, November 3, 2017 National Museum of the American Indian - Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House One Bowling Green, New York.
ST. LOUIS — Dog rescue groups in as many as 15 states in the U.S. are trying to find homes for the country of Turkey’s street dogs, including a group in St. Louis. Jan Knoche is the president of Love a Golden Rescue, a St. Louis volunteer organization that rescues golden retrievers. The group began working two years ago to transport and find new homes for Turkey’s street dogs, especially golden retrievers, KSDK-TV reported .
Comodo Group has announced that the Comodo Certificate Authority (Comodo CA) business has been acquired by Francisco Partners. The news came on the same day that DigiCert announced the completion of its acquisition of Symantec’s CA assets. Both deals happening on the same day caused some surprise around the security markets. The Symantec deal was expected after its problems over the last year with this business. What wasn’t expected was Comodo also divesting itself of its CA assets. Comodo CA is the market leader by some distance.
Former President Barack Obama’s foundation is hosting a two-day summit in Chicago starting Tuesday, aimed at fostering a “hands-on exchange on ideas” to address top global concerns. The summit will feature discussions on topics including communicating across differences, art and culture’s role in creating productive cities, understanding race in relation to one’s civic identity, motivating young people to choose a civic path and technology’s role in creating equitable and inclusive communities, according to the website.
Private equity firm Francisco Partners announced on Oct. 31 that it has acquired the SSL/TLS Certificate Authority (CA) business from security firm Comodo Group. Financial terms of the deal are not being publicly disclosed. "This is a carve-out of the Comodo SSL business, which is now going to be a separate legal and operational entity," Bill Holtz, CEO of Comodo CA told eWEEK. Holtz is joined on the management team of the new Comodo CA business with Chairman of the Board Bill Conner, who is also the current CEO of network security vendor SonicWall. Comodo Group founder Melih Abdulhayoglu, will retain a minority stake in the Comodo CA business, as well as taking an observers role on the Comodo CA board of directors.
Turkey's national flag carrier Turkish Airlines (THY) is sending revamped planes to its flights to Colombia and Panama to give passengers traveling to Latin America and back extra comfort. Cemal Kaya, Turkish Airlines’ manager in Colombia, Panama and Venezuela, told Anadolu Agency on Monday that the planes serving the Colombia and Panama line have been renovated for a more comfortable flight. Explaining that despite its marathon 13-hour length, the Istanbul-Bogota-Panama line has many passengers, Kaya said that with the renovated planes THY started to give better service to its customers and has gotten lots of positive feedback.
The Turkish Coalition of America’s Fourth Annual Turkish American Youth Leadership Congress took place in Washington, DC from October 26-29, 2017. Twenty three young Turkish American college students, graduate students, and young professionals enjoyed a weekend of networking and meetings with experts and government officials, and they came away inspired to become involved in politics and take a more active role in the Turkish American community.
By Murat Güzel - * Malatya, the town where I was born, hosts one of the 25 refugee camps across the plains of southeastern Turkey. With our NATO allies, the United States has helped provide 2,083 shipping containers in Malatya alone that serve as homes for 7,625 refugees. In the dusty summer heat and in the windy, rainy winter, they serve as shelter for men, women, and children who have escaped the Syrian conflict. A small commitment of our tax dollars early in a refugee crisis is an investment in the future. According to NATO’s Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Center, the Turkish government and private sector have diligently clothed, fed, and housed over 3.1 million people fleeing conflict. This makes Turkey the host country with the largest refugee population in the world.
Customs and Trade Minister Bulent Tufenkci said Tuesday he hoped the visa row between Turkey and the U.S. gets resolved soon since it hinders trade. The Turkey-U.S. visa row was sparked on Oct. 8, when the U.S. Embassy in Ankara announced the suspension of non-immigrant visa services to Turkish nationals, following the arrest of a local employee at the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul, prompting a tit-for-tat response from Ankara. Speaking at a meeting with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce committee in capital Ankara, Tufenkci said: "I hope the visa suspension will be removed shortly and negotiations will be concluded positively, and contribute to increasing trade volume between the two countries."
Responding to TCA's call for outreach to elected officials, four Turkish Americans joined members of Congress and industry representatives in Chicago, IL at the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) PAC Chicago Retreat on October 20-21, 2017. Eleven Congressional Black Caucus members attended, including Assistant Democratic Leader Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC/6th), Ranking Member of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia, and Emerging Threats Rep. Greg Meeks (D-NY/5th), Foreign Affairs Committee Member Rep. Robin Kelly (D-IL/2nd), Turkey Caucus members Reps. GK Butterfield (D-NC/1st), Danny Davis (D-IL/7th), Hank Johnson (D-GA/4th), Brenda Lawrence (D-MI/14th), Stacey Plaskett (D-VA/AL), Bobby Rush (D-IL/1st), and Reps. Joyce Beatty (D-OH/3rd) and Gwen Moore (D-WI/4th). The four Turkish American participants were Cem Karsan, Elhan Orhon, Dr. Hande Ozdinler, and Hakan Akgun, all of Chicago, IL.
Facing mounting pressure to shed its real estate assets, Hudson’s Bay Company is selling Lord & Taylor’s flagship store to WeWork and its partner for $850 million. WeWork Property Advisors — a joint venture with Rhône Capital, who is making a $500 million equity investment in HBC as part of the deal — is purchasing the 676,000-square-foot landmark building for WeWork’s new global headquarters, the New York Times reported. The Real Deal first reported that WeWork and Rhone were raising several hundred million dollars for a real estate investment fund.
