Special Issues - turkofamerica.com

Four New Members Join The American Turkish Society's Board Of Directors

The American Turkish Society selected four new members to its Board of Directors. Nevzat Aydin, founder and CEO of Yemeksepeti, Seval Oz, founder and CEO of Aurima.ai, William J. Parker, III, PhD, COO at The East West Institute and Andrew Littlejohn, Executive Director of Global Families Group at J.P. Morgan Private Bank are The Society's newest board members. Nevzat Aydin is the co-founder and CEO of Yemeksepeti, the leading online food delivery service in Turkey, which operates in 64 Turkish cities and in Cyprus, with more than 14,000 member restaurants, more than 7.6 million users, and 200,000 orders delivered to 400,000 people on a daily basis. An honoree of The Society's Annual Gala in 2017, Nevzat is a member of the Boards of Endeavor Turkey and TOBB (Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey) Young Entrepreneurs, a member of TUSİAD (Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association), a founding member of Galata Business Angels, Vice President of Trabzonspor Football Club, and a member of the Board of Trustees of Bogazici University.

October 6, 2017
Published in Associations
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Sierra Nevada Corporation CEO Calls for Advancement of U.S. Leadership in Space Economy

CHANTILLY, Va. (Oct. 5, 2017) — Invited to address the newly formed National Space Council, Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) CEO Fatih Ozmen today told members that the United States has economic and national security interests in promoting U.S. leadership in space through investments, managing risk, and expanding opportunity in a new space economy. The first meeting of the National Space Council took place at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. SNC's Ozmen was joined by executives from two other leading private space companies, Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin, on a panel dedicated to space innovation.

October 5, 2017
Published in Businessman
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Panelists speaking at the 'Success Stories of Turkish American Women in Washington

Activities of Turkish American Women’s Leadership Initiative

On September 29, TCA hosted a panel discussion on the ‘Success Stories of Turkish American Women in Washington’ in collaboration with Turkish Women’s International Network’s (TurkishWIN) DC chapter at TCA headquarters. The speakers included Ceyla Pazarbasioglu, Senior Director of Finance and Markets Global Practice at the World Bank Group; Gonul Tol, Director of the Middle East Institute’s Center for Turkish Studies; and Merve Hande Akmehmet, Managing Partner of Sandalyeci and President of the Hologram Network. The moderator for the event was Sebnem Kalemli-Ozcan, the Neil Moskowitz Endowed Professor of Economics at the University of Maryland, College Park.

October 5, 2017
Published in Associations
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Batmaz was caught by CCTV cameras at the Akıncı Air Base, the decision center of the coup, on the night of July 15.

Mastermind of July 15 Coup Attempt Was Guest in Gülen’s US Residence, Document Shows

U.S. document that only recently surfaced has confirmed that Kemal Batmaz, one of the masterminds of the July 15 coup attempt, stayed in Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) leader Fetullah Gülen's residence in the U.S. six and a half months before they tried to overthrow the government. Batmaz and Adil Öksüz, two civilians believed to have directedsoldiers on behalf of FETÖ, were caught by CCTV cameras at the 143rd Fleet of the Akıncı Air Base, the command center of the putschist soldiers, on the night of July 15. Öksüz managed to flee after a controversial court ruling ordered his release, while Batmaz was jailed. According to the official document time stamped Jan. 1, 2016, which was released by Turkish daily Hürriyet's columnist Sedat Ergin and later published by Anadolu Agency, Batmaz told American officials questioning him at New Jersey's Newark Airport in the U.S. that he "will stay with Imam Fetullah Gülen in Pennsylvania" during his visit to the country.

October 5, 2017
Published in Politics1
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Chobani Chooses Next Incubator Class of Food and Beverage Startups

Chobani, maker of America's top Greek yogurt brand, has selected seven startups out of more than 550 applicants for its second annual Food Incubator program, based on each company’s commitment to innovation. The program, which began Sept. 26 and runs through December, is situated in a dedicated space at Chobani's sales and marketing offices in New York. The startups were selected based on a combination of product quality and mission, including bringing nutritious and affordable food to more people.

October 1, 2017
Published in Companies
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Ayca Ariyoruk: “To Help Solve Global Conflicts, Populate the Digital Space with Human Facilitators”

We interviewed Ayca Ariyoruk, cross-cultural facilitator and partnerships manager for Soliya Inc., a not-for-profit, technology-enabled organisation educating young people across difference. Ayca is an international development expert and a cross cultural facilitator with over a decade of experience in policy advocacy and in facilitating public-private partnerships for global public good. Previously, as the director for communications at Turkish Philanthropy Funds, a New York based community foundation, Ayca supported education initiatives to empower marginalised youth. At the United Nations Association of the USA (now the UN Foundation), she devised policy research and advocacy campaigns in favour of transparency, reform and US leadership on a range of issues that were on the UN Security Council’s agenda. She started her career as a young scholar at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a public educational foundation dedicated to informed debate on US foreign policy in the Middle East.

September 30, 2017
Published in Technology
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Somali Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire and the Chief of the Turkish military, General Hulusi Akar, in Uniform, along with Turkish Ambassador to Somalia, Olgan Bekar, jointly cut the ribbon for the inauguration of Turkey’s largest foreign military base in

Turkey Opens Largest Foreign Military Base in Mogadishu

WASHINGTON — VOA - Turkey’s largest foreign military base in the world opened Saturday in Mogadishu, in a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by Somali leaders, top Turkish military officials and diplomats. Somali Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire and the head of the Turkish military, General Hulusi Akar have jointly inaugurated the 4 square kilometer (1.54 square mile) facility, which holds three military residential complexes, training venues, and sports courts. It had been under construction for the last two years.

September 30, 2017
Published in Politicians
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turkish military base in mogadishu

Thomas Cook: British Holidaymakers Are Returning to Egypt and Turkey

Turkey and Egypt are attracting more British holiday bookings, as prices in destinations seen as safer continue to increase. Both countries have seen a slump in visitor numbers due to a series of terror attacks, together with the closure to UK airlines of the main Egyptian resort airport, Sharm el Sheikh. But Peter Fankhauser, Chief Executive of Thomas Cook, said demand had picked up “as customers look for quality and value”. He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Both destinations are wonderful countries, with great hotels, great beaches, nice people, and it’s really good value.

“People want to go back. We are not a security company; as long as we have the advice of the Foreign Office that we can fly to Egypt and Turkey, we offer a great product.”

Many holidaymakers have switched from the eastern Mediterranean to destinations perceived as “safe”, notably Spain.

Sales to Spain were unchanged, with “a very competitive trading environment” — due to the sheer number of aircraft seats from the UK to Spanish airports. Average selling prices for seat-only tickets are down 3 per cent, while holiday prices overall have risen by 7 per cent.

“Spanish hoteliers are taking advantage a bit of the increased demand, and prices went up because we have not enough beds for all the demand,” said Mr Fankhauser. He predicted “A 5 to 10 per cent price increase we’ll have for sure in Spain” for summer 2018.

Thomas Cook has faced criticism from some holidaymakers caught up in the extreme weather in the Caribbean and Florida earlier this month, in particular travellers who were in Cuba as Hurricane Irma approached and who say Thomas Cook was slow in responding.

But Mr Fankhauser said: “I am proud of how fast we acted in the wake of Irma to support our customers, and offer them alternative destinations for their winter sun.” (Simon Calder / independent.co.uk)

September 27, 2017
Published in Tourism
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An engraving portraying the Trojan walls during Heinrich Schliemann’s excavations.

Archaeologists Home in on Homeric Clues as Turkey Declares Year of Troy

Rüstem Aslan, Troy’s chief archaeologist, grows more animated as he enters the fenced-off area just beyond the southern gate of the ancient city’s ruins. To him it offers tantalising clues that may add to the evidence that this was the scene of the war detailed in Homer’s epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey. “Priam, Achilles, Hector: [whether] they lived and died here, we cannot prove that 100%,” said the affable Aslan, who started working at the site as a student in 1988. “But if you work inside for 30 years, night and day, winter or summer, surrounded by this landscape, you can feel it. You start to believe.”

September 27, 2017
Published in Culture & Art
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odd Carmichael, Hamdi Ulukaya and J.P. Iberti | Photo via La Colombe

Backed By Chobani's Founder, A Local Coffee Chain Tries To Revolutionize The Industry

Arriving in Philadelphia with few possessions and little money, Todd Carmichael started walking the city with business partner JP Iberti to scope out storefronts. In short order, they took on a 50-year lease in a bustling downtown neighborhood, renovated the space themselves and, in May 1994, opened the first La Colombe café. La Colombe Coffee Roasters, with 750 employees, now runs 26 cafés in five cities, distributes its coffee to some 3,500 restaurants, hotels, cafés and retailers and operates an online store. The company says revenue is approaching $100 million. Following a 2015 capital infusion from Chobani LLC Chairman and CEO Hamdi Ulukaya, the company early this year introduced its canned, chilled Draft Latte line nationally, quickly becoming a force in the U.S. ready-to-drink coffee category.

September 27, 2017
Published in Businessman
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Boeing Earns US $11B Contract From Recovering Turkish Airlines

In recent reports, Turkish Airlines revealed that the company is planning to acquire 40 of Boeing (NYSE:BA)'s 787-9 Dreamliners. This has been a long-awaited arrangement in which indicates that the carrier has bounced back after a terrorist attack on its Istanbul headquarters in the preceding year. Once it gets done, the deal is estimated at a value of US$11 billion before the expected concessions for massive aircraft procurements. According to the pact on Thursday in a brief signing ceremony in New York, such decision sprouted from years of market research. Also, as the airline designed its expansion, negotiations for wide-body planes were done.

September 27, 2017
Published in Businessman
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Freedom Trainer prototype. Photo source: Aviation Weekly

Sierra Nevada Corp. and TAI progress with T-X Freedom Trainer Development

Aviation Week was provided photographs of the first Freedom Trainer prototype. Collaboratively developed by Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) and Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), the Freedom Trainer is being pitched for the U.S. Air Force’s (USAF) T-X lead-in fighter-trainer (LIFT) tender.

September 27, 2017
Published in Technology
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An artist’s conception shows Sierra Nevada Corp.’s robotic Dream Chaser space plane in orbit. (SNC Illustration)

U.N. Puts Out A Global Call for Payloads to Ride on SNC’s Dream Chaser Space Plane

Remember those science-fiction movies where the United Nations was calling the shots in space? We may be one small step closer to that scenario. Today the U.N. Office for Outer Space Affairs, or UNOOSA, called on its member states, and particularly developing countries, to come up with suggestions for 20 to 30 payloads that would go on an orbital space mission it’s planning with Sierra Nevada Corp. SNC would fly the payloads — which could include scientific experiments as well as deployable satellites — aboard its Dream Chaser space plane during a two- to three-week flight.

September 27, 2017
Published in Businessman
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US Officials Eject Protesters Who Interrupted Erdoğan’s Speech in New York

A group of protesters, including at least two members of the People’s Protection Units (YPG), entered a hall in New York where Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was delivering a speech, shouting slogans before they were ejected by U.S. security officials late on Sept. 21.

September 27, 2017

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