Lieutenant Yakup Zoklu

Lieutenant Yakup Zoklu, First Police Officer of Syriac Community  

 

Lieutenant Yakup Zoklu, has been working for Cliffside Park Police Department since 2003. He was born in İstanbul and came to the U.S. when he was 7 years old. He is the first Syriac Turkish police officer in New Jersey. He got his bachelor's degree in criminal justice from Saint Peter’s University, Jersey City, NJ and had a master’s degree from Fairleigh Dickinson University. He taught at both schools as adjunct professors when he went to Fairleigh Dickinson for his masters. He had Public Safety Administration certification, global leadership, human resource, and administrative science. Lieutenant Zoklu answered our questions.  

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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.

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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...  

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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.

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Barbaros Karaahmet

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."

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Photo/Nathan Morgan

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.”

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Selen Adds to Endorsement List One Week Out from Morris County Republican Convention

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:

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Hamptons hotspot owner Zach Erdem will star in the new Discovery Plus reality show.

Hamptons Hotspot 75 Main Is Getting A Reality Show

The Hamptons may be getting its own version of “Vanderpump Rules.” Bravo had a runaway hit with the show, which followed the behind-the-scenes action at West Hollywood restaurant SUR. Now Page Six is told that Southampton hotspot 75 Main is going to be the setting for a similar show. Owner Zac Erdem and his sexy staff are starring on “Serving the Hamptons,” which will air on Discovery Plus. 

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5th TOA Awards - Outstanding Achievement Awards, Heritage + Diversity + Legacy was held at U.S. Chamber of Commerce, in Washington DC on November 15, 2019

TOA Awards - Stars of Silicon Valley Applications Start

Applications to "The TOA Awards - Stars of Silicon Valley" have started. Awards which are given by the first and only Turkish American business magazine, TURKOFAMERICA, will go this year to individuals who are paving the way for a more inclusive, accessible and better world through the power of technology. The Award Ceremonies have been held in different themes since 2015. The first year, America’s 50 most influential Turkish Americans, in 2016, America’s 30 Most Influential Turkish-American Women, in 2017, 40 Turkish-Americans under 40, and in 2018, Friends of Turkey in America were awarded. The date and location of the ceremony will be announced later. Applications are to start on February 15th and end on April 15, 2022.

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Naz Durakoglu

Turkish Americans Women to Serve Under Biden Administration

Three Turkish-American women will serve in the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden, who took office on Jan. 20. Didem Nişancı, former global head of public policy for Bloomberg LP, became the chief of staff for Janet Yellen, the new treasury secretary. Nişancı worked for four years as chief of staff at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in the Obama administration, where among other duties she served as chief White House liaison. She also served as staff director of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance and Investment, including in the wake of the 2007-2009 global financial crisis. From 1998 to 2001, she worked as a deputy to the assistant treasury secretary. Nişancı graduated from Smith College and lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband and two daughters.

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