Turkish People in America - Turk of America

An Expert on Commercial Real Estate in New York and Miami

Prior to starting her career in real estate, she was at the United Nations representing World Information Transfer (WIT) in compliance with the Ukrainian Mission focusing on health and sustainable development related to the Chernobyl disaster. She later joined Kushner Companies working for their family office and that was her foray into commercial real estate. Damla spent 8 years at JLL, and joined Colliers International as a Director of Leasing.  Damla graduated from Rutgers University with a Bachelors of Arts degree in Political Science and Philosophy. “It seemed natural after moving to New York City to work in commercial real estate- there’s so much energy in the business and it’s the backbone of the city,” she says. She is the first generation Turkish; her mother is from Izmir and her father is from Kars, and they raised her family in New Jersey.  At a young age Damla’s parents instilled entrepreneurial values; hard work, creativity and staying positive in the face of failure. “These attributes have helped me succeed in my industry,” she adds.

September 13, 2021
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A Platinum Agent of New Jersey: İskender Yeşilyurt

When he saw the commercial of the holiday village in Bodrum Torbalı on TV, he decided to continue his career there after his education in tourism and hotel management. He went to Bodrum from Izmir and showed at the hotel door. He told the director he wanted to work there. He did not know anyone. Luckily, he was accepted and started working in the most popular holiday destination in Bodrum in 1985. He continued working there until 1988. One day an American visitor at the hotel asked him if he would like to work on a Norwegian cruise ship. That question opened the door of Iskender Yeşilyurt’s journey to the US. He got on the ship from Rhodes Island in 1990.

September 13, 2021
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Outstanding Turkish American Scientists and Scholars

Turkish-American scientists and scholars have great success and achievements in the last year. Undoubltly, the most successful and known scientists are the husband-and-wife team behind the leading vaccine to solve Covid-19. The German company BioNTech, founded by Dr. Uğur Şahin and Dr. Özlem Türeci, has teamed up with Pfizer on a vaccine that was found to be more than 90 percent effective. Beside Şahin and Türeci, several Turkish-American scientists and scholars also draw attention in the academic circles of the U.S.

September 13, 2021
Published in Academicians
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Emre Hasmet, Evrim Cicek and Nihal Birdir

Unity Bank’s Turkish Team

Unity Bancorp, Inc. Clinton is a 19-branch-bank headquartered in New Jersey. It operates in Bergen, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Somerset, Union, and Warren counties of New Jersey as well as in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania. Three Turkish executives work in the bank, which has total assets of 2 billion dollars. Emre Haşmet, Evrim Çiçek and Nihal Birdir are a gateway to the Turkish-American community at the bank with nearly 200 employees.
Evrim Çiçek, who previously had career experiences at national banks such as PNC and Chase, has been working as the regional manager at the bank since February 2018. Çiçek graduated from The School of Economics, Dumlupinar University in Turkey and had a master's degree in accounting and finance at DeVry University in the US. She worked as deputy branch manager for six years in the Warren, New Jersey branch of JP Morgan Chase, one of the leading banks in America, and worked as a branch manager at PNC Bank between 2014 and 2018. Çiçek joined the Unity Bank family in January 2018 and got promoted to regional manager in May 2020. After gaining experience in big national banks, she considers Unity Bank, which is classified as a community bank, as a warm and friendly environment. "While working in big banks, you do not have much opportunity to use initiative. Here, the customer-banker relationship is more intimate" she says.

September 13, 2021
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Turkish American Real Estate Professionals in the US

By Cemil Özyurt - According to TURKOFAMERICA’s research, there are over 500 real estate professionals who have been actively selling and buying homes, renting residential and commercial spaces. The Association of Real Estate License Law Officials (ARELLO) estimates that there are about 2 million active real estate licensees in the United States. There are 106,548 real estate brokerage firms operating as well. Trulia, the real-estate listings and data portal, searched nearly 83,000 agent profiles in the U.S. in 2014 to find the most commonly spoken languages. The most popular, after English, was Spanish at 12.2%, followed by French with 2.5%, Russian, Mandarin and German. About 15% of real-estate agents report speaking a second language, according to the National Association of Realtors. Majority of Turkish-American real estate professionals work in New York, New Jersey, Florida, California, and Texas. There are approximately 250 real estate professionals work in New York, New Jersey and about 100 of them operate in Florida.

September 13, 2021
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Ahmet Ertegün's House in Southampton, New York. Known as The Boatman House. It features a two-story living room that is 40 ft. square. In the early 90s, the Erteguns had commissioned architect Jaquelin T. Robertson to design a house for them in Southampton.

Turks Who Own Manhattan's Most Expensive Homes

By Cemil Özyurt – TURKOFAMERICA - Over the past ten years we have seen many foreign buyers claiming their piece of Manhattan, though they were still a small part of the all over Manhattan real estate market. In 2016 Manhattan real estate appraisal company Miller Samuel estimated that foreign buyers made up about 15 percent of all buyers in Manhattan, though for new development, it was higher. Since 2017 there has been a rapid decline in foreign buyers. The strength of the US dollar, the US Treasury Department’s recent mandate of identity disclosure of purchasers, and restrictions on outbound investment by countries like China, and tense political climate between the US and have all effected the perceived attractiveness of Manhattan real estate for foreign buyers. According to a report by Baker McKenzie over all Chinese investment in North America has declined 83% in just two years.

September 13, 2021
Published in Businessman
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Sierra Nevada to Establish New Space Company; Eren Ozmen Quoted

Sierra Nevada Corp. plans to launch an independent commercial company from its space business area to capitalize on potential opportunities presented by the opening of low Earth orbit to commercial space efforts, CNBC reported Wednesday. Sierra Space will be an SNC subsidiary and will focus on developing commercial space station and reusable vehicle capable of transporting people and supplies to space, according to an internal email from SNC Chairwoman and President Eren Ozmen announcing SNC’s plan.

April 16, 2021
Published in Businessman
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F-1 Students Seeking Optional Practical Training Can Now File Form I-765 Online

WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services today announced that F-1 students seeking optional practical training (OPT) can now file Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, online if they are filing under one of these categories: (c)(3)(A) – Pre-Completion OPT; (c)(3)(B) – Post-Completion OPT; and (c)(3)(C) – 24-Month Extension of OPT for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) students.
OPT is temporary employment that is directly related to an F-1 student’s major area of study. Eligible students can apply to receive up to 12 months of OPT employment authorization before completing their academic studies (pre-completion) and/or after completing their academic studies (post-completion). Eligible F-1 students who receive STEM degrees may apply for a 24-month extension of their post-completion OPT.

April 14, 2021
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Images included in court documents on April 13, 2021, show artwork by William Hicks and Joseph Iurato showing Salt Bae, aka Nusr-et Gökçe, in his signature pose.

‘Salt Bae’ Slapped with $5M Copyright Suit Over Artwork of Chef

Famed chef Nusr-et Gökçe — better known as “Salt Bae” — has been hit with a $5 million copyright infringement lawsuit by a Brooklyn artist, who alleges the social media star used his artwork all over the world without permission according to New York Post' report. William Hicks says he and fellow artist Josphe Iurato were hired by Gökçe in September 2017 to make a mural of Turkish restaurateur “in his signature salt-sprinkling pose,” according to a Manhattan Federal lawsuit from Monday. The first work was displayed in Gökçe’s Miami steakhouse and subsequent commissioned stencil murals also went up at his restaurants in Doha, Dubai and New York, the court papers say.

April 14, 2021
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Seval Oz Joins MicroVision Board of Directors, Director Bernee D. L. Strom Steps Down

REDMOND, Wash., March 02, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MicroVision, Inc. (NASDAQ: MVIS), a leader in MEMS based solid state automotive lidar and micro-display technology for augmented reality, today announced that Seval Oz has been appointed to its board of directors and that Bernee D. L. Strom has stepped down as a Director. Seval Oz is a recognized global business and marketing leader in mobility, autonomous vehicle technology and intelligent transportation systems. Oz was a Founder and CEO of Aurima, Inc, a multi-sensor awareness platform powered by AI deep learning for autonomous vehicles. She was previously CEO of Continental Intelligent Transportation Systems, a division of Continental AG Interiors Division.

March 9, 2021
Published in Women
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In February, VICE will debut a new documentary called “Moving Humanity Forward,” a film focused on Chobani founder and CEO Hamdi Ulukaya’s “anti-CEO” playbook. (Photo courtesy of Chobani/VICE)

Chobani CEO & Founder Hamdi Ulukaya's Humanity First Story Featured In New Documentary on VICE

NORWICH, N.Y., Feb. 16, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Chobani today announced that VICE debuted a new documentary called "Moving Humanity Forward," a film focused on Chobani founder and CEO Hamdi Ulukaya's "anti-CEO" playbook, his people-first business philosophy and refugee advocacy work, and the food maker's efforts to rebuild an upstate New York community. Directed by Nirit Peled, "Moving Humanity Forward" debuted on VICE and VICETV.com on Monday, February 15. The documentary follows the lives of refugees who live in the Utica, New York region and are employed by Chobani, showcasing the positive impact refugee integration in society has on business and communities. The film's heart can be summarized by Ulukaya's belief that "the minute you get a job, that's the minute you stop being a refugee."

February 17, 2021
Published in Businessman
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Newly Established Political Action Committee for Turkish American Lawyers

The Turkish Coalition Midwest Political Action Committee (TC-Midwest PAC) in January 2021 became the National Coalition of Turkish American Lawyers PAC (NC-TAL PAC) under new leadership. Please check out the website, www.nationalcoalitiontalpac.org, for the Executive Committee members and other information about the PAC.

February 9, 2021
Published in Professionals
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Didem Nişancı, U.S. Treasury chief of staff under the new administration, is seen in this file photo.

Didem Nişancı: Janet Yellen’s Turkish-American chief of staff

Former U.S. Federal Reserve (FED) Chairperson Janet Yellen has received the approval of the Senate, securing her position as the first woman to be appointed as Treasury secretary in the U.S. Janet Yellen was nominated by U.S. President Joe Biden. Now approved, Yellen's team is coming together, and she has chosen a female candidate of Turkish descent with extensive financial policy experience, Didem Nişancı, to assume the role of the Treasury secretary's chief of staff. Nişancı was born on March 9, 1973, and studied economics in the U.S. between 1991 and 1995.

January 27, 2021
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Özge Güzelsu (fourth from left) with other members of Senate Armed Services Committee. (Credit: National Journal)

Turkish-American Lawyer Özge Güzelsu Was Appointed as Deputy General Counsel (Legislation) of the U.S. Secretary of Defense

There’s a new team in the E-ring starting on Wednesday, newly detailed by close-hold Pentagon planning documents reviewed by Katie Bo Williams, Defense One, deliver news about U.S. defense and national security. Turkish-American lawyer Özge Güzelsu is appointed as Deputy General Counsel (Legislation) of the U.S. Secretary of Defense. She was the member of the Senate Armed Services Committee democratic staff since 2011. Güzelsu graduated from Harvard University in Bachelor of Arts in Literature, History in 1998 and had Doctor of Jurisprudence in Law at Stanford University in 2002.

January 20, 2021
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