The hard working stars of VOA Turkish Service (L to R) Hale Ebiri, Taclan Suerdem (Service Chief), Hulya Polat, Tanju Akerson, Devrim Cubukcu, Melek Caglar, Yonca Poyraz Dogan, Mehmet Ilhan. (Not in the photo: Cagla Guvelioglu.) VOA Turkish Service Receives "International Friendship and Peace Award" The Turkish Times-Washington, D.C., March 15, 2002 -- The Voice of America's Turkish Service has received the prestigious "International Friendship and Peace" award from the Association of Radio and Television Journalists in Ankara, Turkey. More than five hundred guests, including government officials, members of Parlia-ment and media representatives attended the annual awards ceremony in Ankara, where Turkish and foreign radio and television journalists wer recognized for their outstanding achievements in reporting. VOA's Turkish Service received the award from Kemal Dervis, Turkey's Minister of Economy, at the ceremony on March 13, 2002. Mr. Kenan Macit, Chairman of the Association of Radio and Television Journalists, stated that the "VOA Turkish Service has been selected to receive this award for its excellent work in informing the Turkish public through its broadcasts throughout the years." VOA Turkish Service Chief Taclan Suerdem described the award as an assertion of their credibility. He said the audience trusts VOA Turkish and the broadcasters work hard to live up the listeners' expectations. The award ceremony for the Radio and Television Oscars was held on March 12, 2002 in Ankara. Hulya Polat one of the two editors of the Turkish Service traveled to Ankara to receive the award. The next day she was a guest on Erkan Tan's morning program on TV8 and on TRT2's Aksama Dogru, an evening program by Seynan Levent. She was also interviewed by Radio X, Voice of Turkey and TRT INT about the award, ATA-DC and Turks in the U.S. VOA Turkish can be heard on FM stations in major cities in addition to medium and short wave frequencies. The Service's newly refurbished internet site at www.amerikaninsesi.com attracts many internet users with its up to date news on U.S.-Turkish relations and international developments. Coverage of Turkish-Ameri-cans and their activities is a major part of VOA Turkish broadcasts. VOA Turkish broadcasts are aired one hour daily to audiences in Turkey, Cyprus, Europe and the Caucasus through direct medium and short wave broadcasts, as well as simulcasts on affiliate FM radio and television stations in the region. Internet users can access VOA Turkish broadcasts by visiting their website at www.voanews.com.

TAAC Monterey Bay Organizes 9th Annual Turkish Culture Night
Yavuz Vural Atila, ATAA Western Regional, Vice President-Monterey, CA - The 9th Annual Turkish Culture Night, organized by the Turkish American Association of California (TAAC) Monterey Bay chapter and Monterey's Horon Turkish Folk Ensemble, had accomplished to draw more than 150 guests on March 23, 2002 at the Irvine Auditorium of the Monterey Institute of International Studies. Almost 70 percent of the audience was the first-time coming non-Turkish people. The night was a one of TAAC's great events to outreach the community at-large. The event started with one-minute moment of silence for the victims of September 11, 2001 and the master of ceremonies Yavuz Atila thanked the audience for coming and emphasized the importance of getting to know other cultures, which would help to build a better -peaceful- world and a global village.

The live music band with Sahin Gunsel - baglama/ keyboard/vocal, Shar Hashimoto - guitar Ilge Özersen - vocal, Ozan Coskun - oud; and the group Late Cift: Peggy Datz - vocal, Mary Farris - clarinet, Tom Farris - guitar, Bill Lanphier - bass guitar and Jerry Summers - percussion performed variety of Turkish music genres throughout the evening. In addition to the live music, the Arkadas Turkish Folk Dance Ensemble from San Jose, Yöre Turkish Folk Dance Ensemble from Berkeley and Horon Turkish Folk Ensemble from Monterey performed dances from Black Sea, Adiyaman, Elazig, Gaziantep and Silifke. During the live concerts and following the dance performances, the guests joined the folk dancers for line dancing and free style dancing. Other than folk dancing, Sabriye Tekbilek from Sacramento danced for the bellydancing fans...

In the exhibit area, Kadriye Aras had the Turkish decorative art exhibit, and Gultre Kolankaya had the Bodrum paintings and ceramics exhibit along with Turkish arts and crafts collection provided by Umit Ferguson, Anna Hardy, Gulizar Baggson and Ilge Ozersen. During the program, "Turkey on Slides" was presented by Yavuz Atila; and Ahmet Toprak and Tuncay Camkiran recited poems from Mevlana C. Rumi, Nazim Hikmet, Orhan Veli and Yunus Emre.

Horon Turkish Folk Ensemble - L to R: Yavuz Atila, Nurten Atila, Hanife Irfan, Gulizar Baggson, Pricilla Raziye Martin,Umit Samur Ferguson, Abdullah Gedik, Arzu Eken, Merve Karabulut, Leyla Baggson

The Turkish food - doner kebap, rice pilaf and salad- was catered by Kebab & Kebab of Cupertino. The drinks including Turkish coffee, soft drinks and wine; and baklava were sold by TAAC Monterey Bay to raise funds for the upcoming Turkish festival.

The Turkish American Association of California (TAAC) thanks to the raffle sponsors, the volunteers and the TAAC Monterey Bay Chapter and Horon Turkish Folk Ensemble members who made this year's culture night possible. The raffle sponsors of this year's event were Kebab & Kebab and Casual Cuts (Tuncay & Nalan Camkiran), Kapadokia Restaurant (Sultan), Epsilon Restaurant (Peter Lianidis),. Turkish Things (Yavuz Atila), Active Import/Export (Atilla G. Yadik). The whole of program was taped by the local TV cable channel 25 and aired multiple times.

Special thanks to the 9th annual Turkish Culture Night organization committee members; Nurten Atila, Deniz Bilgin, Anna Hardy, Umit Samur Ferguson, Yavuz Atila, Pricilla Martin, Ulviye Fischer, Gulizar Baggson, Ekin Nasuhogullari, Merve Karabulut; and Sahin Gunsel for organizing the entertainment and, Abdullah Gedik for the participation of the Arkadash Turkish Folk Ensemble, and Zafer Zamboglu and Oya Taskin for the participation of the Yore Turkish Folk Ensemble to the culture night.

The TAAC Monterey Bay chapter and the Horon Turkish Folk Ensemble are getting ready to organize the 5th Annual Monterey Bay Turkish Arts and Culture on August 3-4, 2002 at the Custom House plaza in Monterey.

For more information, please contact montereybay@taaca.org, (831) 646-1916 or visit www.taaca.org.

"In July" in Washington D.C.
Ercument Akman, www.turkfilm.net-"A whimsical romantic comedy IN JULY is also a love letter to a beguiling vision of Europe," says The New York Times. A classic romance, IN JULY is the story of Daniel ("Run Lola Run's" Moritz Bleibtreu), a young teacher from Hamburg who falls in love with a beautiful Turkish woman, and his impulsive decision to follow her to Istanbul. Daniel's wild odyssey is shared by Juli (the stunning Christiane Paul), a street merchant who is secretly in love with Daniel and who decides to accompany him on the journey. The film, directed by German-born Turk Fatih Akin, is a vibrantly photographed journey set against the decidedly multicultural backdrop of central and eastern Europe, in which unrequited love, a stolen passport and five different languages play the leads. IN JULY opens on Friday, May 3 in Washington DC for a one-week only run at the Visions Cinema. For more info, including a complete synopsis and reviews, visit WWW.FILMSPHILOS.COM