Turkish American Islamic Foundation to Host "Summer School" in Maryland
Turkish Government’s official mosque serves Virginia and Washington D.C. as well
The Turkish Times - Turkish American Islamic Foundation (TAIF) is Turkish Government’s official mosque extending a hand to all the Turks living in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington D.C. area for a wide range of religious and social services. The Foundation, situated on 60 acres of lush woodland at 9704 Good Luck Rd, Lanham, Maryland, is flourishing under the inspiring guidance of Hasan Yavuzer, the official Imam appointed by the General Directorate of Religious Affairs, Turkish Prime Ministry.

Happy faces from TAIF Community Picnic on June 2.

Mr. Yavuzer, a pleasant personality who does not hesitate to hold baby showers, picnics and birthday parties on the premises to reach out to the Turks living in the area, is a jack of all trades, partly due to lack of funds to hire helping hands. From mowing the fast growing underbrush on the sprawling mosque grounds to brewing tea and coffee for his frequent visitors, many chores are handled personally by Mr. Yavuzer and his equally hard-working wife.

Indeed, the foremost mission of the Foundation is to serve the religious needs of the Turkish community in the area, including regular five-times-a-day prayers held at the foundation’s very modest mosque-without-a-minaret, funeral services, "kandil" observances and "mevlit" recitations. "Hasan Hoca," as his friends and acquaintances call him, is progressive enough to allow the ladies to attend the funeral prayers as well — a practice which is banned in traditional Islam.

Hasan Hoca, who can frequently be seen taking a call on his mobile phone and is an avid Internet user, says he receives many calls from local Turkish employers looking for Turkish workers, or from those newly arrived Turks who are looking for social contacts to get integrated into the community.

Community’s interest in TAIF was displayed during a well-attended June 2 picnic held at the mosque campus when fifty guests shared delicious Turkish dishes, exchanged community news (and, yes, gossip) and the kids had a chance to play soccer and Frisbee. Among the attendees were quite a few American neighbors as well who got to know Hasan Hoca pretty well over the last few years.

On Sundays, TAIF holds a class for about 49 students from all ages and social backgrounds who learn about Turkish culture and the principles of Islam and prayers. Twenty four of these students can read Kuran-i Kerim from its Arabic original.

Starting July 6, Saturday, TAIF will host a Summer School which will have classes, in Turkish and English, four days a week (Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday). On those days, the classes will commence at 10 a.m. and adjourn at 2 p.m. The curriculum consists of Islamic prayers and Turkish tradition and culture. The Summer School is free and open to general public.

For more information about TAIF activities you can reach Mr. Hasan Yavuzer at (301) 459-9589, (301) 577- 0659. E-mail: taif_camii@yahoo.com.

Mehmet "Mike" Mustafaoglu Receives "2002 Ellis Island Medal of Honor"
Six U.S. Presidents also received the NECO award
The Turkish Times - A prominent Turkish-American businessman, Mehmet "Mike" Mustafaoglu of California, was honored by National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations (NECO)'s "2002 Ellis Island Medal of Honor." Mr. Mustafaoglu, TransGlobal Financial Corporation founder and chairman, was nominated for the award in 2001 by Sons of Ataturk. The medal was presented to Mr. Mustafoglu on May 11, 2002. He is the first Turkish-American and Turkish-Cypriot to receive this medal.

Among those who also received the same medal are six U.S. Presidents, Nobel Prize winners, prominent scientists, Rupert Murdoch, General Norman Schwartzkopf, and U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Sons of Ataturk was founded in memory of Seref Karaoglu to promote International Turkish men and foreign spouses of Turkish women in April 2000 to promote a greater appreciation of Turks everywhere and is dedicated to the memory of Turkish Republic's first president, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and to his ideals through public relations and education.

The Award Gala
On Friday, May 10th, the 2002 Ellis Island Medals of Honor Awards Gala kicked off with a cocktail party at the very upscale Metropolitan Club in Manhattan, New York. Honorees and their families were treated to a lovely reception. Mehmet Mustafaoglu and his family made many acquaintances among whom were the noted sex therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer and a treat for his wife Demetra, the former Governor of Oklahoma and his wife, the Honorable David and Mrs. Rhonda Walters.

Earlier in the day, the NECO Executive Director Rosemarie Taglione had arranged a special visit to Ground Zero for the Mustafoglu entourage. They had a private guided tour by a special police unit to the platform and a very educational view of the area. It was touching and brought back memories of the Oklahoma City Bombing which the Mustafoglus raised funds for in 1995.

After the Metropolitan Club, the Mustafoglu family made a visit to their special eatery The Turkish Kitchen where they are known and always welcomed. The celebration for the weekend really began that night with some delicious cuisine and raki.

The next morning May 11, the day began with a very moving Interfaith service at St. Patrick's Cathedral with representatives of over a dozen faiths in participation. The service was dedicated to all those whom had perished in the September 11th attacks in the US. Special music was performed for the service in a quite ornate setting.

Shortly after, the honorees and their guests enjoyed a lovely brunch at the Waldorf Astoria where they mingled and visited once more to find more acquaintances in this small family of the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations. The Mustafoglus found more friends in attendance from other US cities.

Families then returned to their hotels for a brief rest. Later on, the Mustafaoglu family donned their black-tie attire and raced to the buses where the medalists were whisked away for more networking and public relations photos. The families were boarded onto the Ellis Island Ferry for the event.

Upon their departure from Battery Park and our arrival on Ellis Island, Mustafaoglus were serenaded by the U.S. Armed Forces bands and unfurled flags waving. As the Mustafaoglus docked, dancers from foreign lands were whirling away to strains of ethnic rhythms. The excitement began to mount and Mustafaoglus raced to take pictures with Lady Liberty in the background.

Families were seated in a massive white outdoor tent sandwiched between the famed circular name walls of Ellis Island that echoes the names of all who've passed there. It was thrilling to find relatives etched there forever and on that day, Mike Mehmet Mustafoglu would be etched in the Congressional Records for all time.

The colors were presented en masse, Armed Forces Honor Guards were there in multiples, the Stars and Stripes surrounded us, and the band struck an exciting tune when the medalists were escorted into the area.

The emcees announced that this year's event was dedicated to those fallen in 9/11 and video tributes were paid to New York and its people who pulled together as one America. As each honoree was announced, one thing was special about each. Some were old (100); some were not very proficient in English; others were in kilts; others were different sizes (Dr. Ruth at 4'7" needed a stool on which to deliver her speech), but all were special in their communities and only 135 were selected from a field of over 10,000 nominees.

Hugs and kisses were followed by many photo opportunities and Mehmet asked his widowed mother, Baykan to dance as she beamed a grin from there to Cyprus. His wife, Demetra and daughters Devran and Deniz were at Mehmet Mustafaoglu's side through the weekend as well as sister Alev and brother-in-law Gary Lewis.

Architect Mehmet Talislioglu and Muge Wilson were among the TAA volunteers who worked very hard for the realization of Turkish booth at the "Texas Folklife Festival." TAA-SA president Keith Trawick said "I credit Muge and Mehmet as being the primary impetus behind the great success that we enjoyed at this year's festival. I believe that it was Muge who first contacted Mehmet to arrange for the design and construction of the booth, and it was Mehmet who freely donated his time and professional expertise-even to the point of postponing work for some of his business clients. There are many who donated their time and effort for the success of this function, but it was Muge and Mehmet who provided the impetus that inspired the other volunteers."

The Turkish Times-The Turkish American Association of San Antonio, an ATAA component association, has won the first prize for the most unique booth in the Texas Folklife Festival in San Antonio this month. Established in 1968, TAA-SA This year the festival was held on June 6-9.

The Turkish booth was designed by Mehmet Talaslioglu, a Turkish architect, who donated his work to TAA-SA for the festival and worked countless hours with a host of TAA-SA volunteers, including his associate architect, Mehmet Vehbi, and carpenter Serhat Akbas, to build it. Mr. Talaslioglu based his design on the shapes of the buildings in Turkey during its early years. He additionally utilized the principles of impressionistic art in the way that he combined two different shades of blue in juxtaposition through two different layers of lattice work walls. The blue shades that he used were chosen to represent the Turquoise Coast of Turkey. They were also reminiscent of the blues used in the Turkish art of tiles and pottery.

The teamwork exhibited by the association's members this year is to be greatly admired. After an absence of a few years, the association rejoined the Festival, mainly due to the leadership of of Mr. Gursoy Yerli, who single-handedly organized the Turkish American participation to the event last year. "Thanks to his leadership, we were able to engender a large amount of enthusiasm on the part of our volunteers who helped erect our booth and very successfully participate in the festival this year, " said TAA-SA president Keith Trawick

The one individual who has shown the greatest initiative and leadership in terms of organizing and following through to see that the festival was a great success was TAA-SA board member Müge Wilson. She was in contact with all participants from beginning to end, and she saw to it that all of the volunteers were in place.

Proud of the accomplishments of the association, Mr.Trawick said that this was a wonderful event, and everybody who participated experienced great joy. "I personally feel very lucky to ever have become associated with such a nice group of people as the Turkish people in San Antonio," Trawick concluded.

Chicago Area Turkish Americans Donate Generously to Oz Bengur's Campaign
The Turkish Times - "Oz (Osman) Bengur made such a positive impression on the attendees of the ATAA/TACA convention in Chicago two months ago that raising some money for his campaign became a natural project," said Sel Erder Yackley, MidWest coordinator of Bengur's campaign for U.S. Congress.

Bengur is running for U.S. representative from the second district in Maryland. Since Chicago Turks and Turkish-Americans cannot vote for him "they decided to do the next best thing: support his campaign monetarily,"

said Mrs. Yackley. A donor who has long-time ties in Chicago but works in Atlanta put it this way: "it is our patriotic duty to get a Turkish American elected to Congress."

When Chicagoans told him to come back for another visit, Bengur readily accepted. He will be taking a week-end off from his busy schedule to be in Chicago July 26-27. A reception on a rooftop setting overlooking Lake Michigan is limited to 120 people and there are only a few spots left.

The cost is $75 p/p which includes, dinner, wine, beer and soft drinks, music and a brief talk by Bengur. Those giving $250 p/p will be invited to a champagne brunch Saturday morning, before Bengur flies back home.

"We have already collected $10,000 including in kind contributions such as food and wine for the party but hope to double that amount," said Mrs.Yackley.

[Editor's Note: ATAA and The Turkish Times do not officially endorse or support Mr. Bengur's candidacy. The news story above is printed for information purposes only.]

Sel yackley can be reached at seliko@earthlink.net