TCF has continued its multi-year support for Istanbulive, an annual celebration of Turkish contemporary music in the US. Istanbulive5 is designed as a traveling Turkish Rock showcase, which will take place from March 7-22, featuring the leading bands Gripin, Manga, Mor ve Otesi and New York Gypsy All Stars with a special showcase as the SXSW festival in Austin, as well as concerts in New York, Washington, DC and Boston. The festival is organized by Serdar Ilhan and Mehmet Dede Productions.  

The TCF Istanbul office’s February lecture program featured Gunseli Kato, Miniature and Performance Artist, who spoke on the influence of Turkish art in Japan and Prof.Dr.Sumer Atasoy of Karabuk University, who presented a lecture titled, “Tios: The Only Ancient City on the Turkish Black Sea Coast.”

On March 4, the TCF Lecture Series in Turkish Culture and Art, will feature Prof. Dr. Serpil Bağcı, Hacettepe University, who will speak on “Alexander as Mehmed II: A Visual Documentation” and Belkis Balpinar, Scholar and Artist, who will give a lecture on Seljuk carpets (in Turkish) on March 5.

For more information on upcoming TCF lectures, please visit here. The February lectures have now been added to the TCF Video Gallery and can be viewed online.

In February, the TCF Culinary Arts Center (Yemek Sanatlari Merkezi - YESAM) in Istanbul hosted three lectures highlighting various aspects of Turkish cuisine.

On February 14, Valentine’s Day, Deniz Gursoy gave a presentation on chocolate and on February 21, Nedim Atilla spoke on “Olives from Anatolia” The lecture was followed by a sampling of the different regional olives of Anatolia. The final YESAM lecture in February will be presented by Nedim Atilla and is titled “Artichoke and Lamb Dishes.”

In March, YESAM will organize three lectures. The March 6 lecture will be on “Pastirma” by Prof.Dr.Artun Unsal; on March 20, Nedim Atilla will speak on Albanian Cuisine as Part III of the YESAM lecture series “From Rumeli: 100th Anniversary of the Balkan Wars” and on March 26, Dr.Ozge Samanci’s lecture is titles “Remarks from History of Food: Ancient Age Roman and Greek Cuisine.”

Unless otherwise noted, all YESAM lectures are presented in Turkish. An English summary of each lecture program is provided on the YESAM website and the lectures can be viewed online at the TCF Video Gallery.

Since its inception, TCF has sponsored the International Children's Friendship Festival organized in Seattle by the American Turkish Association of Washington. Celebrating April 23, Turkish National Sovereignty and Children's Day, the festival has developed into an international event in Seattle. This year's festival will feature children's performances representing 23 countries and Seattle communities.

Dr. Nurhan Atasoy, TCF Senior Scholar in Residence, gave a lecture on  her book “Impressions of Ottoman Culture in Europe: 1453-1699” at the Muhtar Özkaya Public Library in Kadikoy on February 24. Dr.Atasoy also continues to appear weekly on the popular history show “Tarihin Arka Odasi - History’s Back Room,” hosted by Murat Bardakci and Erhan Afyoncu.

A TCF grant was awarded to Dr.Ozge Ozgur to support the translation into modern Turkish and publication of a book by Ioannis Kalfoglu, titled “The Historical Geography of Asia Minor.” The book is now published and available from Albatros. Published originally in 1899, the book was written in Turkish with Greek alphabet intended for the Greek Orthodox Turcophone, Karamanli, audience.