The TCF Istanbul office is getting ready to welcome the first 27 of a total of 54 American middle and high school social studies teachers to Turkey on June 28. The teachers will be participating in the TCF Teacher Study Tours, which will take place on June 28-July 11 and on July 14-27.

The TCF Cultural Preservation and Natural Dyes Laboratory - DATU assisted the Topkapi Palace Museum in the dating of exhibition pieces to be featured in the upcoming Suleyman the Magnificent exhibition. DATU conducted dyestuffs and elemental analyses on seventeen caftans and dresses and ascertained that these historical art objects were correctly dated to the Sultan Suleyman period, especially based on the dyestuff analyses reports of red and purple colors that are characteristic of this period.

DATU also presented its work at the 1st International Conference on Natural Fibers Conference in Guimaraes, Portugal on June 9-11. The presentation was titled "Dyeing of Silk Fabrics with Buckthorn and Their Analyses" and shared findings of a joint study by DATU and the Dokuz Eylul University.

Earlier in June, the TCF Culinary Arts Center (Yemek Sanatlari Merkezi - YESAM) in Istanbul organized  two lectures highlighting various aspects of Turkish cuisine. A lecture by Engin Akin on June 6 provided a general introduction to Turkish Cuisine. On June 12, Nedim Atilla gave a presentation on “Mushrooms of Northern Turkey.” The final YESAM lecture for June will take place on June 27, where Nedim Atilla will be sharing information on old traditions of Ramadan. Unless otherwise noted YESAM lectures are presented in Turkish. An English summary of each lecture is provided on the YESAM website and the lectures can also be viewed online at the TCF Video Gallery.

Gulfidan Ozmen, a glass artist and recipient of the TCF Cultural Exchange Fellowship exhibited her work at the Glass Boston show at MIT on June 13-16.  TCF Cultural Exchange Fellow Dr.Begumsen Ergenekon, an anthropologist and lecturer at Middle East Technical University in Ankara, will present a paper on “Food, Health and Wellbeing in the Urunlu Village” participated in the 8th International Conference on Culinary Arts and Sciences in Portugal on June 19-21.

Dr. Nurhan Atasoy, TCF Senior Scholar in Residence, was invited to give two lectures in Poland. She spoke on June 18 at Warsaw University on her book “Impressions of Turkish Culture in Europe” and on June 19 at the Polish Institute of World Art Studies on “Ottoman Court Costume.”

The TCF Istanbul branch welcomed several groups to Turkey in June.  On June 4,  TCF Executive Director Guler Koknar briefed teachers from Sweden, who were visiting Turkey under an EU program, about the TCF educational and cultural projects and resources. On June 7, she spoke to students of the Grand Valley College, who were visiting Turkey on a study tour supported by a grant from the Turkish Coalition of America. On June 25, students from the Commonwealth University, also a TCA Study Tour Grant recipient, will visit the Istanbul offices of TCF.