In most apartment communities in the area, you are required to pay the following utilities in addition to your rent.

DTE Energy (electricity)

Set up service via internet:

1.  Visit  www.dteenergy.com/residentialCustomers
2. Select Register (located below the login box). This will take you to a new screen.
3. Under Residential Customer Type, select New.  Then, select Start Registration Process at the bottom of the page.
4. Enter your personal information and address.
5. You will select a date to receive services. This should be the start of your lease.

Set up service via phone:

1. Call 1-800-477-4747
2. Press 1 (“Residential Customers”)
3. Press 4 (“Start, stop, or move service”)
4. Press 1 (“Start service”)
5. You will be transferred to a customer service representative.  He/she will help you set up service.

The Turkic-American Community in Michigan (key sponsors: the Turkish-Americans, Azerbaijani-Americans and Turkmen-Americans) cordially invites you to our annual Victory Day and Ramadan Celebration!

Every year on August 30, the citizens of the Republic of Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, and Turkish-Americans celebrate Victory Day (Zafer Bayramı). The victory being celebrated is the defeat on August 30, 1922, of the invading foreign armies in the final battle of the Turkish War of Independence. This final battle, also known as the “Battle of Dumlupınar” started on Aug 26, 1922, in the city of Dumlupınar in the province of Kütahya in central Anatolia, and ended on August 30, 1922, expelling the invaders out of the motherland. The commander in chief of the of the Turkish War of Independence as well as the Battle of Dumlupınar was the great leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who established the Republic of Turkey one year later on October 29, 1923.

We will celebrate the Turkish Victory Day and Ramadan Festival and provide an education presentation regarding the meaning of these days to enlighten the new generations. We also would like to review how this Victory should further inspire and energize the Turkish-American community today while having in additional a Sufi Whirling Dervish Performance.

Finally, we will commemorate the tragic incident of 9/11 in which the Turkish-American community was and is deeply saddened!

Agenda

• 1:30-2:00pm: Welcome
• 2:00-3:30pm: Lunch (please join on time as we will serve offen buffet)
• 3:30-3:50pm: Presentation on the meaning of the Turkish Victory Day by Feridun Bek (TACAM President)
• 3:50-4:10pm: What is Ramadan – Yesterday and Today by Adnan Ateş (TACAM Secretary)
• 4:10-4:30pm: Brief Presentation on Mevlana Rumi & Sufi Whirling Dervish Performance by Salih Okten (Sufi and dancer in Istanbul over 20 years)
• 4:30-4:40pm: September 11 Commemoration speech by Nurten Ural (Honorary Turkish Consul of Michigan)
• 4:40-5:00pm: Bosnian Folklore Dance
• 5:00-7:30pm: Complimentary Bayram presents for kids, Turkish music, networking, bowling game and billiard and other entertainments.

The facility has an outer playground and there will be a small inflatable bouncer to entertain the kids.

Lunch Menu

Chicken breast with mushroom sauce, special Üzbek rice meal with meat, salad, börek and soft drinks and coffee.

Single Adult: $20.00
Single Student or Child (6-12 years): $10.00
Child under 6: Free
Entrance after 3:30pm with no lunch is $10 per person

Please RSVP by September 8, 2011 to Nilüfer and indicate if you wish lunch or not.

We hope you will be able to join us in this event that has dual meaning and importance. Please bring along your children, your neighbors and friends!

Event Managers

On behalf of the TACAM Board
Adnan Ateş & Nilüfer Ateş
Event Managers

On behalf of the Azerbaijani-American Community
Ramin Mammadov
Leader & Event Manager

On behalf of the Turkmen-American Community
Nuray Agaoglu
Leader & Event Manager

TACAM invites you to share an İftar dinner together. As a Turkish American community we are strengthened when we are together and provide a rich culture for our children and young adults for their future.

Please join us as we come together and enjoy an educational presentation while enjoying the meal and the fine opportunity to be together as a community during Ramazan!

Of most importance is just being able to share as a community in this rich tradition and enjoy the interchange of fellowship together with our friends and families—we hope each of you are able to come for dinner!

Agenda

• 7:30pm — Welcome to TACAM
• 8:00pm — Welcome speech and an educational presentation
• 8:39pm &mdash Start serving Iftar Dinner

We will have soups, salads, meat stew, vegetables, desserts and more.

Feel free to contact Tim or Cansu Tucker at 248–894–8257 (Tim) or 248–961–9361 (Cansu).

About Ramadan

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Muslim calendar. The Month of Ramadan is also when it is believed the Holy Quran “was sent down from heaven, a guidance unto men, a declaration of direction, and a means of Salvation.” It is during this month that Muslims fast. It is called the Fast of Ramadan and lasts the entire month. Ramadan is a time when Muslims concentrate on their faith and spend less time on the concerns of their everyday lives. It is a time of worship and contemplation. During the Fast of Ramadan strict restraints are placed on the daily lives of Muslims. They are not allowed to eat or drink during the daylight hours. Smoking and sexual relations are also forbidden during fasting. There are exceptions to fasting. Those who are sick, elderly, or on a journey, and women who are pregnant or nursing are permitted to break the fast and make up an equal number of days later in the year. If they are physically unable to do this, they must feed a needy person for every day missed. At the end of the day the fast is broken with prayer and a meal called the iftar. In the evening following the iftar it is customary for Muslims to go out visiting family and friends. The fast is resumed the next morning.

Admission is free for all attendees. Donations on behalf of TACAM are always welcome.

Friday, July 29, 2011 — 4pm – 7pm
318 South Main Street, Ann Arbor

Happy Hour Specials: 50% off appetizers
$1 off bottles beers
$1.50 for draft beers

This is a great opportunity for business investors and professionals. More information at www.silkroadconference.org

TACAM is hosting the Father’s Day Picnic and we would like to invite you and your friend’s to join in the food, fun and opportunity to enjoy the day together before most of us leave for summer vacations.

We are planning a menu to include BBQ lamb, shish, köfte, salad, hummus, rice and ayran as well as soft drinks. As we also planning to make a “Best Dish & Dessert Competition,” We would also kindly invite each of you to bring your favorite dish or desert to share if you would like.

There will be great Turkish Live Music via Mine Özalp!

For the activities, we will have some father-child competition games such as three-legged race, wheelbarrow game. We will also have egg & spoon race for fathers while kids will be trying hard to smash our piñata. Besides these fun games, the site has vast fields to play volleyball, baseball, soccer and football. So, you are encouraged to bring your baseball gloves, bats and balls, football, soccer ball and Frisbee, too! Additionally,we will offer backgammon tournaments, “pin the tail on the board members” and other games — and still fantastic food and conversation!

We hope you are all able to join with us and renew our friendships as an extended family and for some newer members to be able to get to know one another much better.

If you have any questions or would be willing to support the organization of the picnic (which would be welcome), please feel free to contact the Event Manager: Melih Güneş at Melih Güneş.

RSVP is required by email by June 17, 2011, to Melih Güneş.

General — $15
Members and Students — $10
Kids up to 12 — $5
Kids 6 and under — free
Please bring a dish to share.
Park charges $5.00 per car entrance fee.
RSVP by June 17, 2011 to Melih Güneş

We will be closing our long loved little shop in downtown Ann Arbor. Our
personal life especially our baby boy Burak does not allow us to keep the
shop running effectively. We tried to keep it open as long as we could
however we would like to keep our remaining power cells alive.

For those who do not know our shop; it is located in an historic concrete
archway built in 1929, similar to what we call passageway in Turkey. It is
between state and Maynard streets, several yards away from one of the
largest parking structures in Ann Arbor. The Arcade has really nice and
upscale shops and also nests Biouvac which is the largest independently
owned outdoor store. The arcade participates to Ann Arbor Art Fair, one of
the largest in the USA. So there has been quite a bit of foot traffic. There
is also a large number of people passing by during University of Michigan
football games and graduation ceremonies. We attract students visiting
parents, as well. What we sell; we primarily sell art pieces, handmade
textiles, and costume jewelry mostly from Turkey and other Turkish speaking
countries: really nice one of a kind ceramics, hand blown glass works,
framed art, felt ornaments and many more.

How does it work; our lease ends August 31st and we usually clean out our
inventory during the art fair in July. If you want an immediate take over so
that you can benefit from the art fair and students return in August we can
certainly cut a deal with the landlord. We are willing to transfer the name
and give you all the goods in the store, as well as all the equipment in the
store including our credit card machine. We have the dot com for the store
and you can also take it over.

Our help; we have been open for five years so we have so many devoted
customers all around the US and from other countries. Ann Arbor is a melting
pot of diverse people around the world and you will be happy to be a part of
this community. This is a socially interactive and fun business. You will be
amazed how many people are interested in Turkish culture and art. We will
provide you all you need to run the business as well as help on the product
supply plus anything related to simple accounting such as taxes (it is
really simple).

Please let us know if you or anybody you know who is interested in taking
the business over. You will be a cultural attaché of Turkey and we as a
community will be all benefiting for keeping the shop alive. We look forward
to hearing from you.

aricio@yahoo.com or 734 222 8191

May 19, 1919, is an important date to commemorate: The date Mustafa Kemâl Paşa (subsequently give the name of “Atatürk” by the grateful nation of Turkey) landed in the Black Sea port of Samsun to start the Turkish Independence Movement.

The Ottoman Empire had made the great mistake of entering World War I (1914–1918) on the side of Germany against the Allied Countries (Great Britain, France and Russia, also assisted by Italy and several Balkan states), and was defeated. Two developments created a desperate situation:

The Armistice of Moudros was signed between the Allied Powers and the Ottoman Empire on October 30, 1918, forcing the Empire to surrender its garrisons outside Anatolia, to demobilize, to transfer the control of the Straits of Dardanelles and Bosporus to the Allied Powers, and to occupy the Imperial capital Istanbul.

With the insistence of the British, the Allied Powers allowed Greek garrisons to land in Izmir and occupy the city and its surrounds on May 15, 1919.

These events triggered local reactions among the Turkish public in several parts of Anatolia. During this period, Mustafa Kemâl Paşa was in İstanbul; having gained national acclaim in the successful defense of the Dardanelles, he had connections with the Ottoman Government and Armed Forces, as well as with the Sultan. His ambition was to be appointed to a position in Anatolia, where he believed a national resistance movement could be sparked. Indeed, he managed to be appointed as the Inspector of the 9th Army Corps, to identify and organize the remaining Ottoman forces to quell any potential public uprising. On May 16, 1919, together with 18 appointed assistants, he left İstanbul on the steam ship Bandırma, heading for the city of Samsun on the Black Sea coast of Anatolia.

On May 19, 1919, Mustafa Kemâl Paşa landed in Samsun, and was greeted by a large crowd. On May 22, 1919, he sent a telegram to the Grand Vizier Damat Ferid Paşa, informing him that the unrest in the area was being instigated by the Greek guerillas, and that the occupation of İzmir by the Greek Forces was not acceptable to him or the Turkish public in the area. With the anticipation that the British navy may react to this message, on May 25, 1919, he moved about 50km inland, to Havza.

In Havza, on May 28, 1919, he issued the “Declaration of Havza,” an important announcement for the military and civil officers in Anatolia, using his authority as the Inspector of the 9th Army Corps, which in summary stated: “It is necessary to create national defense units (Units of the Nationalist Forces) immediately in order to stop regional occupations. If this is not possible, then the occupations should be protested by organized regional meetings in various places.” As a consequence of the Declaration of Havza, the formation of the units of Nationalist Forces gained more speed; protest meetings were organized and national consciousness was awakened. According to Mustafa Kemâl Pasha, the initiative and performance should now continue in a manner to ensure the unity and organization of the nation, rather than on a personal basis or in groups. Mustafa Kemâl left Havza on June 12, 1919, and transferred his headquarters further inland to Amasya, where some activities for unification appeared to be in progress.

Mustafa Kemâl Pasha arrived in Amasya on June 13, 1919. In the mean time, national societies were starting to get established independent of each other. Meetings had been scheduled in Kars, Trabzon and Erzurum. Uniting these regional national societies would more likely succeed in neutralizing the plans of the Allies aiming to divide the Turkish mainland, to allow the Greeks to take over the western Anatolia, the Armenians the eastern Anatolia, and the Rums in the Black Sea region. During the night of June 21–22, 1919, he dictated to his adjuvant Cevat Abbas Bey an announcement to be distributed throughout Anatolia: the “Amasya Circular”. He signed the document as the Inspector of the 9. Army Corps. On June 22, 1919, the circular was distributed by telegram to all commanders of the army corps and divisions, province governorships and districts. The main points of this Circular, which was the first important step on the way to establishing a new Turkish state are as follows:

1. The unity of the land and the independence of the nation are under danger.
2. The government in Istanbul is failing to fulfill its responsibilities. This situation makes our nation appear vanished.
3. The independence of the nation can only be saved by the determination and decisiveness of the nation.
4. The presence of a national committee that is free from any kind of pressure or control is essential in order to implement what is required to deal with the conditions faced by the nation, and to announce loudly to the world its rights.
5. The decision has been made to hold an urgent national meeting in Sivas, considered to be the safest place in Anatolia.
6. To implement this decision, three trustworthy representatives from each district (sanjak) of all provinces should start traveling to Sivas in the shortest time possible.
7. As a precautionary measure, this initiative should be kept as a national secret, and the representatives should travel to the destination while hiding their identity.
8. A congress representing the Eastern Provinces will convene on July 23 in Erzurum. The representatives of the planned meeting in Sivas could consider also attending the Erzurum Congress on their way to Sivas.

The Amasya Circular was an alert for national awakening, calling the Turkish nation to start a movement for national independence and sovereignty. It can be considered as the first attempt to establish the power of the nation as a substitute for the powerless behavior of the Sultan.

The history shows that the national unity has indeed materialized at the Erzurum Congress on July 23 – 7 August 7, 1919, followed by the Sivas Congress September 4 – 14, 1919, culminating in the formulation of the “Oath of the Nation” (Misak-ı Milli), and ultimately the establishment of the 1st Turkish Grand National Assembly on April 23, 1920, in Ankara.

The Turkish-American community warmly welcomes the new 2011 – 2012 Board to TACAM.