On March 26, 2011, the TACAM Community enjoyed a fantastic night of Chopin with our one and only pianist İdil Ülgen and Daniel Foster, violist at Eastern Michigan University.

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On March 11, 2011, at Workman Elementary School in Canton, TACAM joined others in presenting various cultures of the world. Over 700 people attended this yearly event aimed towards educating children about the diversity at home and abroad.

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Turkish American Cultural Association of Michigan (TACAM) and Honorary Consul General of Turkey Ms. Nurten Ural, organized a special dinner night for the Lebanese-American community leaders. The event indicated that TACAM was going to continue working on its most important strategy of “Strengtehing the voice of Turkish American community” and “collabarating with other ethnic communities” in 2011.

TACAM President Mr. Feridun Bek indicated that TACAM successfully participated the annual Lebenase Festival that was held on August 2010 in Rochester Hills. With this gathering, the association wanted to thank the Lebanese-American community leaders as well as TACAM event manager Elif Cila and ensure a systematic development of Turkish – Lebanese friendship, political and cultural relations by creating a synergy between the two communities. Honorary Consul General Ural, mentioned about the importance of Lebanese – Turkish American relations and provided hand-outs printed specifically to highlight these relations.

Lebanese Consul General of Michigan Bachir S. Tawk, indicated that the recent removal of the visa requirements between the two countries was going to strengthen the relations. President of the Lebanese American Chamber of Commerce John Akouri emphasized the natural ties and the positive history between the two countries and indicated that they were planning on bringing the Lebanese American and Turkish American communities together with more events and organizations in 2011. TACAM Turkish American Broad Advocacy Network (TABAN) committee chair Ümit Menemenci, presented a TACAM 2011 leadership plaque to Mr. Akouri for his contributions to the development of Lebanese – Turkish relations.

Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA) TABAN director Yenal Küçüker, emphasized the importance of such partnerships and the strength that these partnerships provide for a successful advocacy. President Bek indicated that the collaboration that TACAM had with ATAA and Turkish Coalition of America (TCA), under the leadership of Ümit Menemenci and TACAM’s grassroots coordinator Gökhan Özalp, helped TACAM to have a successful year in terms of advocacy and grassroots activities. Mr. Bek said that numerous advocacy meetings that were held with various elected officials and 4 Turkish Republic Day proclamations that TACAM received were the proof of their grassroots success. Mr. Bek reminded that TACAM engaged with various other ethnic communities in 2010, such as the American Jewish Committee and was going to continue collaborating with other ethnic communities in 2011.

Community leaders and businessmen who participated the gathering, indicated how delighted they were to see a Lebenase – Turkish collaboration and were looking forward to future events.

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Our well-attended event on November 19, 2010, celebrated Kurban Bayramı and raised funds for the TACAM building renovations.

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Mesut İlgim gave a talk on Turkish-Jewish relations during the 1930s and 1940s. The lecture was held in Ann Arbor on on November 7, 2010.

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TACAM Republic Day Ball was held on November 6, 2010.

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Nurten Ural, Honorary Consul General of the Republic of Turkey, attended the first annual Gala Reception celebrating the affiliation of EMU with the Consular Corps of Michigan on October 22, 2010. This international event, honoring the foreign consuls, chambers of commerce, and cultural institutions of the countries, promoted international partnerships. TACAM President Feridun Bek, EMU Professor of Criminolgy Donna Wilson and Consul of Mexico, the Hon. Vicente Sanchez-Ventura and his wife enjoyed nice conversations throughout the night.

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Şeker Bayramı or “Festival of Treats” was celebrated at the TACAM Cultural Center on September 11, 2010, to mark the end of the fasting month for Muslims. We had a very great turnout and our building was filled with treats for children and adults.

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On August 28, 2010, TACAM members gathered to celebrate the decisive victory of the Turkish Republic in defending its sovereignty. As this was also the Holy Month of Ramadan, we held a traditional iftar dinner. Naturally, the food was a delight, and our educational program helped us all remember and learn the importance of August 30 for the Turkish people.

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The Father’s Day Picnic was held on June 20, 2010, at Kensington Metro Park, Site T. The location this year was well suited for those who were able to attend as we had over 80 persons throughout the day come and enjoy in our festivities — though we missed many of our friends who had already left for Turkey on vacation. The Michigan weather was very supportive providing us a very sunny (and humid day). Everyone had the opportunity to enjoy the lamb shish, homemade börek, salad, rice, desserts and ayran as well as soft drinks. We had a father-child trivia game, races and of course the awarding of our “Best Baba” of the year shirt. We had a piñata filled with candy for the very youngest child to the oldest to hit with a rubber baseball bat and try to get it open — it took all of the children’s efforts to get it to open up and explode. Finally, we had a short effort at Karaoke which resulted in some good laughter.

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