The nationwide educational program by the Turkish Cultural Foundation in cooperation with the World Affairs Councils of America (WACA) and 18 WACA chapters, and the Birmingham International Center, has been launched.  The regions/cities for 2011 are: Dayton (Ohio), Montana, Peoria (Illinois), Hawaii, Santa Fe, South Dakota, Riverside (California), Greater Reading (Pennsylvania), Harrisburg (Virginia), Houston, Las Vegas, Maine, Mid Hudson Valley (New York), New Hampshire, Seattle, Saint Louis, Washington DC, and Boston.  Funded by a major TCF grant, the 3-part partnership program will include 19 Teacher Workshops on Turkey, two TCF-organized Teacher Study Tours to Turkey in the summer of 2011 and dozens of public programs on Turkish culture, called “Portraits of Turkey” in the fall. Now in its fifth year, the program has reached over 1,900 educators through the Teacher Workshops and thousands of Americans through the “Portraits of Turkey” cultural programs.   Thus far, TCF’s Teacher Study Tours have taken 291 American educators to Turkey.

TCF' s 2011 Cultural Tour is scheduled to take place on September 12-29, 2011. The first leg of the tour (September 12-29) will take participants to Istanbul and explore the Marmara region, while the second leg of the tour (September 20-29) will travel through Central Anatolia. The tour will take influential Americans from different walks of life as guests of TCF on an intensive itinerary highlighting the culture, cuisine, history, art and architectural heritage and natural beauty of Turkey. A small number of seats are open to the public. A total of 221 Americans have visited Turkey on the seven cultural tours hosted by TCF since 2006. To receive information on the 2011 TCF Cultural Tours or to nominate a participant, please send an e-mail to nurtenural@turkishculture.org

The TCF Turkish Art and Culture Lecture Series in 2011 will start-off with a speaking tour by Dr. Nurhan Atasoy, TCF Senior Scholar in Residence, beginning in March. Dr. Atasoy is scheduled to speak at the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology in Ann Arbor on “Ottoman Gardens”; the Houston Museum of Fine Arts on "Life in Istanbul in 1582 Through the Miniature Paintings of Surname of Murad III“ and at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York on “Ottoman Gardens.”

The TCF Istanbul Lectures will feature two prominent speakers in February. Architect Fatih Orbay, author of “Flowers of Anatolia” and several other books on Turkey’s rich flora, will speak on “Turkey’s Unique Flowers” on February 9, 2011. On February 22, Ali Nihat Gokyigit, Founder and Honorary President of TEMA Foundation and the Nezahat Gokyigit Botanical Garden, will speak on “Peace with Nature.”
In January, the TCF Istanbul Lectures featured Dr. Suna Cagaptay, Bahcesehir University, Faculty of Architecture and Design and a TCF Fellow, who spoke on “From Prousa to Bursa: The Making of the First Ottoman Capital;” and Burak Cetintas of the Bosphorus University History Department, who lectured on "Ottoman Gravestones." The Istanbul lecture program and videos of past lectures can be viewed online at the TCF website.

Three junior scholars on Ottoman culture, Amanda Phillips, a 2009 TCF Fellow and Ph.D. candidate at the Kunsthistorisches Institute in Florence, Tsameret Levy-Daphny of Tel Aviv University and Maximilian Hartmuth of Sabanci University, received a TCF grant to participate in the 12th International Conference of Ottoman Social and Economic History in Retz, Austria in July 2011. The scholars will present a panel on "Acquire and Admire: Objects in Diyarbakir, Sarajevo and Van in the 18th and 19th Centuries," with Prof. Tulay Artan of Sabancy University as discussant, at the conference, which will be chaired by Prof.Halil Inalcik.

For three consecutive years, TCF has become the principal sponsor of the Eyup Music Foundation, one of the oldest Turkish classical musical societies in a historical Istanbul neighborhood. The Eyup Music Foundation provides free after-school music education to young children, as well as to adults and helps sustain interest in Turkish classical music in young generations and the general public, especially in lower-income segments of society. TCF’s support also underwrites the annual concerts by the Eyup Music Foundation. The Foundation’s recent concert on January 29 was attended by 550 people, and featured classic songs from old Turkish movies under the theme “Songs of Yesilcam.”

TCF provided a grant to House of Turkey, a non-profit organization, which brings Turkish culture to Balboa Park, the largest urban cultural park in the United States, located in San Diego, California.  The organization represents Turkey among 32 countries which are allowed to do year-around cultural public programs at Balboa Park. With TCF funding, House of Turkey organized a series of cultural events at the Park in December, highlighting Turkish culture, cuisine and art to visitors.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Istanbul - Turkey
Date: February 09, 2011, 4:30 pm    
Lecture: "Turkey's Unique Flowers" by Fatih Orbay, Author and Documentary Film Producer         
Place: Turkish Cultural Foundation Istanbul Office     
Information: Turkish Cultural Foundation
Lecture will be in Turkish.
     
Istanbul - Turkey
Date: February 22, 2011, 2:30 pm    
Lecture: "Peace with Nature" by Dr. Nihat Gokyigit, Founder and Honorary Chairman of TEMA and Nezahat Gokyigit Botanical Garden
Place: Turkish Cultural Foundation Istanbul Office     
Information: Turkish Cultural Foundation
Lecture will be in English.
    
Ann Arbor, USA
Date: March 14, 2011
Lecture: “Ottoman Gardens” by Dr. Nurhan Atasoy, TCF Senior Scholar in Residence, followed by a panel discussion and then a reception. 
Place: Kelsey Museum of Archaeology
Information: Turkish Cultural Foundation
This event is co-organized and sponsored by Turkish Cultural Foundation with the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology; University of Michigan, Center for Middle Eastern and North African Studies and Department of Near Eastern Studies and the Turkish American Cultural Association of Michigan.

Houston, USA
Date: March 19, 2011
Lecture: "Life in Istanbul in 1582 through the Miniature Paintings of Surname of Murad III” by Dr. Nurhan Atasoy, TCF Senior Scholar in Residence.
Place: Houston Museum of Fine Arts   
Information: Turkish Cultural Foundation
This event is co-organized and sponsored by Turkish Cultural Foundation with the Houston Museum of Fine Arts.

New York, USA
Date: March 22, 2011
Lecture: "Ottoman Gardens” by Dr. Nurhan Atasoy, TCF Senior Scholar in Residence, followed by a panel discussion.
Place: Metropolitan Museum of Art    
Information: Turkish Cultural Foundation
This event is co-organized and sponsored by Turkish Cultural Foundation with the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

New York, USA
Date: April 14-17, 2011
Fair: 13th Annual Sculpture Objects & Functional Art Fair with the participation of Turkish artists Ayhan Tomak, Ebru Dosekci, Semra Ecer and Yildanur Ketenci
Place: Turkish Cultural Foundation Booth, Park Armory Avenue
Information: SOFA
Turkish artists’ participation at this event is sponsored by the Turkish Cultural Foundation.

Chicago, USA
Date: November 4-6, 2011
Fair: 17th Annual Sculpture Objects & Functional Art Fair with the participation of Turkish artists Malik Bulut, Meral Deger, Nejat Kavvas and Serdar Seremet.
Place: Turkish Cultural Foundation Booth, Festival Hall, Navy Pier
Information: SOFA
Turkish artists' participation at this event is sponsored by the Turkish Cultural Foundation.