TCA hosted a dinner in Istanbul for a congressional delegation led by Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe. The delegation included Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee, Rep.Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), Rep.Virginia Foxx (R-NC), Co-Chair of the Caucus on US-Turkey Relations and Turkish Americans, Rep. Steve King (R-IA), Rep.Collin Peterson (D-MN) and Rep. Wally Herger (R-CA).

TCA also co-sponsored a congressional delegation by the United States Association of Former Members of Congress' (USAMFC) Congressional Study Group on Turkey. The delegation included Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA), Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-NC), senior congressional staff members and USAFMC officers.

TCA organized its 11th congressional delegation last month and took a group of 10 Congressional staff members to Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). With this last delegation, TCA has taken 116 Members of Congress and senior staffers to Turkey and surrounding countries since May 2009. For more information on the 11th TCA congressional delegation visit, please visit here.

TCA partnered with Istanbul Technical University (ITU) in organizing a workshop on “Infrastructure Development Cooperation between Turkey and Indian Country” in Istanbul.  Hosted and sponsored by ITU, a delegation of five Native American leaders participated in the workshop to learn more about how to stimulate investment and economic activity in tribal communities. The delegation also attended the opening of an exhibition of photographs of Native Americans from the Yildiz Palace Collection. The photographs were  given as a gift by the Smithsonian Institution to Sultan Abdulhamid II, to promote the international exchange of cultural knowledge. The exhibition was jointly organized by TCA and the Research Center for
Islamic History, Art and Culture and sponsored by the Istanbul Handicrafts Center. For more information on the event, please visit here.

The new TCA Washington office was host to a conference by the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK) and the Middle East Institute. The conference, titled “Turkey 2000-10: A Decade of Transition,” took place on October 13.

TCA sponsored the first "North America Turkish Leadership Conference" organized by the Council of Turkish Canadians on October 8-9, 2011, in Kingston, Ontario. TCA President Lincoln McCurdy spoke at the conference which was held under the topic  "Enhancing Turkish Identity in Canada and the US."

TCA continued its partnership with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) by supporting the CHCI's 34th Annual Leadership Conference in Washington, DC. Over the years, TCA has worked closely with CHCI, to help Hispanic American college students to study abroad in Turkey with support from the TCA Minority Scholarship Program. Since 2008, TCA- has provided over 100 scholarships to Hispanic American, African American, and Native American students to study in Turkey.  

Dr. Yalcin Ayasli, TCA Chairman, received the Macedonia Friendship Award of United Macedonia Diaspora (UMD) at a ceremony held at the Presidential Palace in Skopje in the presence of His Excellency Gjorge Ivanov, President of Macedonia. The award was presented to Dr. Ayasli by Stojan Nikolov, UMD Chairman and Meto Koloski, UMD President.

On October 19, TCA hosted a delegation from the Assembly of Turkish American Associations in Istanbul, led by ATAA President Ergun Kirlikovali. TCA has been a supporter of the grassroots programs of ATAA for several years.

TCA launched a write-in campaign to convince President Barack Obama to celebrate Turkish Republic Day, October 29th, with Turkish Americans at the White House. Visit here to participate in this ongoing campaign.

The Congressional Caucus on US-Turkey Relations and Turkish Americans reached 128 members with Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX/10th) and Rep. Brian P. Bilbray (R-CA/50th) joining last month. The Turkish Caucus is a bi-partisan platform for Members of Congress to focus on issues that relate to Turkey, US-Turkey relations and the Turkish-American community. Contact the TCA office to learn more about the Caucus and find out how you can ask your Representative to join.