The 2011 Annual Report of TCF is now available. For information on TCF programs, grants, observations from TCF grantees and other program participants, please visit here.

The first group of American teachers who visited Turkey on the Teacher Study Tours of TCF has returned to Turkey last Sunday. Part of a group of 77 American middle and high school teachers, the teachers visited Istanbul, Gelibolu (Gallipoli) and Troy, Canakkale, Bursa, Kusadasi, Pamukkale, Konya and Catalhoyuk, Cappadocia and Ankara. The second group of teachers are currently touring Anatolia and the third group will be arriving on July 12 in Istanbul. The study tours are the second tier of the Spotlight on Turkey, nationwide educational program organized by TCF, WACA and its local chapters and funded by a major TCF grant. The TCF Teachers Study Tours were covered by the local media in the teachers’ hometowns and you follow the journey of the visiting teachers on TCF Facebook page.

The Neolithic site of Catalhoyuk near Konya, Turkey, was listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List last week. The Catalhoyuk Excavation has received support from TCF for multiple years. The TCF grants were allocated to build a shelter over the excavation site, and to help improve access and informational signage on the site. TCF worked with the Global Heritage Fund in California on this project. To further expand its knowledge on Catalhoyuk, TCF has been taking its Teacher Study Tours to Catalhoyuk for many years.

TCF Senior Scholar in Residence, Prof.Dr.Nurhan Atasoy will give a lecture on July 31 at the Topkapi Palace Museum on Splendor and Elegance: Fashion at the Harem, as part of a lecture seres accompanying the Museum's new exhibition on the Harem.

Dr.Recep Karadag, Head of the TCF Natural Dye Research and Development Laboratory-DATU will participate in the 2nd International Congress on Chemistry for Cultural Heritage in Istanbul on July 9-12 and in the 6th General Intensive School on Conservation Science in Evora, Portugal on July 17-24 and present on the use of multi-analytical techniques and analysis of historical art objects and textiles.

On June 21, YESAM hosted a lecture by Nedim Atilla on the culinary culture of the Black See town of Giresun titled, “Giresun: The Black Sea’s Hidden Cuisine.” The lecture was followed by a tasting prepared by Ummuhan Aydin, a teacher and native of Giresun. For more information on YESAM activities and Turkish cuisine, visit the YESAM website.  

For the 3rd year, TCF sponsors Istanbulive, a celebration of Turkish contemporary music in New York city. Istanbulive4 will take place on July 28 at the Lincoln Center Out of Doors festival and feature Selda Bagcan, Ilhan Ersahin's Wonderland/Husnu Senlendirici, The Secret Trio.

TCF provided a major grant to the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) for an exhibition on photography and video by contemporary Turkish artists. Titled Familiar/Asina,  the exhibition will take place from October 25 - November 16 at the School of Photographic Arts and Sciences and feature Nancy Atakan, Ozgul Arslan, Ipek Duben, Gul Ilgaz, Iz Oztat and RIT professor Roberley Bell, who is also a TCF Cultural Exchange Fellowship recipient.

TCF provided a grant to NY2Dance, a non-profit dance theatre company in the US, under the artistic direction of Nejla Y.Yatkin, an acclaimed Turkish American  dancer and choreographer. In her own words, through dance, Ms.Yatkin seeks “a comprehension of the connection between all things, an awareness of the present as well as that which transcends time and space...to embrace nothing less than our humanity, our common journey on this planet of existence.”

For the third year, TCF provided a grant to the American Turkish Association of North Carolina at Charlotte to support the 3rd Annual Charlotte Turkish Festival which will take place on October 13-14.

In July, the Istanbul office hosted a group of American students from San Diego State University's program on International Security and Conflict Resolution. The students are currently in Turkey to participate in a Study Abroad program at Bahcesehir University. Another group of students from Alfred University on a study tour in Turkey were hosted at the Istanbul offices and received briefings on the programs of TCF and TCA. The Alfred University Study Tour received the TCA Turkey Study Tour grant for this trip. Two of the three Teacher groups on the TCF Teacher Study Tours also were hosted at the Istanbul office in July and received briefings on the work of civil society in the areas of education, women's rights and environment from representatives of various Turkish non-profit organizations, including ACEV, CYDD, KAGIDER, ILKYAR, TEMA and TEGV. The third group will visit the Istanbul office on July 12.