Clayton Thomas teaches specific Turkish letters.

Clark Hines teaches Turkish vowel harmony.

Ahmet Akbay teaches several Turkish words.

Friends from Divan Cultural Center kindly invited us for Turkish breakfast on March 26, 2011. We had delicious Turkish pastries, sweets, different types of olives, cheeses, jams, tomatoes, cucumbers, of course with Turkish Tea. Students of my Turkish classes were surrounded by many native Turkish speakers. Happily my students’ Turkish speaking abilities impressed all those native speakers. There was a surprise visit that we did not know. The mayor of City of Durham, Mr William V. Bell, came. After chatting with us, he was called to stage to greet the audience. Listening to him was a joyful occasion to learn about his care of diversity. We were representing diversity by being there.

Then we left to go to the Harmony Mediterranean Store in Cary for grocery shopping altogether. One of us bought Turkish Coffee, some of us purchased breakfast material: Cheese, olives, jams, bread, biscuits.

We celebrated Turkish Day at Carolina Turkish House with many friends from Triangle on March 19, 2011. The local Turkish American community kindly presented opportunities for Turkish students to practice their Turkish. There were delicious Turkish food and desserts with beautiful Turkish Music. After Dr. Aziz Sancar’s introduction and welcoming, Dr. Omid Safi from UNC Religious Studies Department made an announcement about his upcoming Turkey educational tour. After Dr. Safi I made an announcement about the Turkish Program at UNC. There are two Turkish language courses and a content course every semester. In Fall 2011, I will be offering Turkish 101 and 203 and also Asia 225, Istanbul: Crossroads of Asia and Europe. I asked the audience to pass this information about new Turkish Program at UNC to those who are interested in learning Turkish. Then I said “Please send me students!”

Many thanks to our hosts Professors Gwen and Aziz Sancar. To have information about The Aziz and Gwen Sancar Foundation please click here.

We gathered at Mediterrenian Deli to practice Turkish.

Murat Es, a PhD student at UNC Geography Department, attended our gathering. He not only answered questions from the students, but also looked at peoples’ fortunes from coffee grounds.

We met at the Carolina Turkish House to celebrate the start of the Turkish Studies Program at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Turkish Program’s first activity was a Turkish style brunch. We especially enjoyed simit (Turkish bagel with sesame seeds). I’m grateful for Aziz and Gwen Sancar Foundation’s support. They not only encouraged us to use Carolina Turkish House, but also contributed to our expenses.

To increase interest around campus, the Turkish Program needs your support. Our future events will include movie nights, lectures, and music nights. Please help the Turkish Program by circulating our future event announcements.