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MATA MATTERS Official Newsletter of the Maryland American Turkish Association, Inc.

Happy New Year , Yeni Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun!

MATA participated in the ATAA/ATA-DC/MATA Holiday party December 18th, 2014, at the ATAA Turk Evi in DC.

As MATA celebrates an extremely active 2014, we must take a few moments to send you

our warmest wishes for a healthy, happy, and prosperous 2015! Before you get to see some

of what we have done these past 2 years, we must point out that this is the first NEWSLET-

TER in almost 2 years! We apologize, but as we undertook these activities, the paper ver-

sion of our communications, MATA MATTERS, kept on getting postponed. We promise to

do better in 2015! Change is happening, more members, more activities, more business

partnerships, more use of the internet, social media, and the web. Ultimately more sense

of community! If you have not already done so, please check us out at our website

(WWW.MATAMD.COM), or on Facebook! If you are still not a member, sign up either by

mail or online!

We also take this opportunity to sadly bid farewell to two of our hard working board mem-

bers, Lisa Culhagill, who moved to Turkey this past summer, and Akile Cevik who has recent-

ly moved out of the area to Virginia to pursue better career opportunities. We wish them

the best, and will miss them both!

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Dear MATA Members,

I am happy to announce that this past April, 2014,

we elected a new MATA Board of Directors that

will serve through April 2016. A list of the new

board members, and their functions, can be found

at the following link: www.matamd.com .

As you can see, Orhan Suleiman continues to be on

the board and now occupies the position of “Past

President” and, as such, he will advise and help the

new board in accomplishing their responsibilities.

He remains available and eager to provide

guidance and assistance to our MATA members.

Thank you, Orhan Bey, for your tender, loving care

of MATA through the years, and for your continued

invaluable support!

As your new president, I will represent your

opinions and interests within the Turkish-American

community in Maryland and the Washington, D.C.

metropolitan area. Please do not hesitate to

contact me or any of our board members with your

concerns and/or suggestions. Thank you.

As you know, Turkey has appointed a new

ambassador to the U.S. His Excellency Serdar Kilic. I

am honored to have already met with him and his

staff, and have had the chance to introduce them

to MATA’s organizational goals and aspirations. I

have also met with the leaders of most of our

affiliate organizations, and have found common

ground for current and future endeavors.

As you have seen, during recent activities many

young individuals have joined our organization.

Therefore, I would like to review some basic facts

about MATA.

MATA’s basic mission is to promote Turkish culture

in the U.S., and to strive to build ties of friendship

between Turkish and American people, of all

backgrounds, as, together, we foster a stronger

Turkish-American community in Maryland, through

educational, social and cultural activities.

The Maryland American Turkish Association

(MATA), Inc., was established in 1967, as a

nonprofit organization, under regulations of

Section 501 (c) (3) of the internal revenue code. As

such, your donations and membership fees are tax

deductible. Our proclamation of establishment, by

the state of Maryland, can be seen at the following

link:

http://www.matamd.com/images/AboutMATA/Do

cuments/The_State_of_MD_Proclamation_2010_1

0-19-2012.pdf .

I want to thank you very much for your loyalty and

sponsorship through the years. Please continue to

support MATA with your membership and/or

donations. Also, please consider serving as a board

or committee member. We need you!

With all my best wishes,

Cennet Köse Rivera

President

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Clockwise from top left: Orhan Suleiman (Past President), Cennet Kose (President), Kadri Hasbay (Vice-

president), Idil Hasbay (Secretary), Lisa Culhagill (Co-treasurer– recently moved to Turkey), Huseyin Koca

(Director), Corina Koca (Director-at-large), Akile Cevik (Director– recently moved to Virginia), Benjamin Rivera

(Director), and Kent Drummond (Co-treasurer).

Annual General Meeting - April 27, 2014

New Board of Directors for 2014-2016 Term

MATA held its annual general meeting on April 27, 2014, at the East Columbia Howard County library. Finances, mem-

bership, and the many activities conducted this past year were reviewed.

Outgoing president Orhan Suleiman reminded everyone that this past year has been extremely busy, and productive. One year ago in 2013, we held the general meeting in conjunction with the April 23 Children’s Day at the BWI airport at the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel. During this very busy year, we expanded our membership, began using Facebook, and reengineered our website (WWW.MATAMD.COM). During the year we had multiple events at local Turkish mer-chants, such as Rudy’s Mediterranean Grill in Columbia, and Cazbar Turkish Taverna in Baltimore. We then had what is becoming an annual event, the Fall picnic at Centennial Park in the Ellicott City-Columbia Area. We also continued to participate in the annual DC Turkish Festival, and other activities in the DC area, including the ATAA, the Turkish Embas-

sy, Northern Cyprus, and Congressional outreach activities.

The highlight of 2013 was the MATA sponsored 2 week trip with 22 people to Turkey in May, 2013. (See article for more detailed information). Several Board members also went, including the trip coordinator, Cennet Köse Rivera, Lisa

Culhagill, Orhan Suleiman and his wife Cathy.

Outgoing president, Orhan Suleiman, thanked the members of the Board and presented awards to individuals who had contributed to MATA’s successful year. He felt confident that the new Board will continue a long tradition of serving the

local Turkish-American community.

Orhan Suleiman, limited to two consecutive 2 year terms, happily passed the leadership position to Cennet Kose Rivera,

our first woman president. Orhan welcomed the new Board, and congratulated them.

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In April, 2013, MATA celebrated 23 Nisan (April 23), Childrens’ Day, together with the annual General Meeting at the

Four Points by Sheraton Hotel at Baltimore Washington International airport.

Everyone had a great time.

In May, we embarked on a memorable 2 week trip to Turkey, please see the next 3 pages. Once the summer passed,

we had our picnic at Centennial Park (3rd year in a row) between Columbia and Ellicott City, followed by participa-

tion in the Turkish Festival in DC, and the Republic Day Ball with ATA-DC.

With the momentum of 2013 behind us (still no NEWSLETTER at that time) , we began 2014 by having a Valentine’s

Day dinner at Cazbar’s Authentic Turkish Taverna in Baltimore. We finished up the Spring by celebrating 19 Mayis

with a picnic honoring Youth and Sports Day (Genclik ver Spor Gunu) at Savage Park in Savage, MD. This event

was catered by Rudys’ Mediterranean Grill and supported by many local merchants who donated raffle prizes

(see complete list on page 11). We then attended a friendly soccer match with 60 people at RFK stadium in DC be-

tween the Turkish and Honduran National teams (Turkey won 2-0). We finished up the Fall with our annual picnic at

Centennial Park, participated at the DC Turkish Festival, and held a Kurban Bayram dinner at Cazbar’s, who also ca-

tered the Centennial park picnic. For up to date information always check our website and Facebook!

May 19th Picnic at Savage Park

ATAA Annual Meeting

MATA participated in the annual meeting of the Assembly of

Turkish American Associations (ATAA Meeting) in DC (April

2014). The Association representatives posed for this picture

at ATAA headquarters during the annual delegates meeting.

Centennial Park Picnic Valentine’s Day

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TURKEY TRIP May 2013

The first full day began in Istanbul, with tours

of the Suleymaniye Mosque, underground

Cisterns, Hagia Sophia. Erkan, our tour

guide was informative and entertaining. On

day 2 we visited the Blue Mosque, lunched

at the Konyali restaurant, and finished at an

archeological museum.

First Day morning briefing at hotel Day 1 Underground Cistern

Suleymaniye Mosque

Inside Suleymaniye Mosque

Archeological Museum

SultanAhmet Mosque

Lunch at Konyali Restaurant

Mustafa Kemal

Ataturk carved

into mountain

near Izmir

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Day 5 -Up, up, and away Cappodicia

Day 4 Ankara Ataturk’s Memorial

Konya (Day 7)

Dolma Bahce & Cruise

up The Bosphorus (Day 3)

By the time we left Istanbul, like the

Whirling Dervishes in Konya, everything

was dizzying and simply fascinating.

Ankara, Cappadocia, Konya, Antalya,

Perge (Day 8)

Aspendos (Day 8)

Hierapolis of Phrygia (Day 9)

Aphrodisias (Day 10)

Library at Ephesus (Day 11) Aesklepieion Day 12

What a ride (Cappodicia)!

Ceramic Shop

Dancer at nightclub

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In Memoriam

As we move forward in time, let us also take a minute to remember those who have since

passed away. Zekiye Hassan, long time MATA member and resident of Baltimore (Baltimore

– 2013), Perihan Atay (Aberdeen, MD– 2014), and Bekir Davaz (Ellicott City 2014). We ex-

tend our condolences to their families. In the end all we have are memories, so let’s re-

member them and appreciate the time we spent with them.

A moment of silence was observed for the 301 Soma mining accident victims at the MATA Youth and Sports Day Picnic held at Savage Park on Sunday, May 18th. All profits from the event were donated to the Soma Victim Families. The ex-plosion in the mine occurred on May 13th, 2014, in Soma, Turkey, and is the worst mining disaster in Turkish mining history.

MATA considered canceling the event, but then decided to have the event in memory of the Soma victims.

MATA had planned this picnic at Savage Park to celebrate the Turkish Youth and Sports Holiday, or “Genclik ve Spor Bay-rami”, on Sunday, May 18th, 2014. This holiday was established by Ataturk on May 19th in honor of Turkey’s youth, and the date represents May 19, 1919, the day when Mustafa Kemal Ataturk landed in Samsun. His landing at Samsun, locat-ed on the Black Sea, is considered the beginning of the Turkish War of Independence which resulted in the establishment of

the modern day Republic of Turkey.

In 2014 MATA also established the Baris Yilmaz Medical Assis-

tance Fund. This fund was used to assist Baris Yilmaz who

came to Baltimore’s Johns Hopkins Hospital for medical treat-

ment for a serious eye condition from Massachusetts. Here he

is pictured with Akile Cevik who “adopted” Baris during his

stays in Baltimore. He is currently back in Massachusetts.

Soma Mining Disaster and May 19th Youth and Sports Day Picnic at Savage Park

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The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus

celebrates the Founding of the TRNC

Cypriot Day on Capitol Hill

Republic Day Ball

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Turkey versus Honduras Friendly Football Game at

RFK Stadium

On May 29th, 60 of us attended the World Cup Friendly between Turkey and Honduras, with the Turkish National Team winning 2-0 over the World Cup bound Hondu-ran team.

Turkish American Community

Center (TACC) in Lanham,

Maryland, to open in 2015. Construction continues on the Turkish

American Community Center in Lanham,

Maryland. This multi-million dollar facility will

house a conference center, restaurant, Turkish

Bath/Hamam, guest lodging, residential

homes, underground parking for 350 vehicles,

and a mosque for 700 people.

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We want to thank the following merchants for their support of our recent activities:

Rudy's Mediterranean Grill & Diner 7185 Columbia Gateway Dr, Columbia, MD

21046

Acacia Bistro & Wine Bar 4340 Connecticut Ave. NW. Washington DC.

20008

Cazbar Turkish Taverna 316 N Charles St, Baltimore, Maryland 21202

Zella's Pizzeria 1145 Hollins St, Baltimore, MD 21223

Glamorous Hair and Nail 3201 Rogers Ave, Ellicott City, MD 21043

Veli and Company Beauty Salon 10300 Little Patuxent Pkwy #1200, Columbia,

MD 21044

Nazar Market 6955 Oakland Mills Rd, Columbia, MD 21045

New York J & P Pizza Italian Restaurant 8305 Ice Crystal Dr, Laurel, MD 20723

Turkish Family Market 8457 Baltimore National Pike #16, Ellicott City,

MD 21043

Meze DC 2437 18th St NW, Washington, DC 20009

Bosphorus Bistro 5716 York Rd, Baltimore, MD 21212

Membership Application (1-2015)

Name: Mr/Mrs/Ms/Dr_____________________ ___________________________________________

Date:_______________________________________________________________________________

Address: _____________________________________________________________________________

Street-city-state-zip

Email: ________________________________________@_____________

Telephone: Home____________________ Work___________________ Cell _______________________

DUES ARE $50 (Family); $35 (Individual); $20 (Student).

You may pay online, or by mail.

DUES $______________ DONATION $ ________________ TOTAL $ _________________

Please make check payable to : MATA Mail to: MATA, PO Box 762, Columbia, MD 21045

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Maryland American Turkish Association

P.O. Box 762

Columbia, MD 21045

To:

Orhan Suleiman on behalf of MATA presents a

plaque to outgoing Ambassador Namik Tan for

his service as the Republic of Turkey

Ambassador to the United States.

MATA Board members pose with new Ambassador

Serdar Kilic at welcome reception at the

Embassy in Washington D.C.

Left to right Kent Drummond, Cennet Kose River, His

Excellency Serdar Kilic, Orhan Suleiman, and Lisa Culhagill