PRESIDENT of TURKEY, ABDULLAH GUL VISITED
Late on the evening of February
8, 2007, Abdullah Gul, Secretary of State and Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey,
came to visit Turkish Cultural Center. He was joined by his wife Hayrunnisa
Hanim and newly appointed New York Consulate General Mehmet Samsar
After being welcomed to the
Center, Deputy Prime Minister Gul was shown a video about the Cultural Center's
activities. He was very pleased with what he saw. In his speech, he stressed
that while the Consulate may represent Turkey on an official level, each
Turkish-American living in the US is an ambassador of Turkish Culture and values
and therefore the role of voluntary organizations like our center are very
important. The Minister praised the Turkish Cultural Center on the ability to
organize successful events (such as the annual Ramadan Friendship Dinner)
despite the short history of the Turkish Cultural Center and stressed the
importance of representing Turkish Culture in New York City. He told members of
the Center that a cultural center like this one “could only be achieved with
deep devotion. There are other cultural centers, but few are able to achieve
what this center achieves. The Center serves Turkey and Turkish Culture in an
important part of the world.” He was surprised by the degree of success,
calling it “beautiful.”
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