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88th Turkish Republic Day Events October 29, 2011

admin — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 07:16:56 +0000

Dear Members and Friends,

Despite all the planning by the TCS Board, Mr. Feza Sanıgök and numerous others, this year’s commemoration of the 88th Turkish Republic Day turned out much different than anticipated. On short notice, out of respect for the victims of the devastating earthquake that struck the city of Van and the town of Erciş in eastern Turkey on Sunday, October 23, the decision was made to postpone the Turkish Canadian Youth and Harvest Festival until a future date. Instead, on Saturday, October 29 we held a simple flag-raising at Vancouver City Hall in the morning and, in the evening, a modest fundraising event at Creekside Community Centre.

At the flag-raising, over which TCS President Ms Güler Aylar gracefully presided, we sang both the Turkish and Canadian national anthems and observed a moment of silence for the people killed or injured by the earthquake. In addition, on behalf of His Honour Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson, Deputy Mayor Mr. Tim Stevenson proclaimed Saturday, October 29, 2011, to be Turkish Republic Day in the City of Vancouver. As well, we were pleased to have the Hon. Dr. Hedy Fry (MP for Vancouver Centre), who has supported us for a number of years, speak to the crowd. Finally, we were honoured by the presence of His Excellency Dr. Rafet Akgünay, Ambassador of the Turkish Republic to Canada, who came from Ottawa to address the gathering.

During the evening fundraiser, we appreciated having the Hon. Mr. Harry Bloy, BC Minister of State for Multiculturalism, speak to us and show his support and interest. We also again heard from His Excellency Dr. Rafet Akgünay, along with Ms Güler Aylar, Mr. Feza Sanıgök and Ms Elif Costello, who read out letters of congratulation for the 88th Turkish Republic Day from various dignitaries.

As well as the singing of both national anthems, we saw a short video about the founding of the Turkish Republic and a short slideshow depicting events organized by the TCS this year. We are very grateful to Fatma & Mehmet Telli of Lara Cuisine for catering the event with a selection of Turkish finger foods, and to Mr. Yener Ciprut for kindly supplying Turkish beverages.

Special thanks to Berna Salman, Chara Berk, Lutfi Buyural and Buket Şendemir, who worked together very efficiently to plan and organize this fundraising event in just two days.

For professionally documenting the two events and posting the videos online, we wish to warmly thank our friends Adam Balmoral and Eyyub Hajiyev at HBTV. (flag-raising: http://www.youtube.com/user/VancouverHBTV#p/a/u/1/HpaBz4iVJWQ; evening fundraiser: http://www.youtube.com/user/VancouverHBTV#p/a/u/0/032qd7ElqXo)

Many thanks to everyone who came out to support both these important events with their presence and their contributions.

The total donations collected for earthquake relief as of today:

1) TCS Website Online: $2,655

2) Republic Day Reception day and week: $1,446

3) Donation Desk at SFU managed by Ilyas Kayran: $417

TCS has written a cheque for $4,518 to the Canadian Red Cross, which has committed to transfer these funds to Turkish Red Crescent.

We are also very grateful to our members who chose to donate their $25 refunds to TCS.

Best regards,
Turkish Canadian Society Executive Board

: Flagraising, Oct. 29, 2011

: Speeches, Oct. 29, 2011

Donation Compaign for the Recent Earthquake in Van

admin — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 18:54:07 +0000

*** RED CROSS HAS LAUNCHED A DONATION COMPAIGN AND WE ARE ACCEPTING PAYMENTS ***

Dear Members and Friends:

We started a donation campaign for the recent earthquake in Van/Turkey. You can make your donations through society website and please make sure to indicate “For Eartquake in Van”.

We will transfer these donations to Red Cross in Canada for their operations in the disaster area.

Donation: http://www.turkishcanadiansociety.org/donations/

We wish strength for the people of Turkey, their friends and families to recover from this terrible disaster.

Turkish Canadian Society

Executive Board

From Red Cross: Preliminary Emergency Appeal_Turkey_26 Oct 2011

Republic Day Celebration- Turkish Canadian Youth and Harvest Festival

admin — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 18:17:04 +0000

Hello everyone,
The most exciting event of the year is only a few weeks away. The day time program at Creekside is free. The ticket sales for the evening reception and entertainment at Chan Center has started.
Please see the website for details and payment options: www.turkishharvestfestival.org

October 13-15 Consulate Visits in Vancouver

admin — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 20:11:46 +0000

Dear Members and Friends:

Turkish Embassy is going to give mobile consulate service again in Vancouver on October 13-15, 2011, as they did in April, 2011. Please refer to the attached file for the scope of the service.

More logistics information are below:
Place:
“Days Inn Vancouver Downtown (click for the map)
921 West Pender Street
Vancouver, BC, V6C 1M2
Tel: 604 681 4335
Fax: 604 681 7808”

Date/Time:
October 13th, Thursday 11:00-13:00 and 14:00-18:00,
October 14th and 15th: 10:00-13:00, 14:00-18:00
Parking:
Days Inn Hotel doesn’t provide parking. Please use pay-parking options around the hotel.
Photo:
In the meeting room, you can have your photo taken with $15 cash. This amount is for 2 photos that meet embassy requirements.
Food:
Please, do not bring food/beverages from outside of the hotel.
Please forward this e-mail to your Turkish friends who might get benefit from this announcement.

Best regards,
Turkish Canadian Society
Executive Committee

See attached: Ekim 2011 Gezici Konsolosluk duyurusu Vancouver

Award Ceremony for Professor Yusuf Altıntaş

admin — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 06:17:01 +0000

On May 28, our long-time supporter and distinguished member of the Vancouver Turkish-Canadian community, Professor Yusuf Altıntaş, P.Eng., FRSC, was presented with the prestigious 2011 Engineers Canada Gold medal award. The ceremony is now on YouTube. Click here to watch it. Congratulations once again, Altıntaş Hoca, on this recognition of your achievements!

European Festival – May 28, 2011

admin — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 04:28:29 +0000

Dear Members and Friends:

We would like to thank every single volunteer who contributed to represent our beautiful Turkish Culture at the European Festival last Saturday. It was wonderful to see many new volunteers from our society participate this year.

Special thanks to our coordinators, Mr. Volkan Demirci and Ms. Berna Salman, who represented the TCS at the Eurofest BC Society meetings since January 2011 and who worked hard to help the festival organizers to make this festival so successful. Our warm gratitude also goes to Mr. and Mrs. Telli, who have been bringing their seasoned experience in managing the Turkish food court each year; Ms. Defne Çorbacıoğlu, who designed our new cultural booth poster “Turkey—Where West Meets East,” a piece of contemporary Turkish art that brought modernity to our display this year; Ms. Güler Dedeal, who choreographed a traditional dance from Giresun and also performed with the Turquoise Dance Group; and Ms. Selma Sensoy, who donated examples of traditional yazma (scarf) and pestemal (colourful fabric worn on the belly) from Giresun for the performance.

Many thanks to our other volunteers as well! Sinan Sendemir, Volkan Demirci, Murat Madazlı, Adem Aygün, Güler Aylar, Defne Çorbacıoğlu, Yeşim Kara Ardal, Metin Akay, Gül Özgür, Nadia Serry, Lina Goh, Özen Aşık Dizdar, Nihat Elli, Deniz İsmen, Berna Salman, Erkan Hoşsöyler, Volker Bodegom, Müzeyyen Topçu, Mehmet Telli, Erdem Telli, Wendi Ay, Dursun Ay, Alışa Ay, Özgün Göksel, Devrim Göksel, Zafer Kandağ, Allen Saber, Ümit Esmebaşı, Sırma Kök, Raika Pancaroğlu, Çağla Altıntaş, Verda Kocabaş, Yasemin Akgül, Özge Göktepe.

Many society members visited the festival area during the day to support the TCS volunteers.
You can find festival photos in our website: please click here.

We look forward to seeing you all at our next event.

Best regards,
TCS Executive Committee

Photos for April 23 Children’s Day

admin — Sun, 29 May 2011 20:30:26 +0000

Click here to see more photos.

Children’s Day this year was a great success, with wonderful performances and displays. The hall was packed with happy children from a variety of cultural backgrounds and their families. Many thanks to coordinator Chara Berk, the marvellous entertainers and the numerous volunteers who spent their Saturday (and preparation time in advance) to make this a very enjoyable event!

Donations

admin — Sat, 07 May 2011 04:27:47 +0000

We can now accept your donations online. Simply click the Donations tab and follow the directions.

European Festival—Saturday, May 28, 2011

admin — Fri, 06 May 2011 22:36:11 +0000

Did you purchase your ticket yet?

Please contact us at executive@turkishcanadiansociety.org to buy yours!

Click here to go to http://eurofestbcsociety.com/

Seniors Multicultural Festival—Friday, April 1, 2011

admin — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 20:32:21 +0000

The South Granville Seniors Centre in Vancouver, BC, hosted a colorful Seniors Multicultural Festival on Friday, April 1, 2011.

Turkey was represented by a number of volunteers from the Turkish Canadian Society. Our volunteers were at the centre the day before the festival for several hours, donating their time to make hundreds of lentil balls (mercimek köftesi), which they served to around 300 seniors who attended the festival the next day. Fatma Telli also contributed with a tray of her delicious Turkish baklava.

The festival featured entertainment, ethnic food and displays and a dialogue to connect First Nations, Urban Aboriginal and Immigrant Communities.

TCS is proud to have been an active contributor to and participant in this “All-Ages Celebration of Diversity”!

Click here to see more photos.

Some of our volunteer participants were:

Şahende Peker
Demet Badraslıoğlu
Fatma Telli
Mediha Tarım Şener
Ülkü Karatekin
Güner Karatekin
Latife Türkmengil
Semra Yalkın
Mefharet Yalkın
Sevim Comu