The Alabama Senate passed a resolution declaring October 29 as Turkish American Heritage Day, and celebrating the founding of the Turkish Republic. ATAA’s local chapter in Birmingham, the Turkish American Association of Alabama (TAAA) secured the passage of the resolution. TAAA President Aynur Ates-Vloon commended her team that had been working on passage through the summer. President Ates-Vloon thanked TAAA Legal Counsel Orrin Ford and ATAA Past President Gunay Evinch for drafting and shepherding the draft resolution. She also thanked TAAA supporter, Michael Ciamarra, of the Alabama Policy Institute for guiding the resolution.
President Vloon expressed that the Turkish American Heritage Day Resolution was an important part of ATAA and TAAA’s Alabama outreach, including the Birmingham International Center (BIC) “Spotlight on Turkey” program, which since September 2010 has been educating over 2000 elementary school teachers and 60,000 students on Turkish history, geography and culture: http://www.ataa.org/press/prl_091310.html
The ATAA Turkish American Broad Advocacy Network (TABAN) shares the Turkish heritage with broader American society through Turkish American Heritage Day banquets, local and state resolutions and proclamations, and recruiting Members of Congress to the Turkish Caucus.
In 2011, eleven members of Congress attended Turkish Heritage Day banquets nationwide. More than 14 Turkish American communities applied for and received over 30 Turkish Heritage Day proclamations. ATAA President Ergün Kırlıkovalı stated that in 2012, ATAA will more than double the number of its local chapters engaging in this important civic duty.
ATAA funds its TABAN program with a generous grant from the Turkish Coalition of America and donations from ATAA members.
To learn how ATAA TABAN can help you empower your community through sharing the Turkish heritage, please contact ATAA
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