Tamer Türkman - Job Description: Making a difference in the lives of young Turks!

Tamer Turkman, founder and president of International Student Services and StudyInAmerica.com, is an American of Turkish descent. Born in 1967, he earned a bachelor’s degree from Loyola University in Maryland and a master’s from Temple University. During his college years, Turkman was one of the most valuable players of the NCAA. However, an ankle injury kept him from pursuing a basketball career, and he missed the opportunity of becoming the first Turkish NBA player in history. 

But Turkman was determined to find a new and fulfilling career path. He worked for Mobile Oil as financial analyst for 4 years, and, in 1993, he launched a business idea designed to help young Turks who aspire to study and live in the U.S.  He takes great pride in making a difference in the lives of many young Turks. Today, he is in high demand as a Turkish counselor due to his distinctive counseling style and approach. Besides helping students to study in the US, he also interviews and promotes them on StudyInAmerica.com. 

Here's my longer article on Hurriyet USA daily newspaper in Turkish.

Sıla Karakaya - Re-creating the world

New York based Turkish designer Sıla Karakaya, graduated from New York University, TISCH School of the Arts, with a MFA degree in Production Design and Scenic Design.

Nowadays, she designs theatrical, cinematographic and architectural sets, and brings film and theater characters to life.  Most recently, Sıla Karakaya worked on the set of Spike Lee’s last movie, “Red Hook Summer.” Her next project will involve set designing and production for an Emma Thompson’s movie to be shot in London.

In a recent interview, Sila Karakaya said,“My design background from MFA, Lighting Design from Parsons School of Design and BFA, Interior Architecture from Bilkent University—make for a very comprehensive set of skills,” and, she adds, “I feel very lucky to have taken lessons from legendary filmmakers like Woody Allen and Martin Scorsese during my education at NYU.”

Perhaps just as obvious as her skill and preparation, is her passion for her work. 

Here are my longer articles on Hurriyet USA and Hurriyet Turkey daily newspapers in Turkish. 

   

Beri Meriç - Connects Ivy League and exclusive singles!

Originally from Turkey, Beri Meriç, grew up in Scotland and currently resides in New York City.

One day, Beri Meric and Philip Triebel realized that Ivy League people are so busy in their business that they neglect their social life. With this insight, they founded IvyDate. Their premise is simple: “We will introduce you to outstanding people. Our members exhibit an exceptional range of interests, accomplishments, and backgrounds, and share a respect for excellence – be it personal or professional. As such, all like-minded men and women are encouraged to register, regardless of school affiliation or occupation.”

But why call it “Ivydate.com” if the website is open to everyone and registration is so easy? Beri Meriç’s answer is quite satisfactory: “Everyone can be a member as long as they are meet our criteria; however, in our matching system a non-Ivy League graduate cannot get acquainted with another non-Ivy League graduate. The system is built to find appropriate matches for Ivy League graduates only.”

Registration is free, but there’s a $40 monthly-fee for the privilege of communicating with a match.

How does it work? “We send the members five exceptional matches every week, all of whom have been pre-screened by a special membership committee to ensure quality matches.”

An interesting detail, 55% of Ivydate members are women. 

Here are my longer articles on Hurriyet USA and Hurriyet Turkey daily newspapers in Turkish.

Temi Hason - A Turkish actress on Broadway

Temi Hason, who’s been living in the States for one and a half years, is the only Turkish actress on Broadway's ‘Spring’s Awakening.’ We will be able to see this young cello lover in a movie very soon as the main actress.

23 years old Temi Hason who’s been taking cello lessons since her first year of the conservatory has received her undergraduate degree at Marmara University in Istanbul, Turkey.

Her next stop was New York Film Academy where her life has changed permanently.  While she was a student, she has been offered an important role in 'Spring's Awakening.'

“I was the sister of the main character and as an international, it was almost impossible to get that role, but I got it thanks to my never-ending desire” says Temi. 

Hopefully, this very young talent will be one of the best actresses on Broadway and will continue making us proud!

Here are my longer articles on Hurriyet USA and Hurriyet Turkey daily newspapers in Turkish.

Sinan Tuncay - A promising young talent!

A young Turkish director called Sinan Tuncay who recently shot one of the most original video clips of all times for a very famous Turkish star, studies at SVA in New York, nowadays.

This promising young talent to whom I've conducted an interview recently, is only 25 years old and has already gained the enormous support of Sezen Aksu, who is a pop music singer, songwriter and producer with a record of over 40 million albums sales worldwide.

He says that he is lucky that Sezen Aksu has demonstrated her trust to young talents whereas many people thinks that such a reputable name should work with famous and experienced directors. However Sezen Aksu's belief to Sinan Tuncay has been proven right after the big success of the video clip.

What did Sinan manage different and so successful? He, together with another young talent, the art director Sevil Kaynak built a scale model of Sezen Aksu's house for the clip; they even replicated the smallest items such as the pictures on the walls and even corns in the salad plate. They produced six different toys of Sezen Aksu herself reflecting different movements. They worked for three months, 18 hours per day and shot the clip by using stop motion technique mostly. Eventually, Sinan created a beautiful video clip that millions of people loved in Turkey and all around the World.

He thanks to his family for the understanding and support and he says he feels very blessed that he could reach and had the opportunity to explain his preliminary work to Sezen Aksu.

Here's my longer article on Hurriyet USA daily newspaper in Turkish.