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‹Ç‹NDEK‹LER Publisher / Yay›nc›: TurkofAmerica, Inc. General Manager / Genel Müdür: Ömer Günefl – omer@turkofamerica.com Editor-in-Chief / Genel Yay›n Yönetmeni: Cemil Ozyurt – cemil@turkofamerica.com Creative Director / Kreatif Direktör: Serdar fiahin Page Design / Sayfa Tasar›m: Sinem Ertafl Editor: Patricia Russo, Nancy Öztürk. Editor of Photography / Foto¤raf Editörü: Ada Köseda¤ News Center / Haber Merkezi: Ayfle Önal Zambo¤lu, Müge Mengü, Ali Ç›nar, Hande Sarantopoulos, Ilknur Gurdal Fieldhouse, Jennifer Eaton Gökmen, Melda Akasel, Elif Özmenek, Ayhan Kay. Support Team / Katk›da Bulunanlar: Halim Özyurt, Katarzyna Golczyk, Demet Cabbar. Advising Committee / Yay›n Dan›flma Kurulu: Ali Günertem, Egemen Ba¤›fl, Ferhan Geylan, Güney Adak, G. Lincoln McCurdy, Mahmut Topal, Mehmet Ali Özkan, Mehmet Çelebi. Main Office / Merkez Ofis Turk of America, Inc. 730 Fifth Avenue, The Crown Building Suite 916 New York, NY 10019 Tel: +1 (212) 659 7758 Fax: +1 (212) 659 7805 info@turkofamerica.com Representatives in the U.S.A / ABD Temsilcileri: California (Los Angeles): Barbaros Tapan btapan@turkofamerica.com Tel: +1 (213) 924 8027 Connecticut: Ali Ç›nar – acinar@turkofamerica.com Tel: +1 (203) 722 4339 Massachusetts: Mustafa Aykaç – maykac@turkofamerica.com Tel: +1 (857) 205 8318 Rochester, NY: Ersoy Y›ld›z – eyildiz@turkofamerica.com Tel: +1 (585) 266 1356 San Fransisco, CA: Ayfle Önal Zambo¤lu – aozamboglu@turkofamerica.com Tel: +1 (650) 938 1764 Texas: Neriman Yüce – nyuce@turkofamerica.com Tel: +1 (817) 283 0179 Netherlands: Yasin Ya¤c› – yyagci@turkofamerica.com Tel: +31 (624) 66 92 23 Australia: Süheyl Yekenkurul – syekenkurul@turkofamerica.com TURKEY / TÜRK‹YE General Coordinator / Genel Koordinatör: Nuri Özyurt – nozyurt@turkofamerica.com Marketing & Sales Director / Pazarlama ve Sat›fl Direktörü: Ayla Toker – turkiye@turkofamerica.com Abonelik ve Da¤›t›m için / Subscription and Distribution: Nispetiye Caddesi Peker Sokak Aky›ld›z Apt. No:26/5 1.Levent Istanbul, Tel:+ 90 212 282 37 11
12 THE TURKS OF SILICON VALLEY
TURKOFAMERICA's San Francisco representative Ayfle Önal Zambo¤lu brought together eight engineers working at Oracle, giving them the chance to share their experiences with us and with each other.
S‹L‹CON VAD‹S‹’N‹N TÜRKLER‹
Oracle’da çal›flan sekiz mühendis TURKOFAMERICA San Fransisco temsilcisi Ayfle Önal Zambo¤lu’nun çabalar›yla biraraya geldi. Deneyimlerini paylaflt›.
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“GE’nin CEO’su ile Citibank’›n CEO’su herhalde iki mutlu insan olsa gerek. Türk pazar›na giren Citigroup, Akbank’la olan iflbirli¤i ilerledikçe Türkiye ile ilgili düflünceleri çok daha pozitif hale gelecek. Amac›m›z, 7-8 tane daha CEO yaratmak.”
26 LUCA LUCA: THE MOMENT THAT A STAR SHONE
The decision not to use Yildiz Yuksek Blackstone’ return ticket was the moment that "Luca Luca"'s star began to shine.
LUCA LUCA: YILDIZ’IN PARLADI⁄I AN
Y›ld›z Yüksek Blackstone’un Türkiye’ye geri dönüfl biletini yakmas› Luca Luca için y›ld›z›n parlad›¤› and›.
34 VIRGINIA FOXX: “GETTING INVOLVED ON THE LOCAL LEVEL”
Representative Virginia Foxx of North Carolina (R) is among the Congress members friendly to Turkey. Even more, she has blood ties with Turks because her son-in-law is a Turkish businessman, Mustafa Özdemir. Foxx answered TURKOFAMERICA’s questions.
V‹RG‹N‹A FOXX: “YEREL DÜZEYDE YÖNET‹MLERE KARIfiIN”
North Carolina Kongre üyesi Virginia Foxx, Türkiye dostu kongre üyelerinden. Hatta daha fazlas›. Türklerle kan ba¤› da var. K›z› Türk ifladam› Mustafa Özdemir’le evli. Foxx, TURKOFAMERICA’ya konufltu.
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38 AN IZMIRI CAMEL HERDER IN THE WILD WEST
The US delegation, having bought 33 camels in total from Turkey, returned to the US, landing at in February 1856 at the Texas Port of Indianola.
VAHfi‹ BATIDAK‹ ‹ZM‹RL‹ DEVE ÇOBANI
Osmanl› topraklar›ndan 33 deve sat›n alan ABD’li kurmaylar, fiubat 1856’da Texas’›n Port Indianola’daki liman›na döndü.
72 THE ADVENTURE OF TURKISH MONEY
Money collector Ahmet Sand›kc› opened up his collection for TURKOFAMERICA readers and displayed his banknotes, each of which has an interesting history.
TÜRK PARASININ SERÜVEN‹
Para koleksiyoncusu Ahmet Sand›kç›, koleksiyonunun nadide parçalar›n› TURKOFAMERICA okurlar› için açt›. Hepsi birbirinden ilginç hikayeye sahip paralar, Türkiye’nin de serüvenini anlat›yor.
76 A TURKISH HAREM IN TOKYO
In and around Tokyo, there are approximately ten Turkish restaurants in operation. Harem Turkish Cuisine, which Erer opened in Tokyo in 2000.
TOKYO’DAK‹ TÜRK HAREM‹
Tokyo ve civar›nda 10’a yak›n Türk restoran› faaliyet gösteriyor. Harem Turkish Cuisine, Türk mutfa¤›n› tan›mak isteyenleri a¤›rl›yor.
All articles in the magazine are translated by Citlembik Ltd. / TurkofAmerica’daki tüm yaz›lar›n çevirisi Çitlembik Ltd. taraf›ndan yap›lm›flt›r. Çitlembik Ltd. Tel: +90 (212) 292 3032 www.citlembik.com.tr
Turk of America is a member of Independent Press Association. Turk of America, Independent Press Association üyesidir.
“The CEOs of both GE and Citibank should be happy people in Istanbul. As Citigroup's partnership with Akbank continues in the Turkish market, their thoughts regarding Turkey will only become more and more positive. Our aim is to create another 7-8 CEOs.”.
FER‹T fiAHENK: “HEDEF‹M‹Z 7-8 TANE DAHA MUTLU CEO YARATMAK”
BASKI VE GRAF‹K: Promat Bas›m Yay›n San. ve Tic. A.fi. Adile Naflit Bulvar› 122. Sokak No:8 34513 Esenyurt - ‹stanbul Telefon: + 90 (212) 456 63 63-pbx Fax: + 90 (212) 456 63 73 E-Mail: info@promat.com.tr
Cover Photo: Ayhan Kay
22 FERIT SAHENK: “OUR AIM IS TO CREATE ANOTHER 7-8 HAPPY CEOS.”
78 THE LAND WHERE STARBUCKS, BOEING AND MICROSOFT WERE BORN
Go to downtown Seattle to sip your coffee at the first ever Starbucks Cafe, located in Seattle's Pike Place Market.
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STARBUCKS, BOEING VE MICROSOFT’UN DO⁄DU⁄U TOPRAKLAR
Starbucks’›n ilk hayata bafllad›¤› cafede Starbucks kahvenizi yudumlamak isterseniz downtown Seattle’daki Pike Place Market’e gitmelisiniz.
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FROM EDITOR Cemil Özyurt cemil@turkofamerica.com
CAN I SELL YOU SOME INFORMATION? D
o you know how the oft-repeated phrase `we live in the information age` is transformed by the business world into money? Let's take a look at how the information being disseminated from the four corners of the globe is collected into a single integrated package before being then distributed. Owned by two-term New York major, Michael Bloomberg, Bloomberg LP ranks as one of the world's largest financial institutions whose mission is to sell financial and market data information. In its April 2007 issue, Fortune Magazine devoted ten pages to an in-depth report on the company's structure, operations, and size. I have had the opportunity to visit the Bloomberg site on three different occasions, to gain operational information from its terminals and learned that Bloomberg is a information source that outrates any news agency. It charges its customers $1800 a month for a terminal subscription. At first glance it looks as hard to use as an airplane but as one gets used to it it becomes a kind of “must have” toy. Almost 250 thousand people across the globe are subscribed to these terminals. So, what kind of information can they gather? Not only can they access the personal information of almost 1.3 million people, users can also get all sorts of information, trends and data related to stock exchanges, financial institutions and markets, real estate transactions, acquisitions and mergers, almost 5000 daily news articles and data about 136,000 stocks. When he was fired from the com-
pany he was working for in 1982, no one could have guessed that the company he then formed, a company that was moving into uncharted territories, could ever become a success. Today Bloomberg LP employs 9,400 people and the company recorded an income of almost $4.7 billion in 2006 (compare this to the $2.3 billion of export sales that Turkey's leading export company, Toyota, achieved in 2005.) This means that if Bloomberg were a publicly owned company it would easily reach the 475th place on the Fortune 500 list. If Mike Bloomfield, who owns 68% of the shares of the company, decided to put the company up for sale he would pocket something like $20 billion, no mean feat for a company founded just 25 years ago whose only operation is the sale of information. So, how are Bloomberg's competitors doing? 150 year old Reuters has a market value of $11 billion. The Thompson Corporation, a company that sells information in various categories ranging from health to finance has a value of $27 billion, while Dow Jones is worth $3 billion. Even though Reuters has a larger terminal network than Bloomberg, they still do not earn as much profit per terminal as Bloomberg does. The Bloomberg example is solid proof that we are truly living in the information age. How many tens of thousands of cars, or thousands of tons of textiles, or thousands of food products would we have to make by classical manufacturing techniques to achieve an income of $4.7 billion? I haven't been able to figure that one out, but maybe you can...!
S‹ZE B‹RAZ B‹LG‹ SATAB‹L‹R M‹Y‹M? S
ürekli dilden dile dolaflan “bilgi ça¤›nda yafl›yoruz” sözü ifl dünyas›nda nas›l paraya dönüflüyor dersiniz? Dünyan›n dört bir yan›ndan toplanan bilgiler nas›l bir cihazda bulufluyor ve paylafl›l›yor bir göz atal›m. New York’un iki dönemdir belediye baflkanl›¤›n› yapan Michael Bloomberg’in sahibi oldu¤u Blomberg LP, dünyan›n en büyük data satan finansal bilgi bankalar›ndan biri. Fortune Dergisi’nin Nisan 2007 say›s›nda flirketin yap›s›, iflleyifli ve büyüklü¤ü ile yaklafl›k 10 sayfal›k bir araflt›rma yaz›s›na yer verildi. De¤iflik zamanlarda üç kez ziyaret edip terminallerin iflleyifli ile ilgili bilgi alma flans› buldu¤um Bloomberg, bir haber ajans›ndan ziyade bir bilgi hazinesi. Müflterilerine sundu¤u terminalin ayl›k abonelik bedeli 1800 dolar. Terminal dedi¤im de, iki yana aç›lan dev iki bilgisayar monitörü ve üzerinde pek çok datan›n bulundu¤u bir ekran. ‹lk bak›flta uçak kullanmak kadar zor görünse de eliniz al›fl›nca, vazgeçilmez bir oyuncak. Dünya genelinde yaklafl›k 250 bin kifli bu terminallere sahip. Peki ne mi ö¤reniyorlar? Yaklafl›k 1.3 milyon insan›n kiflisel bilgilerinden tutun da, borsa, finans, piyasalarla ilgili tüm trendlere, emlaktan flirket sat›n alma ve birleflmelere, günlük befl bine yak›n haberden 136 bin hisse senedine iliflkin dataya kadar pek çok fley. 1982 y›l›nda çal›flt›¤› flirketten kovulan Mike Bloomberg, o güne kadar denenmemifl bir yola ç›kt›¤›nda hiç kimse flirketin baflar›l› olaca¤›na ihtimal vermiyordu. Bugün Bloomberg LP’nin
9,400 çal›flan› var ve bunlar›n 2,300’ü dünyan›n de¤iflik ülkelerinden haber yazan muhabirler. fiirketin 2006 cirosu ise yaklafl›k 4.7 milyar dolar. (Türkiye’nin ihracat lideri Toyota’n›n 2005 y›l› ihracat rakam› 2.3 milyar dolar.) Yani Bloomberg halka aç›k bir flirket olsa Fortune 500 listesine 475. basamaktan rahatl›kla girebilecek bir flirket. Operasyonel kar› 1.5 milyar dolar. E¤er flirketin yüzde 68 hissesini elinde bulunduran Mike Bloomberg, flirketi bugün sat›fla ç›karsa, afla¤› yukar› biçilen de¤er 20 milyar dolar civar›nda. 25 y›l önce kurulan ve sadece bilgi satan bir flirket için göz kamaflt›r›c› bir hikaye. Manhattan merkezli flirketin bir TV, bir dergi, bir adet de radyo istasyonu bulunuyor. Peki Bloomberg’in rakipleri ne durumda. 150 y›ll›k Reuters’in piyasa de¤eri 11 milyar dolar. Sa¤l›ktan finansa de¤iflik kategorilerde bilgi sunan Thompson Corp.’un 27 milyar dolar ve Dow Jones 3 milyar dolar piyasa de¤eri bulunuyor. Bloomberg’in çal›flanlar› tam bir y›l içinde net olarak sat›lan terminal say›s›na göre de eksta ikramiye al›yor. 2006 y›l›nda flirketin 25 bin terminal monte etmifl ifl yerlerine. Reuters normalde Bloomberg’ten daha fazla terminal a¤›na sahip olmas›na da¤men, terminal bafl›na Bloomberg kadar kar edemiyor. Ça¤›m›z›n neden bilgi ça¤› oldu¤unu Bloomberg örne¤i daha aç›k flekilde gözler önüne seriyor. Klasik üretim metodlar›yla 4.7 milyar dolar ciroya ulaflmak için, sizce kaç bin araba, kaç bin ton tekstil, kaç bin g›da ürünü satmak gerekiyor? Ben hesaplayamad›m, ya siz.. ! Turk of America • 00
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SILICON VALLEY
O
racle is one of the legendary firms of Silicon Valley. Despite the fact that it was formed thirty years ago, is has constantly renewed itself, managing to remain one of the very top firms for years on end. Boasting the sort of "company culture" that only established businesses have, Oracle is also known for placing importance on the welfare of its workers, for its beautiful campus, and for being successful in its field. It is a company at which every engineer would like to work. Like all popular Silicon Valley companies, Oracle's general headquarters has a number of Turks working for it. We met with these eight Turkish employees of Oracle at lunchtime, and tried together to find answers to the many questions we had tucked away in our minds.
THE TURKS OF SILICON VALLEY TurkofAmerica's San Francisco representative Ayfle Önal Zambo¤lu brought together eight engineers working at Oracle, giving them the chance to share their experiences with us and with each other.
Gürflat Olgun: K›sa vadede hay›r, uzun vadede evet. Zeynep Erengil Yürek: Akl›m›n bir köflesinde sürekli bu soru var. Nas›l ve ne zaman dönece¤imi bilmiyorum, san›r›m cevab› flimdilik erteliyorum. Dönmeyi istememin en büyük sebebi aile ve arkadafllar›m.
Gürflat Olgun: In the short term, no. But speaking in the long term, yes.
Baki Yaflar: I am not planning on returning to Turkey for at least the next five years. Tu¤rul Bingöl: We are planning on returning to Turkey. The most important reason for us is that we want to spend more time with our families. The fact that we love Turkey and that we want our 12 • TurkofAmerica
racle Silikon Vadisi’nin efsane firmalar›ndan biri. Bundan 30 y›l önce kurulmufl olmas›na karfl›n, kendisini sürekli yenileyerek en iyi firmalardan biri olmay› uzun seneler boyunca baflarm›fl, oturmufl bir flirket kültürüne sahip, çal›flanlar›na önem veren, güzel kampüsü ile dikkat çeken, konusunda baflar›l› hemen her mühendisin çal›flmak istedi¤i bir flirket. Silikon Vadisi’nin her gözde flirketinde oldu¤u gibi Oracle’›n genel merkezinin de çok say›da Türk çal›flan› var. Biz de güzel bir ö¤le vakti bize zaman›n› ay›ran sekiz Türk arkadafl›m›zla biraraya geldik ve hep akl›m›z›n bir köflesinde olan sorular› birlikte cevaplamaya çal›flt›k. Türkiye'ye dönmeyi düflünüyor musunuz? Burada kalmak için ya da TR’ye dönmek için akl›n›za gelen ilk nedenler neler? Cihangir Aba: Bunu eflimle aram›zda sürekli konufluruz; e¤er olursa ilk etapta Türkiye olmayabilir, belki bir Avrupa ülkesi olabilir. Temel neden anne-babalar›m›z.
Do you plan on returning to Turkey? What are the first reasons that come to mind in terms of either staying here, or returning to Turkey? Cihangir Aba: My wife and I talk about this constantly; if we do decide to return, it might not be to Turkey at first, but to a European country. The most basic reason is because of our parents.
Zeynep Erengil Yürek: That question is always in the back of my mind. I don't know when and how I will return, so I guess for right now, I'm putting off answering that question. My biggest reason for wanting to return is my family and friends.
O
Baki Yaflar: Önümdeki 5 y›ll›k plan›mda Türkiye'ye dönmeyi düflünmüyorum.
SILICON VAD‹S‹’N‹N TÜRKLER‹ Oracle’da çal›flan sekiz mühendis TurkofAmerica San Fransisco temsilcisi Ayfle Önal Zambo¤lu’nun çabalar›yla biraraya geldi. Deneyimlerini paylaflt›.
Tu¤rul Bingöl: Türkiye'ye dönmeyi düflünüyoruz. Bunun en önemli sebebi Türkiye'de kalan ailelerimizle daha fazla zaman geçirmek isteyiflimiz. Türkiye'yi sevmemiz ve çocuklar›m›z›n (her ne kadar flu anda çocu¤umuz olmasa da) Türkiye'de en az›ndan belirli bir süre yaflamalar›n› istememiz de di¤er etkenler.
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Ayfle Önal Zambo¤lu/ San Fransisco aozamboglu@turkofamerica.com
children (even though we don't have children yet) to live for at least some time in Turkey are other reasons. Kaan Balo¤lu: If Turkey's sociopolitical and economic risk profile changes in a positive direction, and if I can find a position which would allow me to use my education and the professionsal skills I have acquired, I will return. Would you be able to do the work that you do here in Turkey? Would you be able to attain professional satisfaction? Tolga Yürek - My work here is with the development of software programming. We are involved in the development of cluster technology, the world's most widespread and powerful database product. I think you could really only do global level work like this in Silicon Valley. Cihangir Aba - My work is not directly related to programming; I am working in the presentation and localizing of new products to EMEA. I left Oracle Turkey at the start of 2003. At that time, there was almost no one doing regional work from the Istanbul offices. But now the situation is very different; there are many people doing regional work, so the business has become more "showy." Baki Yaflar - I generally work one or two weeks a year from the Oracle Ankara offices in order to be able to extend my stay in Tur-
Zeynep Yürek
key. The work atmposphere at the Oracle Turkey offices is very different, and interpersonal relations are much closer. I think it could be satisfying in terms of professional needs, but perhaps following new developments is easier from Silicon Valley. Gürflat Olgun - I could not do the same work in Turkey that I am doing here now. I don't think that I would be professionally satisfied. Gürflat Olgun
Zeynep Erengil Yürek - Yes, the work I do here I could do in Turkey, and I think it would offer me satisfaction. This might not be the case for many positions in Silicon Valley in general, but product management is a very flexible and less technical area. So even if it weren't exactly the same job or the same range of products I was dealing with, I think I could find exciting products and work in Turkey. Kaan Balo¤lu - There is no software product the size of the Oracle Database being developed right now in Turkey. From what I have heard from my friends working in the computer industry in Turkey, I don't believe I would be professionally satisfied there. Tu¤rul Bingöl - Right now, I am among a handful of people involved in developing the Oracle database. The product we have been working on is number one in terms of global use, and just knowing that it is used by millions
Kaan Balo¤lu: Türkiye'nin sosyo-politik ve ekonomik risk profili olumlu yönde de¤iflirse ve ald›¤›m e¤itim ve kazand›¤›m profesyonel tecrübeyi de¤erlendirebilece¤im bir pozisyon bulabilirsem Türkiye'ye dönebilirim. Türkiye'de burada yapt›¤›n›z ifli yapabilir miydiniz? Profesyonel anlamda tatmin olabilir miydiniz? Tolga Yürek - Burada yapt›¤›m ifl yaz›l›m gelifltirme. Dünyada en yayg›n ve en güçlü databafle ürününün çlüster teknolojisini gelifltiriyoruz. Bu gibi bir ifli dünyada herhalde sadece Silikon Vadisi’nde yapabilirsiniz. Cihangir Aba - Benim iflim do¤rudan yaz›l›m gelifltirme de¤il, EMEA bölgesine yeni ürün sunma ve lokalizasyon ile ilgili. Ben Oracle Türkiye'yi 2003 bafl›nda b›rakt›m. O zamanlar ‹stanbul ofisinde bölgesel görev yapan kimse hemen hemen hiç yoktu. fiimdi durum çok de¤iflik; çok say›da insan bölgesel görev yap›yor; art›k daha "fiyakal›" ifller var yani. Baki Yaflar - Genelde Türkiye'deki tatilimi uzatabilmek için Oracle'in Ankara ofisinden y›lda bir/iki hafta çal›fl›yorum. Oracle Türkiye'nin ifl kültürü, ofisin atmosferi çok farkl› ve daha insan iliflkileri daha yak›n. Profesyonel anlamda tatmin olabilece¤ime inan›yorum, belki yenilikleri takip etmek Silikon Vadisi’nde daha kolay.
Gürflat Olgun - fiu anda yapt›¤›m iflin ayn›s›n› yapamazd›m. Profesyonel olarak tatmin olabilece¤imi tahmin etmiyorum. Zeynep Erengil Yürek - Evet. Türkiye'de de burada yapt›¤›m ise çok yak›n ve beni tatmin edebilecek ifller oldu¤una inan›yorum. Silikon Vadisi'ndeki birçok pozisyon için bu geçerli olmayabilir ama ürün yöneticili¤i nispeten esnek ve daha az teknik bir alan. O yüzden birebir ayn› ifl tan›m› ya da ayn› ürün yelpazesi olmasa da heyecan verici de¤iflik ürünler ve flirketler oldu¤una inan›yorum. Kaan Balo¤lu - Türkiye'de Oracle Database'i büyüklü¤ünde bir yaz›l›m ürünü gelifltirilmiyor. Türkiye'de çal›flan arkadafllar›mdan duydu¤um kadar›yla orada profesyonel aç›dan tatmin olabilece¤imi düflünmüyorum. Tu¤rul Bingöl - fiu anda Oracle veri taban›n› gelifltiren çekirdek bir gruptay›m. Gelifltirdi¤imiz ürünün dünyada kullan›m aç›s›ndan 1 numara oldu¤unu, milyonlarca insan taraf›ndan ve insanl›¤›n yarar›na kullan›ld›¤›n› bilmek oldukça tatmin edici. Ben Türkiye'de en son 1998 y›l›nda Koçbank Bilgi ‹fllem Merkezi'nde çal›fl›yordum. O zaman Bilgisayar Mühendisleri için IT d›fl›ndaki ifllerde çal›flmak pek mümkün de¤ildi. Yani araflt›rma ve gelifltirme tarz› ifller pek yoktu. fiu anda durum TurkofAmerica • 13
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biraz de¤iflti san›r›m, o yüzden bu soruya cevap vermek zor. Sizce Türkiye'den Oracle benzeri dünya çap›nda bir teknoloji firmas›n›n ç›kma olas›l›¤› nedir? Zeynep Erengil Yürek - Bunu görmeye benim ömrüm yetmez herhalde. Baki Yaflar - ‹flletme ve yönetim kapasitesin aç›s›ndan mümkün oldu¤una inan›yorum.
Tu¤rul Bingöl
and for the benefit of millions is satisfying. My last job in Turkey was working at the Kocbank Information Processing Center in 1998. At that time, it really wasn't possible for people with computer engineering degrees to work in any jobs outside of IT related positions. There weren't really any research and development positions open. But I think the situation is different now in Turkey, so I'd have a hard time answering your question. What do you think the possibility is that a world-level technology firm from Turkey which was like Oracle could emerge in the future? Zeynep Erengil Yürek - I doubt that I would see this in my lifetime. Baki Yaflar - From the perspective of operational and management capacity I believe it would be possible. But it would be difficult to create a software giant like Oracle in terms of the pre-existing programming base and human resources in Turkey. Maybe a model based on the kind of Indian outsourcing type, in terms of a software programming and service model, would be more realistic for Turkey. Cihangir Aba – I think there is zero chance of a company like Oracle coming out of Turkey. In all of Europe even, there is only SAP which is near the level of Oracle; but from here on in, there is zero chance that a company of this size is going to emerge. Oracle's turnover is higher that Koc 14 • TurkofAmerica
Holding's. But if your question is whether a successful software programming company might emerge, that's a different question. I don't know how chronic problems in Turkey, like the deficit in terms of capital money, or the narrowness of the software market, would be overcome. Gürflar Olgun – I say "inshallah" such a company will emerge. Tolga Yürek - In order to be on a "global level," a company needs to have years and years of experience, and to have been one of the first to have entered the world market. But if someone thinks of an area that hasn't been thought of before, or finds a new angle in the sector, such a company could emerge. But we are talking about brain competition here. Silicon Valley does not only represent America. It is a spot where bright engineers from all over the world come together. So any firm trying to rise in this sector in Turkey would have to be careful not to miss out on our brightest young graduates in Turkey.
Fakat yaz›l›m sektörünün altyap›s› ve insan kaynaklar› yetene¤i olarak Oracle gibi bir yaz›l›m devi kurmak art›k çok zor. Belki Hindistan'›n outsourcing modeliyle gelifltirdi¤i yaz›l›m ve destek servis modeli daha gerçekçi olabilir. Cihangir Aba – Bence bu ihtimal s›f›r. Tüm Avrupa'da bile bir tek SAP var Oracle'a yak›n ölçekte; bu saatten sonra bu büyüklü¤e ulaflabilecek firma ç›kamaz. Oracle'in cirosu Koç Holding'den daha fazla. Ama sorun baflar›l› yaz›l›m flirketi ç›kmas› ise o daha farkl› bir soru. Kronik problemler olan, sermaye azl›¤› ve yaz›l›m pazar›n›n k›s›tl›l›¤› nas›l afl›l›r bilemiyorum. Gürflar Olgun – Ben inflallah ç›kar diyorum. Tolga Yürek - "Dünya çap›nda" olabilmek için bir sektörde çok uzun zaman tecrübe ve genelde dünya pazar›na ilk girenlerden olmak gerekiyor. Fakat birisi da-
Kaan Balo¤lu – For as long as the brain drain into American continues and for as long as our universities are not able to obtain the standards of American universities, I do not see such a thing as being possible. Tu¤rul Bingöl - In order for companies like Oracle to be able to emerge in Turkey, Turkey needs to produce well-trained graduates
Tolga Yürek
ha önce düflünülmemifl bir konuda yenilikçi bir buluflla ç›karsa, olabilir. Yaln›z beyin rekabeti söz konusu. Silikon Vadisi bence sadece Amerika'yi temsil etmiyor. Dünyan›n birçok ülkesinden gelen parlak mühendislerin yo¤unlaflt›¤› bir nokta. Bu yüzden Türkiye'deki bir giriflimci flirketin üniversitelerimizden mezun olan en parlak gençlerimizi kaç›rmamas› laz›m. Kaan Balo¤lu – Ben de beyin göçü sürdü¤ü müddetçe ve üniversitelerdeki e¤itim kalitesi Amerika standartlar›na yaklaflmad›¤› sürece mümkün görmüyorum. Tu¤rul Bingöl - Oracle benzeri flirketler ç›kabilmesi için Türkiye'n›n yeteri kadar iyi yetiflmifl mezun vermesi, ar-ge konular›na önem vermesi ve teknoloji konusunda yat›r›m yapabilecek yat›r›mc›lara ihtiyaç var. Ar-ge konusunda yat›r›m yapmak çok riskli. Türkiye'de birçok yat›r›mc› bu riski almak istemeyebiliyor. Bunun d›fl›nda okullarda ö¤rencilere biraz giriflimcilik ruhunun afl›lanmas› gerekiyor. Umuyorum yak›n gelecekte bu flartlar oluflur ve Türkiye'den de dünya çap›nda teknoloji flirketleri ç›kar. Peki ya sizler kendi flirketinizi kurmay› düflünüyor musunuz? Türkiye'ye dönüp kendi flirketinizi bafllatmay› düflünür musunuz? Kaan Balo¤lu - Do¤ru fikri bulup do¤ru tak›m› kurabilece¤ime inan›rsam, evet.
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from its universities, it needs to place importance on research and development subjects, and it needs investors who are able to make investments in the area of technology. As you know, investing in research and development is very risky. There are many investors in Turkey who might not want to take this risk. Aside from this, students at school have to be filled a bit more with enterprising spirit. I hope that in the near future they do come into place, and that world-level technology companies start to emerge from Turkey. All right, well, do any of you plan on setting up your own companies? Do you ever think of returning to Turkey and starting your own businesses? Kaan Balo¤lu - If I believed I could settle on the right plan, and put together the right team of people, yes. But at this point, before setting up my own company, I think it's important that I work in a global company and gain experience. On the subject of setting up a company in Turkey, the legal and financial infrastructure is not as developed in Turkey as it is in the U.S. Unlike in the U.S., there aren't any companies in Turkey which can offer venture capital to enterprising people who want to set up their own businesses in Turkey, and besides, there are lots of bureaucratic difficulties. I would consider it, though, if these areas saw some improvement during the EU accession process. Cihangir Aba - In terms of dreams, yes. But if we are talking about concrete plans, no. The real problem is just thinking about finding the courage to set up one's own firm. Whether it is in America or Turkey is just a detail. Baki Yaflar - For the past four years, I have been taking annual trips to Oracle India to visit the employees there. And within these four years, I have witnessed an incredible leap in the Indian software programming and model
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sector. As I've watched this, I've asked myself why I wouldn't be able to set up a similar "outsourcing" model program in Turkey. What has occured to me is to use the Indian model, and offer IT services in an "outsourcing" manner from Turkey to companies in Europe. But the biggest barrier to this is that computer and information sector prices are extremely high in Turkey as compared to India. Gürflat Olgun – I think this is an idea that every engineer has, but timing is very important. I would very much like to set up my own company in Turkey, but there are too many details that I would have to take care of first. Zeynep Erengil Yürek – Currently I have no such plans. What do you think about the technoparks in Turkey? Çetin Özbütün - Though they present an attractive idea at first, the reason that global technology firms like Oracle are not able to really use these technoparks is that there aren't enough computer engineers in Turkey. When you look at the number of people graduating with computer engineering degrees in Turkey every year, the current needs are very difficult to meet. Since there is no inactive capacity right now, it can't be expected that foreign firms will rush to Turkish technoparks to take advantage of the tax breaks. Cihangir Aba - As far as I can see from here, there are good enterprises being attempted right now in Turkey, but I will say the same thing again that I have said before: there is a lack of venture capital, as well as the lack of a ripe market. Tolga Yürek - A friend of mine returned to Turkey and set up a technology company. I think their company is in a technopark, and they are quite pleased with the situation.
Kaan Balo¤lu
Önce kurumsal flirketlerde çal›fl›p tecrübe edinmenin önemli oldu¤una inan›yorum. Türkiye'de flirket kurma konusunda gerekli yasal ve mali altyap› ABD'deki kadar geliflmifl de¤il. Buradaki gibi giriflimcilere risk sermayesi (venture capital) sa¤layacak flirketler yok, ayr›ca bürokratik zorluklar da çok fazla. AB'ye girifl sürecinde bu konularda iyileflme olursa düflünebilirim. Cihangir Aba - Hayal olarak birgün evet; ama somut plan dersek pek birfley yok. Atlanmas› gereken as›l hendek insan›n kendi iflini kuracak cesareti bulmas›; Türkiye'de ya da ABD'de olmas› detay. Baki Yaflar - Son 4 y›lda, hey y›l Oracle Hindistan'da çal›flanlar› ziyarete gidiyorum. Hindistan'da yaz›l›m ve destek sektörünün inan›lmaz bir s›çrama ve büyüme yapt›¤›n› gözlemledim. Buna benzer bir model izleyerek, belki ilerde bir “Outsourcing" flirketi kurmak fikri neden olmas›n?” diyorum. Benim akl›mdan geçen Hindistan flirket modelerini kullan›p, Avrupa'daki flirketleri Türkiye'den IT hizmetlerini "Outsourcing" olarak sunmak. En büyük engel Türkiye'deki biliflim sektörünün masraflar› Hindistan'a nazaran çok yüksek. Gürflat Olgun – Bence her mühendisin akl›nda olan bir
fley bu ama zamanlama çok önemli. Ben Türkiye’de ifl kurmay› çok isterim ama üstesinden gelinmesi gereken ayr›nt› oldukça fazla. Zeynep Erengil Yürek – fiu anda öyle bir plan›m yok. Türkiye'deki teknoparklar hakk›ndaki düflünceleriniz nelerdir? Çetin Özbütün - ‹lk düflünüldü¤ünde cazip olmas›na karfl›n, Oracle gibi global teknoloji flirketlerinin bundan yararlanamamas›n›n sebebi Türkiye'de yeterince bilgisayar mühendisi olmamas›d›r. Türkiye'de her y›l mezun olan bilgisayar mühendisi say›s›na bak›ld›¤›nda, flu andaki gereksinimi çok zor karfl›l›yor. Ortada bir at›l kapasite olmad›¤› için de yabanc› teknoloji flirketlerinin teknoparklara vergi avantaj›ndan dolay› ak›n etmesi beklenemez. Cihangir Aba - Uzaktan izleyebildi¤im kadar› ile iyi giriflimler var ama yine ayn› fleyi söyleyece¤im; sermaye azl›¤› (risk sermayesi dahil) ve eriflilebilir pazar sorunlar› çok büyük bence. Tolga Yürek - Bir arkadafl›m Türkiye'ye dönüp bir teknoloji flirketi kurdu. San›r›m flirketleri bir teknoparkta ve avantajlar›ndan oldukça memnunlar. TurkofAmerica • 15
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Baki Yaflar - I have seen the techopark on the ODTU campus. It looks good, but right now, there aren't enough of these technoparks. There could be technoparks set up in every city where there is a university, near the university. To everyone: I want to thank you
for taking time out for Turks of America. We are now, with your help, presenting our second article on Turks working in Silicon Valley. With wishes that we will be able to come forward with many more great articles like this, I thank you all very much. !
WHO ARE THEY?
Çetin Özbütün - After graduating from Hacettepe University's Computer Information Department, he received a master's from Brown University in the same field. He has been working at Oracle now for 18 years. For six years, he was a software engineer for Oracle's main product, the database, and for the past 12 years he has been involved in directing research and development for the Oracle database. His title is Vice President of Database Data Warehousing Technologies. Tu¤rul Bingöl – After graduating in 1995 from Hacettepe Univesity's Computer Information and Engineering Department, he worked for 3 years at Kocbank's information processing center. In 1998, he came to the US to get a higher degree in computer information processing at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. In 2000, he graduated with his advanced degree, and worked for two years at Silicon Graphics. He has been working since 2002 at Oracle. Cihangir Aba - After graduating from Bosphorus University's Industrial Engineering Department, he worked at Arcelik, Corotech, and Oracle Turkey. He came to America in 2003, and works in Oracle's E-Business Suite in the developement, presentation and localization of Oracle E-Business Suite products to the EMEA market. Gürflat Olgun - He graduated from Bilkent University, and then received his master's from Stanford University. His real specialization area is electrical engineering, but currently he is a computer engineer. He has been working at Oracle for ten years. Zeynep Erengil Yürek -She graduated from Anadolu High School, Bosphorus University's Computer Engineering Department, and has a Bosphorus University MBA. She worked for 5 years at Yapi Kredi Bank's software development program. For the past six years, she has been working at Oracle in Product Management. Tolga Yürek - After graduating from Bosphorus University's Computer Engineering Department, he received his master's in the same subject from the University of California at Santa Barbara. He has been working at Oracle now for ten years, in the Server Technologies department, and as a software developer in Oracle's RAC group. Baki Yaflar - A graduate of Anadolu University in the Electronic Engineering program, he arrived in America in 1994 where he went to the University of Texas at Arlington to get his master's in Information Systems. He started working nine years ago for Oracle as an IT Analyst, and right now is the director of the IT group. Kaan Balo¤lu - He graduated from Bosphorus University's Computer Engineering program. After receiving a master's in the same field from Stanford University, he joined Oracle. He has been working for 2 years now at Oracle's Data Storage Engine. 16 • TurkofAmerica
Baki Yaflar - Türkiye'de ODTÜ'deki teknopark› gördüm. Güzel kurulmufl fakat flu anda mevcut say› çok az bence. Her Üniversitenin oldu¤u flehirde, üniversite kampüsünün yak›n›na kurulabilir. ToA – Hepinize Turk of Ame-
rica ad›na vakit ay›rd›¤›n›z için çok teflekkür ediyorum. Sizlerle birlikte Silikon Vadisi’nin Türkleri yaz›lar›m›z›n ikincisini gerçeklefltirmifl olduk, daha bir çok güzel haberi paylaflmak dile¤iyle diyoruz, tekrar teflekkürler.!
K‹M K‹MD‹R?
Çetin Özbütün - Hacettepe Bilgisayar Bilimleri Bölümü’nden mezun olduktan sonra Brown Üniversitesi'den ayn› alanda master derecesini ald›. 18 y›ld›r Oracle'da çal›fl›yor. 6 y›l Oracle'in ana ürünü olan database'de yaz›l›m mühendisli¤i yapt›, son 12 y›ld›r da ayn› ürünün AR-GE bölümünde yöneticilik ( VP, Database Data Warehousing Technologies) görevini yürütüyor. Tu¤rul Bingöl – 1995’te Hacettepe Üniversitesi, Bilgisayar Bilimleri ve Mühendisli¤i Bölümü’nden mezun oldu. Sonras›nda üç y›l Koçbank bilgi ifllem merkezinde çal›flt›. 1998 y›l›nda ABD'ye Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute'e bilgisayar bilimleri dal›nda yüksek lisans yapmak üzere geldi. 2000 y›l›nda mezun olup Silicon Graphics flirketinde iki y›l çal›flt›. 2002 y›l›ndan beri Oracle'da çal›fl›yor. Cihangir Aba - Bo¤aziçi Endüstri Mühendisli¤i’nden mezun olduktan sonra, s›ras›yla Arçelik, Coretech ve Oracle Türkiye’de çal›flt›. 2003 y›l›nda ABD’ye geldi. Burada Oracle'in E-Business Suite ad›ndaki ürün ailesinin EMEA pazar›na sunumu, yayg›nlaflt›r›lmas› ve lokalizasyonu ile ilgili çal›flmakta. Gürflat Olgun - Bilkent Üniversite’sinde lisans, Stanford Üniversite’sinde yüksek lisans ö¤renimini tamamlad›. As›l branfl› elektrik mühendisli¤i, ancak flu anda bilgisayar mühendisli¤i yapmakta. 10 y›ld›r Oracle’da çal›fl›yor. Zeynep Erengil Yürek -Kad›köy Anadolu Lisesi, Bo¤aziçi Bilgisayar Mühendisli¤i ve Bo¤aziçi MBA mezunu. Yap› ve Kredi Bankas›'nda befl sene yaz›l›m gelifltirme konusunda çal›flt›. Son alt› senedir Oracle'da Product Management yapmakta. Tolga Yürek - Bo¤aziçi Ünivesitesi Bilgisayar Mühendisli¤i’nden mezun olduktan sonra UC Santa Barbara’da, ayn› alanda yüksek lisans›n› tamamlad›. 10 y›ld›r Oracle'da Server Technologies bölümünde (database), ve RAC grubunda yaz›l›m mühendisi/software developer olarak çal›fl›yor. Baki Yaflar - Anadolu Üniversitesi Elektrik/Elektronik Mühendisli¤i mezunu. 1994'te ABD'ye gelerek University Of Texas at Arlington'da Information Systems konusunda yüksek lisans›n› tamamlad›. 9 y›l önce Oracle'da IT Analyst olarak ifle bafllad›, flu anda IT grubunda direktör olarak çal›flmakta. Kaan Balo¤lu - Bo¤aziçi Üniversitesi bilgisayar mühendisli¤i mezunu. Stanford Üniversitesi'nden ayn› alanda yüksek lisans derecesini ald›ktan sonra Oracle’a kat›lm›fl. ‹ki y›ld›r Oracle Database'inin veri saklama motoru (Data Storage Engine) üzerinde çal›fl›yor.
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HAPPENINGS
Ahmet Ertegün Remembered
Ahmet Ertegün An›ld›
Business Forum Business Forum Celebrates its 10th year 10. Y›l›n› Kutlad›
A
C
T
hmet Ertegunk, one of the jazz world's most prominent names, and the founder of Atlantic Records, was remembered in New York by his collegues, fans, and those who loved him. The ceremony, which took place at the John L. Tishman Auditorium, started off with outtakes from a documentary on his life by PBS TV called "Atlantic Records: The House that Ahmet Built." Murat Koprulu, the President of the Turkish American Society, of which Ertegun had been the honorary president, made a speech describing Ertegun. The night's program was marked too be a speech given by Newsweek editor Lally Weymouth, who had been a close friend of Ertegun's. After a short sampling of Turkish classical "art" music, the program came to an end, finishing off with some more images from the documentary on Ertegun's life. (Photograph: Mete Özeren)!
az dünyas›n›n önemli isimlerinden Atlantic Records’un kurucusu Ahmet Ertegün, New York’ta çal›flma arkadafllar›, sevenleri ve hayranlar› taraf›ndan an›ld›. John L. Tishman Auditorium’da gerçeklefltirilen anma töreni PBS TV kanal› taraf›ndan haz›rlanan “Atlantic Records: The House that Ahmet Built” belgeselinden al›nt›larla bafllad›. Ertegün’ün onursal baflkan› oldu¤u Turkish American Society’nin baflkan› Murat Köprülü, Ertegün’ü anlatan bir konuflma yapt›. Newsweek’in editörlerinden Ertegün’ün yak›n arkadafl› Lally Weymouth konuflmas›nda müzik dünyas›n›n ünlü isminin, Rock and Roll ve e¤lence kral› olarak da an›labilece¤ini ancak onun bu yolu seçmedi¤ini söyledi. K›sa bir Türk sanat müzi¤i dinletisinin de gerçeklefltirildi¤i anma töreni, 2 May›s’ta ekranlara gelecek Ertegün belgeselinden görüntülerle sona erdi. (Foto: Mete Özeren) !
T
he Turkish American Business Forum celebrated its 10th year in existance with a gala evening. The event, which included around 200 invitees, took place at New York's Tribeca Rooftop. Brooklyn Mayor Marty Markovitz issued a declaration in honor of the Forum's 10th annivesary.
urkish American Business Forum, 10. y›l›n› düzenledi¤i geleneksel gala gecesi ile kutlad›. Yaklafl›k 200’e yak›n davetlinin kat›ld›¤› gece New York’ta Tribeca Rooftop’da gerçeklefltirildi. Brooklyn Belediye Baflkan› Marty Markovitz de 10. y›l için bir bildiri yay›mlad›.
Current president of the Turkish American Business Forum, Barbaros Karaahmeto¤lu, was present at the group's 10th anniversary celebrations, as were former presidents Ömer Karabey, Erol Benjenk, Orhan Taner, Cengiz Hatipo¤lu, and Victor Baruh. Sponsors for the evening were Marathon Line, the Acar Law Firm, Apparel Trading International, Kara Law Firm, SOM, Kiska, The Marmara Manhattan Hotels, MTS, and Moris Roso.!
Turkish American Business Forum’un eski baflkanlar› Ömer Karabey, Erol Benjenk, Orhan Taner, Cengiz Hatipo¤lu, Victor Baruh ve flu anki baflkan Barbaros Karaahmeto¤lu’yla birlikte 10. kurulufl y›l› kutlamas›na kat›ld›. Gecenin sponsorluklar›n› ise Marathon Line, Acar Law Firm, Apparel Trading International, Kara Law Firm, SOM, Kiska, The Marmara Manhattan Hotels, MTS, Moris Roso üstlendi. !
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Turk Of America 20-21
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WORLD BANK Demet Cabbar – Washington, D.C. -
THE TURKISH STAFF OF WORLD BANK AND IMF JOINED FORCES
I
t was a cold winter afternoon in Washington, DC. Thousands of World Bank and IMF Staff members had gathered at the Atrium of the World Bank headquarters to see performances from around the world and to celebrate the cultural diversity of the staffs in these organizations. Mavera Ensemble from Turkey took the stage to perform the opening act. As the sound of the ney and other classical Turkish instruments filled the Atrium and the dervishes began whirling, the audience watched with awe in their eyes. When the Mavera Ensemble’s performance was over, Paul Wolfowitz, the President of the World Bank, came on stage and said “teflekkür ederim” (thank you) in Turkish in front of thousands of World Bank staff before he officially opened the event. As the Turkish staff among the audience thought this was the highest point of pride for them, came a blood-warming horon performance from the Blacksea region…It was an honor and delight to be Turkish at the last Celebration of Cultures event of the World Bank Group…thanks to WITSA… World Bank IMF Turkish Staff Association (WITSA) was formed in February 2006 with the overall objective of establishing a platform that could bring together IMF/World Bank Turkish staff as well as other World Bank and the IMF staff members who were interested in Turkey. The Turkish community at the IMF and World Bank is very diverse and rich in its composi-
20 • TurkofAmerica
tion. With over 180 Turkish staff, the community has members in almost every department of the two institutions and at different levels, offering a great untapped potential for peer support and learning opportunities. One of WITSA’s goals is to unleash this potential by creating new social and professional networking opportunities and information channels within the community. The WITSA Executive Board has undertaken several initiatives, including presentations and workshops, among them a book presentation on Ottoman History by Caroline Finkel and Friends of Anatolia, a US based Turkish NGO providing support for education in Turkey. An internal website was launched in the first year and a newsletter series initiated. A mentoring program was also initiated to support career development of Turkish personnel in these institutions. On the cultural side, WITSA was no less active; a whirling dervish and horon performance was displayed at the World Bank’s annual celebration of cultures event, which was highly effective and resulted in compliments from even the WB president. Last March, WITSA had a step further and sponsored a “Turkish Day at the World Bank”. For the whole day Turkish art, music, costumes, kilims and tourism potential displayed along with delicious Turkish food. In February 2007 a new Executive Board was elected. The new Board includes Serdar Yilmaz, Neslisah Aytug, Mahmut Aydogmus, Sibel Kulaksiz, and Elif Kiratli. !
WITSA Executive Board meet Deputy Prime Abdullah Gul. Mehmet Atacik, Mahmut Aydogmus, Abdullah Gul, Cemile Sancak, Kilichan Oguz. (From left)
WITSA yöneticileri D›fl ‹flleri Bakan› Abdullah Gül’le de bulufltu. Mehmet Atac›k, Mahmur Aydo¤mufl, Abdullah Gül, Cemile Sancak, K›l›çhan O¤uz. (soldan sa¤a)
DÜNYA BANKASI VE IMF’TE ÇALIfiAN TÜRKLER DERNEKLEfiT‹
W
ashington, D.C.’de so¤uk bir k›fl günü. Binlerce Dünya Bankas› ve IMF çal›flan› Dünya Bankas›’n›n merkezindeki Atrium’da birarada. Dünyan›n de¤iflik ülkelerinden çal›flanlar kültürel farkl›l›klar› gözler önüne seren gösterileri izlemek için bekliyorlar. Türkiye’yi temsilen Mavera Ensemble kutlamalar›n aç›l›fl›nda sahne al›yor. Dünya Bankas›’n› ney ve Türk klasik müzi¤inin di¤er enstrümanlar›n›n sesleri dolduruyor. Dervifller dönmeye bafllad›¤›nda kalabal›k merakl› gözlerle onlar› izliyor. Performans sona erdi¤inde Dünya Bankas› Baflkan› Paul Wolfowitz açl›l›fl konuflmas›n› yapmak üzere mikrofona geliyor ve binlerce insan›n önünde Türkçe, “Teflekkür ederim,” diyor. ‹zleyiciler aras›ndaki Türkler baflkan›n konuflmas›n›n büyük bir gururla dinledikten sonra, Karadeniz bölgesinin izleyicilerin kan›n› kaynatan horonunun sahne al›fl›na tan›kl›k ediyor. Dünya Bankas›’nda düzenlenen “Celebration of Cultures” festivali Türklerin gurur duyduklar› bir etkinlikti. Bu gururun yaflanmas›nda World Bank IMF Turkish Staff Association (WITSA) büyük pay sahibiydi. WITSA fiubat 2006’da IMF ve Dünya Bankas›’nda çal›flan
Türkleri biraraya getirmek amac›yle kuruldu. Yaklafl›k 180 Türkün bulundu¤u iki organizasyonda, her bölümde de¤iflik departmanlarda de¤iflik pozisyonlarda çal›flan Türklere rastlamak mümkün. WITSA’n›n hedeflerinden biri de gün yüzüne ç›kmam›fl bu potansiyeli yeni organizasyon sayesinde iletiflim sa¤lamada ve bilgi kanal› olarak kullanmak. WITSA yöneticileri kurulduklar›n günden bugüne de¤iflik etkinlikler düzenledi; de¤iflik sunumlara, workshop’lara, kitap tan›t›m toplant›lar›na, sivil toplum kurulufllar› için tan›t›m etkinliklerine imza att›. Caroline Finkel taraf›ndan yaz›lan Osmanl› Tarihi kitab›n›n tan›t›m› ve Türkiye’de e¤itime destek vermek için kurulan Friends of Anatolia’n›n etkinliklerinin anlat›ld›¤› toplant› bu organizasyonlardan baz›lar›yd›. WITSA ilk y›l›nda web sitesini yay›na geçirdi ve bir bülten haz›rlayarak üyelerinde göndermeye bafllad›. Bu y›l WITSA bir ad›m daha atarak, “Turkish Day at the World Bank” etkinli¤ine sponsor oldu. 27 Mart’ta gerçeklefltirilen etkinlikte, tüm gün boyunca Türk müzi¤i, sanat›, köstümleri, kilimleri, turizm potansiyeli ve Türk yemekleri gün boyunca ziyaretçilere ve çal›flanlara tan›t›ld›. !
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FERIT SAHENK
“OUR AIM IS TO CREATE ANOTHER HAPPY 7-8 CEOs.” Foto: Necdet Köseda¤
The CEOs of both GE and Citibank should be happy people in Istanbul. As Citigroup's partnership with Akbank continues in the Turkish market, their thoughts regarding Turkey will only become more and more positive.
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he Turkish-American Business Council came into being in 1985 with the aim of improving and strengthening trade and investment relations between Turkey and America. In the past, many notable names from the business world have headed up this organization. With 120 active members, TAIK hopes to help accelerate the development of relations between these two countries. The current head of TAIK, Ferit fiahenk, is the owner of the Do¤ufl Group, which incorporates Garanti Bank, and whose business is a 25.5% partner in the world giant General Electric. With its 36 billion dollars in active business, Garanti Bank is Turkey's third largest bank. fiahenk was educated in marketing and human resources at Boston College in Boston, MA, and when his father, Do¤ufl Holding's founder, Ayhan fiahenk died in 2001, fiahenk moved up to the helm of the company. At the head of fiahenk's tasks, outside of what he does for Do¤ufl Holding, is following the subject of Turkish-American trade relations, which he feels have not yet reached their potential. According to fiahenk, one of the main reasons that trade relations between these two countries, which have had ties now for more than 200 years, have not reached the desired level yet is that Turkish companies, rather than taking the steps they need to globalize, are busy taking steps to try and overcome the daily problems they encounter domestically.
fiahenk received his Bachelors Degree in Marketing and Human Resources from Boston College in 1987.
22 • TurkofAmerica
Of the enterprises undertaken by Turkish companies in recent years, fiahenk points to partnerships between Citigroup and the leading Turkish bank Akbank,
as well as General Electric's partnership with Garanti Bank. He notes, "It used to be that if someone were to say to Citibank 'Go and purchase 50% of a bank in Turkey or make a 50 year partnership with Do¤ufl Group' they would only smile. So these are not the successes of one group, or one family. These are the successes of a nation of people. What partnerships like these show is how quickly Turkish people have been able to adapt to global change, and what kind of quality, good work is being done here." Do¤ufl Holding CEO and TAIK President Ferit fiahenk spoke with the General Manager of TurkofAmerica, Ömer Günefl, about Turkish-American relations. The US-Ottoman relations go back to the 1800s, but despite the past 200 years, you really cannot say we have made great strides in trade relations. When you compare our relation to those with countries like Korea or Malaysia, what can you say are some of the reasons that Turkey has not been able to achieve more of the level it wanted in trade relations with the US? One of the most important reasons that cooperation and partnership were not developed in the trade arena between Turkey and
DOGUS GROUP
The President of the Turkish-American Business Council (TAIK) Ferit fiahenk, with the General Manager of TurkofAmerica, Ömer Günefl.
America during the Cold War period was that both Turkey and Turkish companies did not take adequate steps in the past in order to lead the way to globalization. Turkey, between 1980 and 2000, became a country that had to work so hard to simply "save the day" that it had no time to even think about the future. At the same time, it was also unable during this period to really explain where it stood on matters. Nor did it allow time to gain the image of being a country where investors could be a part of global cooperation and a global economy. But with the IMF activities that began in 2001, and with the EU accessi-
The Do¤ufl Group employs more than 18 thousand employees, and provides service to more than 6 million people. Its basis was formed in 1951 by Ayhan fiahenk, who made his first investments in the construction sector. The Do¤ufl Group now includes more than 50 companies in sectors as far-ranging as finance, automotive, construction, tourism, and media. It expresses its vision of the 21st century as one in which quality is always kept primary. fiahenk notes that as the global economy turns into the only economy, quality becomes even more indespensible. He says "Our goal is to offer quality products, quality service, and to open up these services and products to the world by using the the quality human resources that we have invested in for years now." fiahenk notes that he follows closely the projects of Do¤ufl Group's construction firms, noting that he wants to develop them. The Do¤ufl Group has built freeways in North Africa, Bulgaria, and Khazakistan, the two largest freeways in Morocco, and done bridge work in the Ukraine.
on process, Turkey suddenly became a country that could show the countries of the world how much it had developed its infrastructures. In the end, Turkey is a strong state. We see that many international companies have entered into partnerships on the Turkish market. Are the economic developments that have taken place enough to close the gap? The changes that Turkey went through following 2000, including the economic decisions that were made, are an important step. In the world right now, there is one reality, and this is globalization. The reforms made in 2000 allowed Turkey to make great strides, despite the fact that it came at the top of the list of countries with high inflation and high interest rates. Growth in Turkey turned into a healthier process. In trade and in investment between Turkey and the US, growth started up. Of course, we are seeing global investors from big countries come to Turkey in the first streams of investing. Turkey has a customer relation with America in the area of the defense industry. And now, General Electric, which has been a name for years and years in the defense industry, has entered Turkey's financial sector. And also,
one of the world's largest financial institutes, Citigroup, has become a 20% partner with Akbank. Do these partnerships result at all from the developments in terms of the understanding of competition and quality in Turkish companies? Generally, when world business giants enter a country, they purchase either a majority share or the entirety of a company. For Turkey, this is an interesting sign. The partnership between Garanti Bank and GE and between Akbank and Citigroup is a sign of the strides made in Turkey, showing that institutes in some sectors in Turkey are now on a global level in terms of quality and ability to compete, as well as size. Another important sign of how things are changing is that our "know how" in certain sectors has become an extemely important factor. It used to be that if someone were to say to Citibank 'Go and purchase 50% of a bank in Turkey or make a 50 year partnership with Do¤ufl Group' they would only smile. So these are not the successes of one group, or one family. These are the successes of a nation of people. What partnerships like these show is how quickly Turkish people have been able to TurkofAmerica • 23
FERIT SAHENK
WHO IS FERIT SAHENK?
fiahenk is the Chairman of Do¤ufl Holding, the parent company of the Do¤ufl Group of Companies. fiahenk joined the Group operations in the Financial Sector in 1991 by founding Garanti Securities. In three years under his management, Garanti Securities became one of the largest in over 100 brokerage houses in Turkey. In 1994 Mr. fiahenk re-structured Garanti Securities into an Investment Bank of the Group where he acted as the Executive Vice-Chairman. fiahenk, born in Ankara in 1964, received his Bachelors Degree in Marketing and Human Resources from Boston College in 1987. He also participated in the Owner / President Management Program at the Harvard University in 1997. He is also the Vice – President of the Turkish Industrialists’ and Businessmen’s Association (TUS‹AD) and President of the Economic and Financial Affairs Commission under TUSIAD. Ferit fiahenk was named the 754th richest person in an annual ranking of the world's richest people by Forbes magazine in 2007. adapt to global change, and what kind of quality, good work is being done here. Of course, these are also the results of the decisions made over the past 5-6 years, as well as the global integration efforts made by our last two governments. Turkey is growing, and as it grows, it is attracting attention. And as it attracts attention, the world's large institutes start to flock here. As the President of TAIK, what are your plans regarding your main duties in this position? I can sum up my goals, as both a Turkish citizen and the head of TAIK, under three main headings: 1- I want to increase the opportunities for reciprocal trade and customer relations between Turkish and American companies, by making each side easier to get to know for the other, and thus increasing more courageous business. 2. Outside of developing trade, there is still not enough investment capital in Turkey. In this sense, we want to attract institutions that will offer their knowhow to the growing sectors in Turkey, and that will view Turkey as a center, using it as headquarters for regional production and marketing, to Turkey. 3-We need to create partnership opportunities for both Turkish and American companies in Eastern Europe, Russia, the Turkic 24 • TurkofAmerica
republics, and the Middle East. There are currently important opportunities in the construction sector. So I mean, on these three legs, trade, direct investment, and regional partnerships, I want to concentrate my efforts over the next two years. How do you analyze the investments by GE and Citigroup in Turkey? The CEOs who invest in Turkey showed us how they believe in and trust in Turkey. The CEOs of both GE and Citibank should be happy people. As Citigroup's partnership with Akbank continues in the Turkish market, their thoughts regarding Turkey will only become more and more positive. Our aim is to create another 7-8 CEOs. Which factors, do you think, can be blamed for the fact that Turkish companies are not known brand names in America, or that they are not long lasting? You have to look at Turkey's history. You have to look at inner balances and economic changes. The psychology of "needing to save the day" and thus not being able to look ahead is very important for a business person. Forget for a moment creating a brand name, Turkey has experienced such tough financial times that people have had to be put out of work, ads have had to be cancelled.
So, during such up and down times, it was difficult for this country to come up with 3-5 year strategy plans. There were those who did this, though, who invested in sector and human quality. Two sectors that saw this sort of investment were the automotive sector and the banking sector. And then there are the major, yet mid-sized, KOBI companies that we have seen recently in Anatolia. These have begun to make brand names known. You have to create platforms like this in your own market so that you can compete with courage against countries like America. There are huge differences between Turkey and America.
what's going on there, what that guy is doing over there. It's like getting on a train. In Turkey, the train is speeding up. And investors are starting to really flow in. And when investors come to certain sectors, they start to come to others, too. Which means that certain platforms need to be prepared for other sectors. In America, there are huge numbers of food and animal breeding companies. Why can't Turkey become a center for firms like these? We need to switch over to the industrialization of our land agriculture system, and to think big in this area. As it is, these things only work when you think big.
TAIK is the Turkish-American Business Council, but does it deal with all of America? Don't you need to have state-level enterprises? The efforts through our Foreign Trade Undersecretariat, which have been overseen for a few years by our Minister Kursad Tuzmen, are ones that should be congratulated. As TAIK, our marketing strategy must be to bring individual customers together, or bring those interested in trade together with various regions. We need to meet not only with trade chambers in America, but with individual customers. We need to visit state chambers of commerce, and find out which sectors have the potential for business with Turkey, and then carry out our marketing accordingly. We are going to start doing this in the upcoming period, and our collegues who continue after us will have to continue this.
As someone who knows the US and is involved in business, why is it that the giant holdings from Turkey are not active in the US? In fact, Sakip Sabanci even used to say, "I wish we had discovered America in the 1980s." When you are strong in the US, you can be strong in the world.
What kind of an effect does the partnerships by both Garanti and Akbank have on the entrance of foreign capital into Turkey? I am sure that GE played a big role in the fact that Citibank came here. Because that's how things work with us. When two or three more trucks start going through the gates of a factory in Anatolia, people look to see
Turkish enterprisers have a lot of energy. Here, things are newly started. We should wait another 2-3 years, and if the figures are not developed some, we can ask it again. I think the momentum has begun, though. Things are on their way. There are giant companies in Turkey. But America is a giant market. Of course our companies have potential. If an Indian businessman today can go and buy a company in America, and if a Chinese business can do the same, we can too. There is no reason why not. Turkish companies can do it, but we need time. And thus trade cooperation would increase. Today in Turkey, in Bulgaria, in Russia, there are many many institutes making investments in factories. Why couldn't this happen in America? We have fantastic, great-working companies in Anatolia. We want Anatolia to make great strides down this road. !
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LUCA LUCA
LUCA LUCA:
Foto: Ayhan Kay
THE MOMENT THAT A STAR SHONE
The decision not to use Yildiz Y. Blackstone’ return ticket was the moment that "Luca Luca"'s star began to shine.
Yildiz Yuksek Blackstone front of Y›ld›z Yüksek Blackstone Luca the Luca Luca on Madison Avenue Luca’n›n Madison Avenue’deki and 62nd Street. ma¤azas›n›n önünde.
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ustrian writer Stefan Zweig's book "Moments When the Star Shone" focuses on twelve names in world history and how certain moments affected the generally important roles they played in the past, no matter how short their times on "center stage" were. Zweig, who looks at such figures as Fatih Sultan Mehmet, Handel, Dostoyevski, Tolstoy, and Lenin, examines the mo-
26 • TurkofAmerica
ments which were decisive in making these names great. Zweig asserts that one such moment for Sultan Mehmet II, who conquered Istanbul, was when the Kerkaporta gates were left open by mistake, allowing the Ottoman soldiers to climb the ramparts into the city. Everyone has a moment in their life when their star must shine. Just like in Yildiz Yuksek Blackstone's life.
LUCA LUCA:
YILDIZ’IN PARLADI⁄I AN Y›ld›z Y. Blackstone’un Türkiye’ye geri dönüfl biletini yakmas› Luca Luca için y›ld›z›n parlad›¤› and›.
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Yildiz Yuksek Blackstone (Blackstone being her married name) was born in Alsancak, outside of Izmir, and graduated from Izmir's Dokuz Eylul University. She had always dreamed of living in America, and this dream came true when she went to the US, after graduating from university, to do master's work. She attended the New York Fashion Institute of Technology, taking classes in fashion. After graduating, she began to look for a job, but when she couldn't find anything like what she had hoped for, she made plans to return to Turkey, where she would work with her family, who represented the famous Italian brand Benetton in Izmir. So, Blackstone packed up, sold her things, and even bought a plane ticket. But on the day her plane was meant to take off, she received a call from the Leslie Fey company, where she had earlier sent her resume. At the meeting, Blackstone said, "I have a flight to catch today, can you let me know your decision within the next two hours?" She got the job, and postponed her return to Turkey. The decision not to use her return ticket was the moment that "Luca Luca"'s star began to shine. For it was that moment that the future road was paved for the brand name of Luca Luca, which would go on to become a high end women's clothing and accessory line, with eight stores in four different states across the US. YILDIZ MEETS ORLANDI Yildiz Yuksek began her real care-
THE STORY OF LUCA LUCA’S RISE
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er in the fashion world as a stylist at Leslie Fey. Her mother had warned her, as she left for the US, "Don't return to Turkey without learning how to draw fashion designs." Says Luca Luca's owner now, "I came to see the advantages of listening to my mother." After a trial period of around three months, Blackstone transferred to Madison Avenue's Eli Tahari store as a sales person. Her performance there attracted the attention of Eli Tahari's neighbor on Madison Avenue, Versace. She received an offer from Versace, and moved over to the Italian fashion store, where she made sales to film and music stars; in short, her customer profile had become even more exclusive. After working at Versace for around three years, Blackstone realized that her career there wouldn't go as far as she wanted it to. Meanwhile, around this time, her family's business in Izmir was getting bigger, as they took on Izmir representation for the famous Turkish label "Beymen." Since many of her friends had decided to return to Turkey, Blackstone also started to make plans to return after a few months to make a place for herself helping out her family's business. Just as she was confirming her plans, though, she met the Italian fashion designer Luca Orlandi through a friend. The Orlandi family is a long-standing name in Italy's textile business, and the Orlandi brand has achieved fame for the textiles it has produced. Luca Orlandi, a third generation member of the Orlandi textile empire, came to
1992 Luca Luca started on Madison Avenue's 78th Street by Luca Orlandi 1993 The second Luca Luca starts up on Chicago's Oak Street 1996 The chain's flagship store opens up on Madison Avenue and 62nd Street 1997 Florida's first Luca Luca opens up in Bal Harbour 2000 Luca Luca opens a store in Florida's Palm Beach, as well as in Dallas 2003 The second Texas-based Luca Luca opens up, in Houston 2004 The third Luca Luca in Florida opens in Coral Gables
LUCA LUCA’NIN YÜKSEL‹fi ÖYKÜSÜ
1992- Luca Luca, Luca Orlandi taraf›ndan Madison Avenue 78. Cadde’de kuruldu. 1993- Chicago’da Oak Street’te ikinci ma¤aza hizmete girdi. 1996- Madison Avenu 62. Cadde’deki halen zincirin amiral gemisi konumundaki ma¤azas› müflterilerine merhaba dedi. 1997- Florida’daki ilk ma¤aza Bal Harbour’da aç›ld›. 2000- Florida’daki ikinci ma¤aza Palm Beach’te, Texas’taki ilk ma¤aza Dallas’ta hizmete girdi. 2003- Texas’taki ikinci ma¤aza Houston’da. 2004- Florida’daki üçüncü ma¤azas› Coral Gables’te.
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vusturyal› ünlü yazar Stefan Zweig kaleme ald›¤› Y›ld›z›n Parlad›¤› Anlar kitab›nda Fatih Sultan Mehmet, Händel, Dostoyevski, Tolstoy ve Lenin gibi dünya tarihine geçmifl 12 önemli ismin tarihte oynad›klar› büyük rolleri k›sa süreli¤ini de olsa kaderlerinde etkili olan anlara ba¤lar. ‹stanbul’u fetheden Fatih’in y›ld›z›n›n parlad›¤› an›, askerlerin surlar› aflmas›na imkan tan›yan Kerkaporta kap›s›n›n aç›k unutulmas› olarak aç›klar. Her insan›n hayat›nda mutlaka y›ld›z›n parlad›¤› bir an vard›r. T›pk› Y›ld›z Yüksek Blackstone’un hayat›nda oldu¤u gibi. Alsancak, ‹zmir do¤umlu olan Y›ld›z Yüksek Blackstone ‹zmir Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi’nden mezun oldu. Rüyalar›n› süsleyen Amerika’da yaflama iste¤i üniversite sonras› master e¤itimiyle birlikte gerçekleflti. New York’taki Fashion Institute of Technology’de moda üzerine e¤itim gördü. Mezun olduktan sonra da bir süre ifl arad›. Umdu¤u gibi bir ifl bulamay›nca da Türkiye’de ünlü ‹talyan markas› Benetton’›n ‹zmir’in temsicili¤ini alan ailesinin yan›na dönme karar› ald›. Evini toplad›, eflyalar›n› satt›. Uçak biletini ald›. Resumesini gönderdi¤i Leslie Fey flirketinden uça¤›n›n oldu¤u gün görüflmeye ça¤r›ld›. Görüflmede, “Bugün uça¤›m var bana karar›n›z› iki saat içinde bildirebilir misi-
niz” demeyi de ihmal etmedi. ‹fle kabul edildi, Türkiye’ye dönmeyi erteledi. Geri dönüfl biletini yakmas› Luca Luca için y›ld›z›n parlad›¤› and›. Verdi¤i karar, bugün ABD’nin dört eyaletinde sekiz ma¤azada yüksek gelir grubuna ait bayan giyim ve aksesuarlar› ile dikkat çeken Luca Luca markas›n›n do¤ufluna vesile oldu. LUCA ORLAND‹ ‹LE TANIfiMA Y›ld›z Yüksek’in moda dünyas›ndaki kariyeri Leslie Fey’de desinatör olarak bafllad›. Zaten annesi de ABD’ye e¤itime gelirken, “Türkiye’ye çizim yapmay› ö¤renmeden gelme” diye tembihlemiflti. “Anne sözü dinlemenin faydas›n› gördüm” diyor. Yaklafl›k üç ayl›k deneyimden sonra Madison Avenue’de sat›fl eleman› arayan bayan giyim ma¤azas› Eli Tahari’ye geçti. Gösterdi¤i sat›fl performans› Eli Tahari ma¤azas›na komflu olan Versace’nin dikkatini çekti. Transfer teklif ald›. Versace’de sat›fl eleman› olarak geçtikten sonra film y›ld›zlar›, rock sanatç›lar› gibi pek çok seçkin müflteriye sat›fl yapt›. Yaklafl›k üç y›l çal›flt›ktan sonra art›k kariyerinde Versace içinde daha fazla ileri gidemeyece¤ini düflündü. Bu s›rada ailesi Türkiye’deki ifllerini geniflletti. Türkiye’nin önde gelen markalar›ndan Beymen’in ‹zmir temsilcili¤ini ald›. Pek çok arkadafl› TürkiTurkofAmerica • 27
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Blackstone believes that Turkish Blackstone, baflar›lar›nda Türk customer service culture has played müflteri servis kültürünün büyük a big role in her success pay› oldu¤una inan›yor.
the US in the early 1990s to enter the US market for textiles with the Orlandi brand. Orlandi told Blackstone when he met her, "I want to become the Chanel of the 2000s." He offered Blackstone the opportunity to take the helm of a new women’s clothing line to be based in America. This is when Blackstone left Versace, and took her place at the head of Luca Luca. The first Luca Luca store opened up on Madison Avenue and 78th Street in 1992. While Luca Orlandi dealt with the designing of everything sold in the store, he left the sales, marketing, and all other work to Blackstone. Blackstone embraced her job, and broke sales records with the
opening of this new store. She was the manager, the sales director, in short, everything for the new Luca Luca. In just one year, Luca Luca, based in a store only 100 square meters in size, managed to make sales of more than one million dollars.
ye’ye dönmüfltü ve Blackstone da Türkiye’ye dönüfl haz›rl›klar›na bafllad›. Ailesine yard›mc› olma düflüncesiyle üç ay sonras›na dönüfl için planlar›n› yapt›¤› s›rada, bir arkadafl›n›n vas›tas›yla ‹talyan modac› Luca Orlandi’yle tan›flt›.
THE LUCA LUCA CHAIN EXPANDS Outside of New York, Luca Luca opened on Chicago's Oak Street in 1993. In 1996, a second Luca Luca store opened on Madison Avenue and 62nd Street. Luca Luca, which was aiming for high end sales, then turned its eyes to Florida, where three Luca Luca stores, in Bal Harbour, Palm Beach, and Coral Gables,
Orlandi Ailesi ‹talya’n›n tekstil ifliyle u¤raflan köklü ailelerinden biri ve üretti¤i kumafllar›yla ün salm›fl bir markayd›. Aile üretim alan›ndaki baflar›s›n› sat›fl ve marka anlan›nda da ispatlamak için ailenin üçüncü kuflak ferdi Luca Orlandi 1990’l› y›llar›n bafl›nda ABD pazar›na aç›lmak istiyordu. Orlandi Blackstone’a
WHO IS YILDIZ Y. BLACKSTONE?
Born in 1967 in Izmir. Due to her family's opposition, she postpones her dream to go to university in the US, instead waiting until after graduation from in Izmir to go to the US to complete a master's in fashion design at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology. Starts her career as a stylist at Leslie Fay. Works for a short while at Eli Tahari, and transfers as a sales manager to Gianni Versace. In 1992, Blackstone meets up with Luca Orlandi, and her career at Luca Luca begins. Yildiz Yuksek Blackstone, who married Richard Blackstone in 1999, has one child.
28 • TurkofAmerica
Foto: Ayhan Kay
LUCA LUCA
Amerikan hayalini, “2000’li y›llar›n Channel’i olmak istiyorum” diye anlatt›. Operasyonun bafl›na geçip ABD çap›nda bir bayan giyim markas› yaratmay› teklif etti. Blackstone Versace’deki kariyerine son verip Luca Luca’n›n bafl›na yönetim kurulu baflkan› olarak geçti. ‹lk Luca Luca ma¤azas› Madison Avenue’de 78. Cadde’de 1992 y›l›nda aç›ld›. Luca Orlandi ma¤azada sat›lan tüm ürünlerin dizayn›n› yaparken sat›fl, pazarlama ve di¤er tüm ifller Blackstone’a ba¤land›. ‹lk ma¤azada büyük bir azimle yola koyulan Blackstone, sat›fl rekoru k›rd›. ‹lk ma¤azan›n sat›fl görevlisi, ma¤aza müdürü, k›sacas› herfleyiydi. 100 metrekare büyüklü¤ü bir ma¤azada y›lda 1 milyon dolar› aflk›n sat›fl yapmay› baflard›. Z‹NC‹R‹N HALKALARI ARTIYOR Luca Luca’n›n New York d›fl›ndaki ilk ma¤azas› 1993 y›l›nda Chicago’da Oak Street’te aç›ld›. Markan›n amiral gemisi durumundaki ma¤azas› ise yine Madison Avenue’de 62. Cadde’de 1996 y›l›nda faaliyete geçti. Yüksek gelir grubuna hitap eden bir marka olarak en gözde flehir merkezlerini seçme zorunlulu¤u Luca Luca’n›n Florida’ya aç›lmas› da kaç›n›lmazd›. Florida’da Bal Harbour, Palm Beach ve Coral Gables’ta üç ma¤aza açan Blackstone, Dallas ve Houston ma¤azalar›n› da zincire ekleyerek ABD genelinde tan›nan bir marka olma yolunda ad›mlar›n› sa¤lamlaflt›r-
YILDIZ Y. BLACKSTONE K‹MD‹R?
1967’de ‹zmir’de do¤du. Üniversite y›llar›nda ABD’ye gelme hayali ailesinin karfl› ç›kmas› nedeniyle ertelemek zorunda kald›. 1987’de master için geldi¤i rüyalar›n›n ülkesinde New York FIT’de moda ve pazarlama üzerine okudu. Kariyerine 1989’de Leslie Fay’de stilist olarak bafllad›. 1990’da Eli Tahari’de sat›fl görevlisi olarak k›sa bir süre çal›flt›. Daha sonra Gianni Versace’ye transfer olan Blackstone, 1992’de de Luca Luca ile kaderini birlefltirdi. 1999 y›l›nda Richard Blackstone ile evlenen Y›ld›z Yüksek, bir çocuk sahibi.
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were then opened by Blackstone. Later, stores in Dallas and Houston were added to the chain, by which time the brand had started to solidify its reputation across the US. Blackstone, who has seen the number of Luca Luca stores rise to eight, now wants to focus on the West Coast. In the meantime, the collection, which had started as just clothing, has added shoes and handbags in the past three years. Blackstone says that in the summer of 2008, Luca Luca will present its first collection for men.
erkek giyim ürünlerini de pazara sunacaklar›n› söylüyor. Luca Luca erkek koleksiyonu 15 farkl› stille merhaba diyecek.
Though she doesn't provide exact sales figures for Luca Luca, Blackstone asserts that its sales are some of the best per square foot for any of the stores on Madison Avenue. Luca Luca, whose sales are currently estimated to be around $3,000 with 3000 per square foot, Luca Luca has one of the highest per square foot sales on Madison Avenue.
Luca Luca yurt d›fl› sat›fl noktalar›n›n aras›nda Rusya, Duabi ve Türkiye’de Beymen’de var. ‹stanbul’da ma¤aza açmak için de teklif alan Luca Luca, pazarla ilgili çal›flmalar›na devam ediyor.
Blackstone, Luca Luca’n›n toplam sat›fl rakam› ile ilgili bir rakam vermese de Madison Avenue’deki ma¤azan›n square foot bafl›na en fazla sat›fl yapan ma¤azalardan biri oldu¤unu söylüyor. Square foot bafl›na ortalama sat›fl›n 3000 dolara yak›n oldu¤u ma¤azan›n y›ll›k cirosu 5 milyon dolar civar›nda.
Blackstone, baflar›lar›nda Türk müflteri servis kültürünün büyük pay› oldu¤una inan›yor. Bu yüzdendir ki Luca Luca’n›n tüm kilit noktalar›nda Türk isimler görev yap›yor. Markan›n perakende bölümünün bafl›nda Blackstone’un kardefli Aylin Yüksek Brenna bulunuyor. 50’ye yak›n kiflinin çal›flt›¤› markan›n Florida’daki üç ma¤azas›n›n sorumlulu¤unu Behire Özbafl, New York’takini de Gülflah Haydaro¤lu ve Silvya Baruh yürütüyor.
In terms of foreign sales points, Luca Luca can be found in Russia, Dubai, and Turkish Beymen stores. It has received an offer to open up a store in Istanbul, though Luca Luca is still studying the market.
Aylin Yuksek Brenna is one of the names who has worked the longest amount of time with Luca Luca's young director. After working for five years at the prestigous Turkish label store Beymen, Brenna came to New York to help in the opening of
Foto: Ayhan Kay
Blackstone believes that Turkish customer service culture has played a big role in her success. This is why Turkish names can be found at all the key points in Luca Luca. Heading up the label's retail sales department is Blackstone's sister, Aylin Yuksek Brenna. Behire Ozbas is in charge of the 50 or so people running Luca Luca's Florida operations, while Gulsah Haydaroglu and Silvya Baruh manage the New York stores.
Luca Luca's 62nd Avenue store. She never returned to Turkey. Brenna, who graduated with a degree in landscaping from Turkey's Ege University, describes her older sister this way: "A director who has a very professi-
d›. Blackstone sekize ulaflan ma¤aza say›s›n›, özellikle bat› yakas›nda da yayg›nlaflt›rmak istiyor. Sadece giyim üzerine bafllayan koleksiyona son 3 y›ld›r ayakkab› ve çantay› da ekledi. Blackstone, 2008’in yaz›nda
11 y›ld›r Luca Luca’da çal›flan kardefl Aylin Yüksek Brenna, flirketin genç patronu ile en uzun süre çal›flanlardan. Türkiye’nin en prestijli ma¤azalar›ndan Beymen’de befl y›l çal›flt›ktan sonra Luca Luca’n›n 62’nci caddede aç›lan ma¤azas›n›n aç›l›fl›na yard›ma gelen Brenna, bir daha dönememifl. Ege Üniversitesi Peyzaj Bölümü mezunu olan Aylin Y. Brenna, bir abla ve yönetici olarak flirketinizin baflkan›n› nas›l anlat›rs›n›z sorusuna, “Çok profesyonel ak›ll› ve sakinli¤i ile do¤ru karar veren TurkofAmerica • 29
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LUCA LUCA
onal sense of intelligence, and who makes very calm decisions." She talks about the conjunction of professional and family life with her sister: "It took us four years to work out our relations in the professional world, and as siblings. It may look from the outside like an advantage, but actually, I have to work harder than everyone else at Luca Luca, because my sister heads the company." Behire Ozbas Reid has been working with Luca Luca since 2001, and is responsible for all three of the label's Florida-based stores. She says that the atmosphere at Luca Luca is like that of a family store. Reid's path intersected with Blackstone's in an interesting way that mirrored both family and country: after working for eight years in Istanbul and Izmir at Beymen stores, (where she was Aylin Y. Brenna's boss), she then opened her own store, and worked as a consultant for various labels in Turkey. After this, Reid married and moved to Florida, where she encountered Luca Luca. Though she started out as an outside consultant for the Luca Luca stores, it wasn't long before she was appointed as store director. The Luca Luca store which does the most business in Florida is the one located in Palm Beach. Reid says of Blackstone, "She knows her subject well, and is so involved in her job that even someone who works here part-time could reach her and talk to her easily." LUCA LUCA DRESSES THE STARS OF THE WORLD For its items, which are produced entirely in Italy, some of Luca Luca's famous customers include Beyonce, Sharon Stone, Natalie Cole, Paris Hilton, Ester Canadas, and Sara Jessica Parker. Blackstone notes that she had befriended many of her customers over time, and that an important reason for the success of Luca Luca is that customers remain faithful to the label. 30 • TurkofAmerica
On the subject of increasing the number of Luca Luca stores, Yildiz Blackstone is careful. She says she doesn't want to open more stores just for prestige, but that in the next three years, there are plans to add three more stores to the chain. "There might be new stores on Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles and on Long Island, New York," she says. Yildiz, who married Richard Blackstone, a top level director in the music sector, in 2000, gets a sparkle in her eyes when talking about Luca Luca: "It was like my first love," she says. Right now, the firm is preparing to invite its closest supporters and customers to celebrate its 15th year in business. !
Actress Kerry Washington was wearing a dress by Luca Luca at Screen Actors Guild Awards in 2005.
Sinema y›ld›z› Kerry Washington 2005’te Screen Actors Guild ödül töreninde Luca Luca’dan giydi¤i k›yafeti ile.
bir yönetici” diye cevap veriyor. “Profesyonel yaflamla, abla-kardefl iliflkisini oturtmak dört y›l›m›z› ald›,” diyen Aylin Y. Brenna, “Avantaj gibi görünse de Luca Luca’da her zaman herkesten fazla çal›flmak zorunday›m çünkü ablam›n flirketin bafl›nda” diye konufluyor. Luca Luca’da 2001 y›l›ndan beri çal›flan ve Florida’daki üç ma¤azas›n›n sorumlulu¤unu üstlenen Behire Özbafl Reid, adeta bir aile ortam›nda çal›flt›klar›n› söylüyor. Y›ld›z Y. Blackstone ile yollar› ilginç flekilde kesiflen Reid, sekiz y›l ‹zmir ve ‹stanbul’da Beymen ma¤azas›nda çal›flt›. Beymen’de Aylin Y. Brenna’n›n
Esther Canadas, Spanish actress and supermodel, one of Luca Luca's customers.
‹spanyol aktris ve model Esther Canadas Luca Luca’n›n müflterilerinden.
da patronuydu. Kendi ma¤azas›n› açt›ktan sonra da Türkiye’de de¤iflik markalara dan›flmanl›k hizmeti verdi. Evlenip Florida’ya tafl›n›nca Luca Luca ile yollar› kesiflti. Önce d›flardan dan›flmanl›k verdi¤i ma¤azalara sonra yönetici olarak atand›. Florida’da Luca Luca’n›n en fazla ifl yapt›¤› ma¤azas› Palm Beach’te yer alan ma¤aza. Reid, Blackstone ile ilgili, “Konusuna hakim ve gerekti¤inde part-time çal›flan birinin bile rahatl›kla ulaflabilece¤i kadar iflin içinde” diyor. Teknik konularda oldu¤u kadar flirketin beyin olarak da yönetiminde çok etkisi oldu¤unu sözlerine ekliyor. DÜNYA STARLARI G‹Y‹N‹YOR Üretimi tamamen ‹talya’da yapan Luca Luca’n›n dünyaca ünlü müflterileri aras›nda Beyonce, Sharen Stone, Natali Cole, Paris Hilton, Sara Jesica Parker gibi isimler de bulunuyor. Blackstone, zamanla müflterileri ile arkadafl olduklar›n›, baflar›lar›ndaki etkenlerden birinin de müflterilerinin markaya olan sadakati oldu¤unu vurguluyor. Y›ld›z Blackstone ma¤aza say›s›n›n art›rmak konusunda ise temkinli. Sadece prestij için ma¤aza açmad›klar›n› söyleyen genç patron, önümüzdeki y›llarda zincire üç yeni halka daha eklemeyi planl›yor. “Yeni ma¤azalar Los Angeles’›n ünlü Rodeo Drive’da ve Long Island’ta, (NY) olabilir” diyor. 2000 y›l›nda müzik sektöründe yay›nc›l›k yapan bir flirketin üst düzey yöneticili¤ini yapan Richard Blackstone ile evlenen Y›ld›z Blackstone, Luca Luca’y› anlat›rken adeta gözlerinin içi gülüyor. “Luca Luca benim için ilk aflk gibi” diyor.Y›lda yaklafl›k 50 bin parça mal satan Luca Luca, 15. y›l›n› müflterileri ve yak›nlar› ile büyük bir davetle kutlamaya haz›rlan›yor.!
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HI JOLLY
T
he US, which was victorious in the Mexican War between 1846-1848, added what are now the states of Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico to its lands. These new lands, which measured 529 thousand square miles, gained even more in importance when, in 1849, gold was discovered in the West. A whole new set of difficulties were presented to the federal government, in terms of new research groups to head out to the West, tranportation problems, and matters of land protection. Also, it was now necessary to be able to reach California from Texas.
AN IZMIRI CAMEL HERDER IN THE WILD WEST
Wayne and Parker examined the camels that had been used by the Ottomand in the Crimean War. They asked the Ottoman Sultan at the time, Abdulmecid II, to give them permission to buy the camels, and to donate them two camels as a gift. Sultan Abdulmecid II did in fact give Wayne and Parker 38 • TurkofAmerica
Savafl Bakan› Jefferson Davis’›n akl›na Bat›’ya ulaflmak için o güne kadar düflünülmeyen bir fley geldi: Develer. Davis, Kongre’yi deve al›m› konusunda ikna ederek 30 bin dolar bütçe ç›karmay› baflard›. Askeri amaçl› “Camel Military Corps” ismiyle bir birlik kurulmas› kararlaflt›r›ld›. Ancak ABD’de deve yoktu. Çöl hayvanlar›n›n temini nas›l olacakt›? 1850’li y›llarda K›r›m’da Rusya’ya karfl› savaflan Osmanl› ‹mparatorlu¤u akla gelen ilk ülke oldu. David Dixon Parker kumandas›nda “Supply” isimli gemi, Haziran 1855’te ABD’den yola koyuldu. Sat›n al›nacak develerden oluflacak birli¤in bafl›nda ise Binbafl› Henry Wayne vard›.
An idea on how to reach the West which had never occured to anyone before came to the mind of Defense Secretary Jefferson Davis: Camels. Davis managed to convince the US Congress to approve a 30 thousand dollar budget for the purchase of camels. It was decided that the "Camel Military Corps" would then be formed. But there were no camels at that time in the US. How would these desert animals be procured then? On this front, the Ottoman Empire, which had fought the Russians during the 1850's in the Crimea, came to mind. And so in 1855, the US ship "Supply" set sail, with David Dixon Parker at its helm. Joining him was military Major Henry Wayne, who was to head up the brigade that would be formed with the camels to be purchased.
y›l›nda Bat›’da alt›n›n bulunmas›yla daha da önem kazand›. Bölgede yap›lacak yeni araflt›rmalar, nakliyat ve topraklar› savunmak Federal hükümete bir tak›m yeni zorluklar› da beraberinde getirdi. Texas’tan California’ya ulaflmak gerekiyordu.
The final photograph taken of Haci Ali taken in summer of 1896 by Mr.Ross from Phoenix, Arizona.
Hac› Ali’nin arflivlerde kalan son foto¤raf› da 1896 yaz›nda Phoenix’li Mr. Ross taraf›ndan çekildi.
VAHfi‹ BATIDAK‹ ‹ZM‹RL‹ DEVE ÇOBANI two camels as a gift, arranging for the Ottoman side to pay for the two animals. The US delegation, having bought 33 camels in total from Turkey, returned to the US, landing at in February 1856 at the Texas Port of Indianola. On that
M
eksika ile 1846-1848 y›llar› aras›nda yap›lan savaflta zafere ulaflan Birleflik Devletler, Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah, Coloroda ve New Mexico eyaletlerini ülke topraklar›na katt›. 529 bin square mil büyüklü¤ündeki yeni topraklar, 1849
Wayne ve Parker, Osmanl›’n›n K›r›m Savafl›’nda cephede kulland›¤› develeri yerinde inceledi. Dönemin padiflah› II. Abdülmecid’ten deve al›m›na izin vermesi ve kendilerine iki adet deve hediye etmesi için ricada bulundu. Padiflah paras› kendisi taraf›ndan ödenmek üzere heyete iki deve hediye etti. Osmanl› topraklar›ndan 33 deve sat›n alan ABD’li kurmaylar, fiubat 1856’da Texas’›n Port Indianola’daki liman›na döndü. M›s›r’dan, Mongolya’dan ve Anadolu’dan toplanan yaklafl›k 100’e yak›n deve yeni k›taya ayak bast›. HACI AL‹ (HI JOLLY) VE ARKADAfiLARI ‹fl develeri almakla bitmedi. Develerin dilinden anlayacak bak›c›lara da ihtiyaç vard›. Hac› Ali, George Caralambo ve arkadafllar› deve bak›c›lar› olarak Ame-
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day, nearly 100 camels, from Egypt, Mongolia, and Anatolia, set foot on US soil. HACI ALI AND HIS FRIENDS The purchase of the camels was not the end of this business however. There was an immediate need for camel herders who would "understand the language of the camels." Thus Haci Ali, George Caralambo, and a group of their friends were also hired and included on the American military ship "Supply." The person with the most interesting life story on the military ship "Supply" was doubtless Haci Ali, who had previously served the French military in Algeria. Haci Ali had been born of Greek and Syrian parentage in Izmir. His real name was Philip Tedro. After converting to Islam, he visited Mecca and changed his name to Haci Ali. Of all the camel herders who traveled with the US military expedition at this time, only George Caralambo (Greek George) and Haci Ali stayed on in the US afterwards. The rest all returned to their countries. Haci Ali, who educated the soldiers in the US Army on how to take care of the camels, and how to load them up, soon saw his name evolve into something entirely different, due to pronounciation. In time, he became "Hi Jolly." The camels that had been brought over were used on exploratory missions and in carrying goods, mail, and other items from Texas to the West. The exploratory mission called the "Beale Expedition" used these camels as carriers in the project to discover a passable road from Arizona to the Pacific. And Haci Ali worked as a camel herder during this expedition, earning $15 a month.
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Haci Ali, who continued to serve the US military from time to time, worked as a miner when not in service to the army, and finally became a US citizen in 1857. CAMELS AUCTIONED OFF Despite the fact that Defense Secretary John Floyd requested in 1858 that 1,000 more camels be purchased, this project never came to fruition. The final dissolution of the "Camel Military Corps" occured with the break out of Civil War between the North and the South in the US. Thus 46 of the camels that Haci Ali had looked after were sold at an open auction in February 1864, while the remaining 66 camels were auctioned off in March of 1866. Some of the camels were purchased by circus managers, while a few escaped into the deserts of theWest. Of those who escaped into the deserts, some were killed by miners, while others by hunters looking for wild animals to shoot. MARRIED LIFE Haci Ali, who kept a few of the auctioneed camels for himself, carried on transportation work with them between the Colorado River and the East Coast. Seeing that he was not making much of a profit, he left his remaining camels in the desert area around Gina Bend. In 1880, Haci Ali married Gertrude Serna in Tuscon, Arizona . Later, they moved to the town of Quartzsite in Arizona. There, they had two daughters, Amelia and Herminia. Despite the fact that Haci Ali returned to gather up the remaining camels in the Arizona town of Ajo, he was not able to attain his dream. Supported until his death by merchant Mike Welz and his friends, Haci Ali also asked Arizona Congressmen Mark Smith to help him receive a pension from the US Army,
rikan ordusu taraf›ndan Supply gemisinde ifle al›nd›. Gemide yer alanlardan en ilginç hikayeye sahip olan› ise daha önce Cezayir’de Frans›z ordusuna hizmet eden Hac› Ali’dir. Yunan ve Suriyeli ebeveynden ‹zmir’de dünyaya gelen Ali’nin, as›l ad› Phlip Tedro’ydu. ‹slamiyeti seçtikten sonra Mekke’ye hacca gitmifl, ismini Hac› Ali olarak de¤ifltirmiflti. Deve bak›c›lar›ndan sadece George Caralambo (Yunan George) ile Hac› Ali Birleflik Devletler’de kald›, di¤erleri bir süre sonra ülkelerine döndü. Orduda askerleri, develere nas›l yükleme yap›laca¤› konusunda e¤iten ve bak›c›l›k yapan Hac› Ali’nin ismi bir süre sonra zor teleffuzundan dolay› de¤iflti. Hac› Ali zamanla “Hi Jolly” oldu. Develer Texas’tan bat›ya eflya, posta, yük tafl›mada ve keflif gezilerinde kullan›ld›. “Beale Expedition” ad› verilen Arizona’dan Pasifik’e uzanan yolun keflfiyle ilgili projede develer tafl›mac›l›k yapt›. Hac› Ali de bu keflifte deve çoban› olarak ayl›k 15 dolara görev ald›. De¤iflik dönemler orduya hizmet eden Hac› Ali, ordudan ayr›ld›¤› dönemlerde de maden arad›, 1857’de Amerikan vatandafl› oldu.
A wedding photograph of Haci Ali and his wife, from Jane Eppinga's Images of America Tucson, Arizona book.
DEVELER AÇIK ARTIRMADA SATILDI 1858 y›l›nda Savafl Bakan› John Floyd 1000 adet daha deve al›nmas› için teklifte bulunsa da bu proje asla gerçekleflmedi. ABD’de Güney ile Kuzey aras›nda ç›kan iç savafl, “Camel Military Corps”un da¤›lmas› için de vesile oldu. Bir süre posta da¤›t›m›nda görev alan Hac› Ali’nin bak›m›n› yapt›¤› develerden 46’s› fiubat 1864’te, geriye kalan 66 deve de Mart 1866’da aç›k art›rmada sat›ld›. Develerin bir k›sm›n› sirk iflletenler sat›n ald›. Bir kaç› bat›daki çöllere kaçt›. Çölde sahipsiz kalan develerin kimi maden arayanlarca, kimi de avc›lar taraf›ndan vahfli hayvan muamelesi ile öldürüldü. EVL‹L‹K HAYATI Pazarlarda haraç mezat sat›lan develerden bir kaç›n› kendine saklayan Hac› Ali, Colorado Nehri’ndeki limanlar ile do¤u yakas› aras›nda tafl›mac›l›k yapt›. Yapt›¤› iflten fazla kar elde edemeyince de elinde kalan son develeri Gina Bend civar›ndaki çöle b›rakt›. Hac› Ali, 1880’de Tucson’da (Arizona) Gertrude Serna’yla evlendi. Daha sonra da Arizona’daki Quartzsite kasabas›na yerleflti. Amelia ve Herminia isimli iki k›z çocu¤u oldu. 1899’da hayatta kalan develeri
Jane Eppinga taraf›ndan yaz›lan Images of America Tucson Arizona kitab›nda dü¤ün resmine yer verilen Hac› Ali ve efli.
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HI JOLLY
but he was not successful in this endeavor. The dead body of Haci Ali was found clasping the neck of a camel. He had returned to the desert lands between the Colorado River and Wickenburg in search of his camels. Haci Ali was 73 years old when he died in 1902, and he believed that there were still a few camels roaming around in the region. In fact, the last "wild camel" was captured in Arizona in 1946. The very latest report of a "wild camel sighting" was noted in Baja, California in 1956. One of the camels that Haci Ali had looked after died in the Garfield Zoo in Los Angeles in 1934. This last camel was 80 when it finally died. HIS MEMORY LIVES ON IN FESTIVALS AND COUNTRY MUSIC Haci Ali, who had served as an exploration guide for the military, a camel herder, and a miner, had brought his children up as Muslims. As one of the most prominent figures in early explorations of the West, Haci Ali had also been a subject of American folk songs, and had also popped up in Hollywood films. A song by the New Christy Minstrels in the 1950s called "Hi Jolly the Camel Driver" was about Haci Ali's days as a camel tender. 33 years after Haci Ali's death, there was a pyramid-shaped monument to him built where he was buried in the Arizona town of Quartzsite. The monument was built by the Arizona Highway Department. Decorating the monument was a metal figure of a camel. Every year on January 10, there is still a memorial "Camelmania: Hi Jolly Daze Parade" which takes place in memory of Haci Ali, sponsored by the Quartzsite Chamber of Commerce. The tombstone at his grave reads "The final campsite of Hi Jolly." 40 • TurkofAmerica
Gravesite of Haci Ali, in Hac› Ali'nin Arizona Quartzside, Arizona. Quartzside'daki mezar›.
tekrar toplamak için Arizona’n›n Ajo kasabas›na gittiyse de hayalini gerçeklefltiremedi. Ölene kadar tüccar Mike Welz ve arkadafllar›n›n destek oldu¤u Hac› Ali’ye, Arizona Kongre üyesi Mark Smith U.S. Army’den emekli maafl› ba¤lamak istedi ancak baflaramad›. Son olarak develerini bulmak için Coloroda River ile Wickenburg aras›ndaki çöllerde yola düflen Hac› Ali’nin ölüsü, bir devenin boynuna sar›l› olarak bulundu. 1902’de 73 yafl›nda ölen Hac› Ali, ölmeden önce bir kaç devenin hala civar bölgelerde dolaflt›¤›na inan›yordu. Nitekim son vahfli deve 1946’da Arizona’da yakaland›. Son olarak görüldü¤ü iddia edilen vahfli deve ise Baja, California’da 1956’da rapor edildi. Hac› Ali’nin bakt›¤› Osmanl› topraklar›ndan getirilen develerden biri de 1934’te Los Angeles’taki Garfield Hayvanat Bahçesi’nde 80 yafl›nda öldü. FEST‹VAL VE fiARKILARDA YAfiIYOR 30 y›la yak›n Amerikan ordusuna keflif eri, deve bak›c›s›, maden aray›c›s› olarak hizmet veren Hac› Ali, çocuklar›n› da müslüman olarak yetifltirdi. Bat›y› keflfe ç›kan öncülerden biri olarak Amerikan halk flark›lar›na, Hollywood filmlerine konu oldu. The New Christy Minstrels müzik grubunun 1950’lerde söyledi¤i “Hi Jolly the Camel Driver” Hac› Ali’nin develerle geçen günlerini anlat›r.
Inscription on Haci Ali's gravesite. Hac› Ali'nin mezar›ndaki yaz›.
Ölümünden 33 y›l sonra Arizona Highway Department Hac› Ali’nin mezar›n›n Quartzsite’da bulundu¤u alana bir piramit an›t yapt›rarak, üzerine de bir metal fliltten deve resmi koydu. Halen her y›l 10 Ocak’ta Hac› Ali’nin an›s›na “Quartzsite Chamber of Commerce” taraf›ndan geleneksel "Camelmania: Hi Jolly Daze Parade” ad›yla anma törenleri düzenleniyor. Mezara dikilen kitabede ise “Hi Jolly’nin son kamp› buras›d›r” yaz›yor.
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THE FILM ON HACI ALI'S LIFE: THE HEROIC SHERIFF
HACI AL‹’N‹N F‹LM‹ KAHRAMAN fiER‹F OLARAK ÇEK‹L‹YOR
The first news of Haci Ali's life was made public in Turkey in a newspaper article by journalist Murat Bardarci. The story caught the attention of Turkish filmmakers Cengiz Ketenci and Sahin Alparslan. These filmmakers, who struck an agreement with film scenario writer Yigit Guralp, then decided on Yucel Yolcu as their director. The film, which to include both Turkish and American actors, is still going through casting procedures in both Turkey and the US.
Hac› Ali’nin hikayesi ilk kez Türkiye’de tarihçi Murat Bardakç›’n›n gazetedeki sütununda yazmas›yla duyuldu. Hikaye, Türkiye’de yeni ak›m sineman›n temsilcileri yap›mc› Cengiz Ketenci ve fiahin Alparslan’›n dikkatini çekti.
The Turkish film production studio Istanbul Mass Media will be shooting the film on Haci Ali's life, to be entitled "Kahraman Serif," or "The Heroic Sheriff" in the historical Colorado town of Buckskin Joe. The film's American partner is Producer Group Studio's, from Colorado Springs. THE FILM’S STORY Producers of "The Heroic Sheriff" say they want to make an entertaining cowboy film, which is why they may not stay completely true to Haci Ali's life story. The real story of Haci Ali's life is going to come to the screen first as a documentary. The cinema film will be the next step, after this documentary. Shooting for "The Heroic Sheriff" will begin this July, and plans are to have the film in cinemas by early 2008. The film will tell the story of the journey from Ottoman lands to the US, as well as the stories of three Ottoman citizens, each different from one another, who accompany the camels. In the film scenario, the heroes (the three Ottoman citizens) bring the camels to Texas to sell them, and once there, the US government buys 29 of them, but refuses one of them based on its ill health. The three Ottoman citizens then return to the Ottoman Empire to bring back the payment for the 29 camels, and to return the one ill camel. But while sleeping on the banks of a river before returning, the three are robbed. Knowing that they can't return to tell the Ottoman Sultan this bad news, the three immediately go looking for the thieves in the nearest town. This town is a lawless place typical of the Wild West stories. The three Turks waste no time getting to work in this town, where the sheriff is an old man who has trouble enforcing the law. The three Turks are busy searching for their camels, while offering up big money for the bandits who stole their goods. They become the nightmare of the thieves, and the favorites of the elderly sheriff and his beautiful daughter. Just as they finally get back their money and are set to return though, the old sheriff is murdered, and the plans of the three Turks are disrupted. They accept the request by the sheriff's distraught daughter that one of them stay on as the new sheriff of the town.
Türkiye’de geçen y›l›n ses getiren filmlerinden biri olan ve Jean-Claude Van Damme’›n da rol ald›¤› “S›nav” filminin senaristi Yi¤it Güralp’le anlaflan yap›mc›lar, yönetmen olarak da Yücel Yolcu’da karar k›ld›. Türk ve Amerikal› oyuncular›n birlikte rol alaca¤› filmin cast çal›flmalar› hem Türkiye’de hem de Amerika’da devam ediyor. Kahraman fierif adl› filmin çekimleri, flimdiye kadar 20 den fazla filme ev sahipli¤i yapm›fl Colorado’da “Buckskin Joe” isimli tarihi Western kasabas›nda yap›lacak. Filmin Amerikal› yap›m orta¤› ise Colorado Springs’den, Producer Group Studios. F‹LM‹N H‹KAYES‹ E¤lenceli bir kovboy filmi yapmak istediklerini söyleyen yap›mc›lar bu yüzden sinema filminde bu hikayeye birebir ba¤l› kalmayacak. Hac› Ali’nin hikayesi önce belgesel olarak ekranlara gelecek. Sinema filmi ise bir sonraki aflama. Çekimlerine Temmuz ay›nda bafllanacak Kahraman fierif’in, 2008 sömester döneminde vizyona girmesi planlan›yor. ABD’nin Osmanl› Devleti’nden deve siparifl etmesinden yola ç›k›larak kurgulanan film, develeri teslim etmesi için farkl› özelliklere sahip üç Osmanl›’n›n bafl›na gelen ilginç olaylar› anlat›yor. Filmde kahramanlar sat›fl ve teslimat› gerçeklefltirmek üzere develeri Texas’a ulaflt›r›r ancak 29 deveyi alan ve bedellerini ödeyen Amerikan Hükümeti 1 deveyi sa¤l›¤›n›n yerinde olmamas› gerekçesiyle almay› kabul etmez. Üç deveci Osmanl› Devleti’nin yani Padiflahlar›n›n emaneti olan bu 1 deveyi ve 29 devenin bedelini teslim etmek üzere tekrar memleketlerine do¤ru yola koyulurlar. Ancak yolda dinlendikleri bir nehir k›y›s›nda uyurlarken soyulurlar.
The Heroic Sherrif’ Kahraman fierif filminin film poster posteri.
The three Ottomans, before returning to their lands, face the final giant task of saving the town itself. Filmmaker Sahin Alparslan says that the fact that stories about the first Turks in America are not known very well made the idea of making this film even more attractive. Alparslan notes that the film gives a message of peace, justice and order, as the three Ottomans save the town they are in from bandits and lawlessness. He notes that the plans are to have "The Heroic Sheriff" enter cinemas in eight different countries simultaneously. Film scenario writer Yigit Guralp is of the belief that a new door into different realms has been opened, especially for those who think that Turkish films have run out of new topics. Guralp, who wrote the script for "Sinav," notes that while Western style films were shot in the Turkish film industry between 19651972, not one of them offered the kind of story that "The Heroic Sheriff" does. Cengiz Ketenci, another filmmaker, notes that civilizations are always shifting, and that it was important to tell the story of a country just trying to stand up on its legs during a period of the Ottoman Empire's decline. Ketenci, commenting on interest shown in Turkish-made films, said "Turkish cinema should return to its roots, and should bring stories that concern Turkey's own history to the viewers. The individuals who came out of the consumer society in the 1980s have returned to their origins."
Bu flekilde geri döndüklerinde bafllar›n›n vurulaca¤›n› çok iyi bilen 3 kafadar h›rs›zlar› bulmak için en yak›nlar›ndaki kasabaya kapa¤› atarlar. Buras› vahfli bat›n›n yoldan ç›km›fl kanunsuz ve belal› bir kasabas›d›r. Yafll› ve kanunu uygulamakta güçsüz kalan bir flerif ve onun güzeller güzeli k›z›n›n kol kanat gerdi¤i üç Türk vakit kaybetmeden ifle koyulur. Bir yandan develerini ararken bir yandan da yakalayana büyük paralar›n verilece¤i aranan haydutlar›n pefline düflerler. Paray› denklefltirip dönecekleri an flerifin öldürülmesiyle bütün planlar› alt üst olur, kasabal›n›n ve flerifin ac›l› k›z›n›n iste¤iyle içlerinden biri flerif olmay› kabul eder.
Dostluk, aflk, görev, sadakat ve vefa borcu gibi de¤erler aras›nda büyük bir çat›flma yaflayan üç Osmanl›y› ülkelerine dönmeden önce kasabay› kurtarmak gibi önemli bir s›nav daha beklemektedir. “YEN‹ B‹R KAPI ARALADIK” Filmin yap›mc›lar›ndan fiahin Alparslan, ABD’deki ilk Türklerin hikayelerinin çok iyi bilinmemesinin Hac› Ali’nin hayatan› daha da cazip k›ld›¤›n› söylüyor. Alparslan, üç Osmanl›’n›n yaflad›klar› kasabay› zorbal›ktan kurtard›¤›n›, adalet, bar›fl ve düzeni getirdi¤i mesaj›n› verecekleri filmin, sekiz ülkede birden sinemalarda gösterime girece¤ini ifade ediyor. Filmin senaristi Yi¤it Güralp, Türk sinemas›n›n konu s›k›nt›s› çekti¤ini düflünenler için yeni bir kap› aralad›klar› görüflünde. “S›nav” filminin de senaristli¤ini yapan Güralp, Türk sinemas›nda 1965-72 y›llar› aras›nda da Western tarz› filmler çekildi¤ini ancak konusu ve hikayesi aç›s›ndan hiç birinin Kahraman fierif’e benzemedi¤inin alt›n› çiziyor. Di¤er yap›mc› Cengiz Ketenci de medeniyetin sürekli yer de¤ifltirdi¤ini, Osmanl›’n›n ilerde oldu¤u y›llarda; ayaklar› üzerinde durmaya çal›flan bir ülkede yaflanan bir hikayeyi anlatmas› aç›s›ndan da önemli oldu¤una inan›yor. Ketenci, yerli filmlere ilginin artmas›yla ilgili olarak ise, “Türk sinemas› özüne dönmeli, mahallesinde geçen hikayeleri seyirciye ulaflt›rmal›yd›. 1980’li y›llardaki tüketim toplumunun fertleri özlerine döndü” diyor. TurkofAmerica • 41
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HI JOLLY
T
he US, which was victorious in the Mexican War between 1846-1848, added what are now the states of Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico to its lands. These new lands, which measured 529 thousand square miles, gained even more in importance when, in 1849, gold was discovered in the West. A whole new set of difficulties were presented to the federal government, in terms of new research groups to head out to the West, tranportation problems, and matters of land protection. Also, it was now necessary to be able to reach California from Texas.
AN IZMIRI CAMEL HERDER IN THE WILD WEST
Wayne and Parker examined the camels that had been used by the Ottomand in the Crimean War. They asked the Ottoman Sultan at the time, Abdulmecid II, to give them permission to buy the camels, and to donate them two camels as a gift. Sultan Abdulmecid II did in fact give Wayne and Parker 38 • TurkofAmerica
Savafl Bakan› Jefferson Davis’›n akl›na Bat›’ya ulaflmak için o güne kadar düflünülmeyen bir fley geldi: Develer. Davis, Kongre’yi deve al›m› konusunda ikna ederek 30 bin dolar bütçe ç›karmay› baflard›. Askeri amaçl› “Camel Military Corps” ismiyle bir birlik kurulmas› kararlaflt›r›ld›. Ancak ABD’de deve yoktu. Çöl hayvanlar›n›n temini nas›l olacakt›? 1850’li y›llarda K›r›m’da Rusya’ya karfl› savaflan Osmanl› ‹mparatorlu¤u akla gelen ilk ülke oldu. David Dixon Parker kumandas›nda “Supply” isimli gemi, Haziran 1855’te ABD’den yola koyuldu. Sat›n al›nacak develerden oluflacak birli¤in bafl›nda ise Binbafl› Henry Wayne vard›.
An idea on how to reach the West which had never occured to anyone before came to the mind of Defense Secretary Jefferson Davis: Camels. Davis managed to convince the US Congress to approve a 30 thousand dollar budget for the purchase of camels. It was decided that the "Camel Military Corps" would then be formed. But there were no camels at that time in the US. How would these desert animals be procured then? On this front, the Ottoman Empire, which had fought the Russians during the 1850's in the Crimea, came to mind. And so in 1855, the US ship "Supply" set sail, with David Dixon Parker at its helm. Joining him was military Major Henry Wayne, who was to head up the brigade that would be formed with the camels to be purchased.
y›l›nda Bat›’da alt›n›n bulunmas›yla daha da önem kazand›. Bölgede yap›lacak yeni araflt›rmalar, nakliyat ve topraklar› savunmak Federal hükümete bir tak›m yeni zorluklar› da beraberinde getirdi. Texas’tan California’ya ulaflmak gerekiyordu.
The final photograph taken of Haci Ali taken in summer of 1896 by Mr.Ross from Phoenix, Arizona.
Hac› Ali’nin arflivlerde kalan son foto¤raf› da 1896 yaz›nda Phoenix’li Mr. Ross taraf›ndan çekildi.
VAHfi‹ BATIDAK‹ ‹ZM‹RL‹ DEVE ÇOBANI two camels as a gift, arranging for the Ottoman side to pay for the two animals. The US delegation, having bought 33 camels in total from Turkey, returned to the US, landing at in February 1856 at the Texas Port of Indianola. On that
M
eksika ile 1846-1848 y›llar› aras›nda yap›lan savaflta zafere ulaflan Birleflik Devletler, Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah, Coloroda ve New Mexico eyaletlerini ülke topraklar›na katt›. 529 bin square mil büyüklü¤ündeki yeni topraklar, 1849
Wayne ve Parker, Osmanl›’n›n K›r›m Savafl›’nda cephede kulland›¤› develeri yerinde inceledi. Dönemin padiflah› II. Abdülmecid’ten deve al›m›na izin vermesi ve kendilerine iki adet deve hediye etmesi için ricada bulundu. Padiflah paras› kendisi taraf›ndan ödenmek üzere heyete iki deve hediye etti. Osmanl› topraklar›ndan 33 deve sat›n alan ABD’li kurmaylar, fiubat 1856’da Texas’›n Port Indianola’daki liman›na döndü. M›s›r’dan, Mongolya’dan ve Anadolu’dan toplanan yaklafl›k 100’e yak›n deve yeni k›taya ayak bast›. HACI AL‹ (HI JOLLY) VE ARKADAfiLARI ‹fl develeri almakla bitmedi. Develerin dilinden anlayacak bak›c›lara da ihtiyaç vard›. Hac› Ali, George Caralambo ve arkadafllar› deve bak›c›lar› olarak Ame-
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day, nearly 100 camels, from Egypt, Mongolia, and Anatolia, set foot on US soil. HACI ALI AND HIS FRIENDS The purchase of the camels was not the end of this business however. There was an immediate need for camel herders who would "understand the language of the camels." Thus Haci Ali, George Caralambo, and a group of their friends were also hired and included on the American military ship "Supply." The person with the most interesting life story on the military ship "Supply" was doubtless Haci Ali, who had previously served the French military in Algeria. Haci Ali had been born of Greek and Syrian parentage in Izmir. His real name was Philip Tedro. After converting to Islam, he visited Mecca and changed his name to Haci Ali. Of all the camel herders who traveled with the US military expedition at this time, only George Caralambo (Greek George) and Haci Ali stayed on in the US afterwards. The rest all returned to their countries. Haci Ali, who educated the soldiers in the US Army on how to take care of the camels, and how to load them up, soon saw his name evolve into something entirely different, due to pronounciation. In time, he became "Hi Jolly." The camels that had been brought over were used on exploratory missions and in carrying goods, mail, and other items from Texas to the West. The exploratory mission called the "Beale Expedition" used these camels as carriers in the project to discover a passable road from Arizona to the Pacific. And Haci Ali worked as a camel herder during this expedition, earning $15 a month.
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Haci Ali, who continued to serve the US military from time to time, worked as a miner when not in service to the army, and finally became a US citizen in 1857. CAMELS AUCTIONED OFF Despite the fact that Defense Secretary John Floyd requested in 1858 that 1,000 more camels be purchased, this project never came to fruition. The final dissolution of the "Camel Military Corps" occured with the break out of Civil War between the North and the South in the US. Thus 46 of the camels that Haci Ali had looked after were sold at an open auction in February 1864, while the remaining 66 camels were auctioned off in March of 1866. Some of the camels were purchased by circus managers, while a few escaped into the deserts of theWest. Of those who escaped into the deserts, some were killed by miners, while others by hunters looking for wild animals to shoot. MARRIED LIFE Haci Ali, who kept a few of the auctioneed camels for himself, carried on transportation work with them between the Colorado River and the East Coast. Seeing that he was not making much of a profit, he left his remaining camels in the desert area around Gina Bend. In 1880, Haci Ali married Gertrude Serna in Tuscon, Arizona . Later, they moved to the town of Quartzsite in Arizona. There, they had two daughters, Amelia and Herminia. Despite the fact that Haci Ali returned to gather up the remaining camels in the Arizona town of Ajo, he was not able to attain his dream. Supported until his death by merchant Mike Welz and his friends, Haci Ali also asked Arizona Congressmen Mark Smith to help him receive a pension from the US Army,
rikan ordusu taraf›ndan Supply gemisinde ifle al›nd›. Gemide yer alanlardan en ilginç hikayeye sahip olan› ise daha önce Cezayir’de Frans›z ordusuna hizmet eden Hac› Ali’dir. Yunan ve Suriyeli ebeveynden ‹zmir’de dünyaya gelen Ali’nin, as›l ad› Phlip Tedro’ydu. ‹slamiyeti seçtikten sonra Mekke’ye hacca gitmifl, ismini Hac› Ali olarak de¤ifltirmiflti. Deve bak›c›lar›ndan sadece George Caralambo (Yunan George) ile Hac› Ali Birleflik Devletler’de kald›, di¤erleri bir süre sonra ülkelerine döndü. Orduda askerleri, develere nas›l yükleme yap›laca¤› konusunda e¤iten ve bak›c›l›k yapan Hac› Ali’nin ismi bir süre sonra zor teleffuzundan dolay› de¤iflti. Hac› Ali zamanla “Hi Jolly” oldu. Develer Texas’tan bat›ya eflya, posta, yük tafl›mada ve keflif gezilerinde kullan›ld›. “Beale Expedition” ad› verilen Arizona’dan Pasifik’e uzanan yolun keflfiyle ilgili projede develer tafl›mac›l›k yapt›. Hac› Ali de bu keflifte deve çoban› olarak ayl›k 15 dolara görev ald›. De¤iflik dönemler orduya hizmet eden Hac› Ali, ordudan ayr›ld›¤› dönemlerde de maden arad›, 1857’de Amerikan vatandafl› oldu.
A wedding photograph of Haci Ali and his wife, from Jane Eppinga's Images of America Tucson, Arizona book.
DEVELER AÇIK ARTIRMADA SATILDI 1858 y›l›nda Savafl Bakan› John Floyd 1000 adet daha deve al›nmas› için teklifte bulunsa da bu proje asla gerçekleflmedi. ABD’de Güney ile Kuzey aras›nda ç›kan iç savafl, “Camel Military Corps”un da¤›lmas› için de vesile oldu. Bir süre posta da¤›t›m›nda görev alan Hac› Ali’nin bak›m›n› yapt›¤› develerden 46’s› fiubat 1864’te, geriye kalan 66 deve de Mart 1866’da aç›k art›rmada sat›ld›. Develerin bir k›sm›n› sirk iflletenler sat›n ald›. Bir kaç› bat›daki çöllere kaçt›. Çölde sahipsiz kalan develerin kimi maden arayanlarca, kimi de avc›lar taraf›ndan vahfli hayvan muamelesi ile öldürüldü. EVL‹L‹K HAYATI Pazarlarda haraç mezat sat›lan develerden bir kaç›n› kendine saklayan Hac› Ali, Colorado Nehri’ndeki limanlar ile do¤u yakas› aras›nda tafl›mac›l›k yapt›. Yapt›¤› iflten fazla kar elde edemeyince de elinde kalan son develeri Gina Bend civar›ndaki çöle b›rakt›. Hac› Ali, 1880’de Tucson’da (Arizona) Gertrude Serna’yla evlendi. Daha sonra da Arizona’daki Quartzsite kasabas›na yerleflti. Amelia ve Herminia isimli iki k›z çocu¤u oldu. 1899’da hayatta kalan develeri
Jane Eppinga taraf›ndan yaz›lan Images of America Tucson Arizona kitab›nda dü¤ün resmine yer verilen Hac› Ali ve efli.
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but he was not successful in this endeavor. The dead body of Haci Ali was found clasping the neck of a camel. He had returned to the desert lands between the Colorado River and Wickenburg in search of his camels. Haci Ali was 73 years old when he died in 1902, and he believed that there were still a few camels roaming around in the region. In fact, the last "wild camel" was captured in Arizona in 1946. The very latest report of a "wild camel sighting" was noted in Baja, California in 1956. One of the camels that Haci Ali had looked after died in the Garfield Zoo in Los Angeles in 1934. This last camel was 80 when it finally died. HIS MEMORY LIVES ON IN FESTIVALS AND COUNTRY MUSIC Haci Ali, who had served as an exploration guide for the military, a camel herder, and a miner, had brought his children up as Muslims. As one of the most prominent figures in early explorations of the West, Haci Ali had also been a subject of American folk songs, and had also popped up in Hollywood films. A song by the New Christy Minstrels in the 1950s called "Hi Jolly the Camel Driver" was about Haci Ali's days as a camel tender. 33 years after Haci Ali's death, there was a pyramid-shaped monument to him built where he was buried in the Arizona town of Quartzsite. The monument was built by the Arizona Highway Department. Decorating the monument was a metal figure of a camel. Every year on January 10, there is still a memorial "Camelmania: Hi Jolly Daze Parade" which takes place in memory of Haci Ali, sponsored by the Quartzsite Chamber of Commerce. The tombstone at his grave reads "The final campsite of Hi Jolly."! 40 • TurkofAmerica
Gravesite of Haci Ali, in Hac› Ali'nin Arizona Quartzside, Arizona. Quartzside'daki mezar›.
tekrar toplamak için Arizona’n›n Ajo kasabas›na gittiyse de hayalini gerçeklefltiremedi. Ölene kadar tüccar Mike Welz ve arkadafllar›n›n destek oldu¤u Hac› Ali’ye, Arizona Kongre üyesi Mark Smith U.S. Army’den emekli maafl› ba¤lamak istedi ancak baflaramad›. Son olarak develerini bulmak için Coloroda River ile Wickenburg aras›ndaki çöllerde yola düflen Hac› Ali’nin ölüsü, bir devenin boynuna sar›l› olarak bulundu. 1902’de 73 yafl›nda ölen Hac› Ali, ölmeden önce bir kaç devenin hala civar bölgelerde dolaflt›¤›na inan›yordu. Nitekim son vahfli deve 1946’da Arizona’da yakaland›. Son olarak görüldü¤ü iddia edilen vahfli deve ise Baja, California’da 1956’da rapor edildi. Hac› Ali’nin bakt›¤› Osmanl› topraklar›ndan getirilen develerden biri de 1934’te Los Angeles’taki Garfield Hayvanat Bahçesi’nde 80 yafl›nda öldü. FEST‹VAL VE fiARKILARDA YAfiIYOR 30 y›la yak›n Amerikan ordusuna keflif eri, deve bak›c›s›, maden aray›c›s› olarak hizmet veren Hac› Ali, çocuklar›n› da müslüman olarak yetifltirdi. Bat›y› keflfe ç›kan öncülerden biri olarak Amerikan halk flark›lar›na, Hollywood filmlerine konu oldu. The New Christy Minstrels müzik grubunun 1950’lerde söyledi¤i “Hi Jolly the Camel Driver” Hac› Ali’nin develerle geçen günlerini anlat›r.
Inscription on Haci Ali's gravesite. Hac› Ali'nin mezar›ndaki yaz›.
Ölümünden 33 y›l sonra Arizona Highway Department Hac› Ali’nin mezar›n›n Quartzsite’da bulundu¤u alana bir piramit an›t yapt›rarak, üzerine de bir metal fliltten deve resmi koydu. Halen her y›l 10 Ocak’ta Hac› Ali’nin an›s›na “Quartzsite Chamber of Commerce” taraf›ndan geleneksel "Camelmania: Hi Jolly Daze Parade” ad›yla anma törenleri düzenleniyor. Mezara dikilen kitabede ise “Hi Jolly’nin son kamp› buras›d›r” yaz›yor. !
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THE FILM ON HACI ALI'S LIFE: THE HEROIC SHERIFF
The first news of Haci Ali's life was made public in Turkey in a newspaper article by journalist Murat Bardarci. The story caught the attention of Turkish filmmakers Cengiz Ketenci and Sahin Alparslan. These filmmakers, who struck an agreement with film scenario writer Yigit Guralp, then decided on Yucel Yolcu as their director. The film, which to include both Turkish and American actors, is still going through casting procedures in both Turkey and the US. The Turkish film production studio Istanbul Mass Media will be shooting the film on Haci Ali's life, to be entitled "Kahraman Serif," or "The Heroic Sheriff" in the historical Colorado town of Buckskin Joe. The film's American partner is Producer Group Studio's, from Colorado Springs. THE FILM’S STORY Producers of "The Heroic Sheriff" say they want to make an entertaining cowboy film, which is why they may not stay completely true to Haci Ali's life story. The real story of Haci Ali's life is going to come to the screen first as a documentary. The cinema film will be the next step, after this documentary. Shooting for "The Heroic Sheriff" will begin this July, and plans are to have the film in cinemas by early 2008. The film will tell the story of the journey from Ottoman lands to the US, as well as the stories of three Ottoman citizens, each different from one another, who accompany the camels. In the film scenario, the heroes (the three Ottoman citizens) bring the camels to Texas to sell them, and once there, the US government buys 29 of them, but refuses one of them based on its ill health. The three Ottoman citizens then return to the Ottoman Empire to bring back the payment for the 29 camels, and to return the one ill camel. But while sleeping on the banks of a river before returning, the three are robbed. Knowing that they can't return to tell the Ottoman Sultan this bad news, the three immediately go looking for the thieves in the nearest town. This town is a lawless place typical of the Wild West stories. The three Turks waste no time getting to work in this town, where the sheriff is an old man who has trouble enforcing the law. The three Turks are busy searching for their camels, while offering up big money for the bandits who stole their goods. They become the nightmare of the thieves, and the favorites of the elderly sheriff and his beautiful daughter. Just as they finally get back their money and are set to return though, the old sheriff is murdered, and the plans of the three Turks are disrupted. They accept the request by the sheriff's distraught daughter that one of them stay on as the new sheriff of the town.
HACI AL‹’N‹N F‹LM‹ KAHRAMAN fiER‹F OLARAK ÇEK‹L‹YOR
Hac› Ali’nin hikayesi ilk kez Türkiye’de tarihçi Murat Bardakç›’n›n gazetedeki sütununda yazmas›yla duyuldu. Hikaye, Türkiye’de yeni ak›m sineman›n temsilcileri yap›mc› Cengiz Ketenci ve fiahin Alparslan’›n dikkatini çekti. Türkiye’de geçen y›l›n ses getiren filmlerinden biri olan ve Jean-Claude Van Damme’›n da rol ald›¤› “S›nav” filminin senaristi Yi¤it Güralp’le anlaflan yap›mc›lar, yönetmen olarak da Yücel Yolcu’da karar k›ld›. Türk ve Amerikal› oyuncular›n birlikte rol alaca¤› filmin cast çal›flmalar› hem Türkiye’de hem de Amerika’da devam ediyor. Kahraman fierif adl› filmin çekimleri, flimdiye kadar 20 den fazla filme ev sahipli¤i yapm›fl Colorado’da “Buckskin Joe” isimli tarihi Western kasabas›nda yap›lacak. Filmin Amerikal› yap›m orta¤› ise Colorado Springs’den, Producer Group Studios. F‹LM‹N H‹KAYES‹ E¤lenceli bir kovboy filmi yapmak istediklerini söyleyen yap›mc›lar bu yüzden sinema filminde bu hikayeye birebir ba¤l› kalmayacak. Hac› Ali’nin hikayesi önce belgesel olarak ekranlara gelecek. Sinema filmi ise bir sonraki aflama. Çekimlerine Temmuz ay›nda bafllanacak Kahraman fierif’in, 2008 sömester döneminde vizyona girmesi planlan›yor. ABD’nin Osmanl› Devleti’nden deve siparifl etmesinden yola ç›k›larak kurgulanan film, develeri teslim etmesi için farkl› özelliklere sahip üç Osmanl›’n›n bafl›na gelen ilginç olaylar› anlat›yor. Filmde kahramanlar sat›fl ve teslimat› gerçeklefltirmek üzere develeri Texas’a ulaflt›r›r ancak 29 deveyi alan ve bedellerini ödeyen Amerikan Hükümeti 1 deveyi sa¤l›¤›n›n yerinde olmamas› gerekçesiyle almay› kabul etmez. Üç deveci Osmanl› Devleti’nin yani Padiflahlar›n›n emaneti olan bu 1 deveyi ve 29 devenin bedelini teslim etmek üzere tekrar memleketlerine do¤ru yola koyulurlar. Ancak yolda dinlendikleri bir nehir k›y›s›nda uyurlarken soyulurlar.
The Heroic Sherrif’ Kahraman fierif filminin film poster posteri.
The three Ottomans, before returning to their lands, face the final giant task of saving the town itself. Filmmaker Sahin Alparslan says that the fact that stories about the first Turks in America are not known very well made the idea of making this film even more attractive. Alparslan notes that the film gives a message of peace, justice and order, as the three Ottomans save the town they are in from bandits and lawlessness. He notes that the plans are to have "The Heroic Sheriff" enter cinemas in eight different countries simultaneously. Film scenario writer Yigit Guralp is of the belief that a new door into different realms has been opened, especially for those who think that Turkish films have run out of new topics. Guralp, who wrote the script for "Sinav," notes that while Western style films were shot in the Turkish film industry between 19651972, not one of them offered the kind of story that "The Heroic Sheriff" does. Cengiz Ketenci, another filmmaker, notes that civilizations are always shifting, and that it was important to tell the story of a country just trying to stand up on its legs during a period of the Ottoman Empire's decline. Ketenci, commenting on interest shown in Turkish-made films, said "Turkish cinema should return to its roots, and should bring stories that concern Turkey's own history to the viewers. The individuals who came out of the consumer society in the 1980s have returned to their origins."
Bu flekilde geri döndüklerinde bafllar›n›n vurulaca¤›n› çok iyi bilen 3 kafadar h›rs›zlar› bulmak için en yak›nlar›ndaki kasabaya kapa¤› atarlar. Buras› vahfli bat›n›n yoldan ç›km›fl kanunsuz ve belal› bir kasabas›d›r. Yafll› ve kanunu uygulamakta güçsüz kalan bir flerif ve onun güzeller güzeli k›z›n›n kol kanat gerdi¤i üç Türk vakit kaybetmeden ifle koyulur. Bir yandan develerini ararken bir yandan da yakalayana büyük paralar›n verilece¤i aranan haydutlar›n pefline düflerler. Paray› denklefltirip dönecekleri an flerifin öldürülmesiyle bütün planlar› alt üst olur, kasabal›n›n ve flerifin ac›l› k›z›n›n iste¤iyle içlerinden biri flerif olmay› kabul eder.
Dostluk, aflk, görev, sadakat ve vefa borcu gibi de¤erler aras›nda büyük bir çat›flma yaflayan üç Osmanl›y› ülkelerine dönmeden önce kasabay› kurtarmak gibi önemli bir s›nav daha beklemektedir. “YEN‹ B‹R KAPI ARALADIK” Filmin yap›mc›lar›ndan fiahin Alparslan, ABD’deki ilk Türklerin hikayelerinin çok iyi bilinmemesinin Hac› Ali’nin hayatan› daha da cazip k›ld›¤›n› söylüyor. Alparslan, üç Osmanl›’n›n yaflad›klar› kasabay› zorbal›ktan kurtard›¤›n›, adalet, bar›fl ve düzeni getirdi¤i mesaj›n› verecekleri filmin, sekiz ülkede birden sinemalarda gösterime girece¤ini ifade ediyor. Filmin senaristi Yi¤it Güralp, Türk sinemas›n›n konu s›k›nt›s› çekti¤ini düflünenler için yeni bir kap› aralad›klar› görüflünde. “S›nav” filminin de senaristli¤ini yapan Güralp, Türk sinemas›nda 1965-72 y›llar› aras›nda da Western tarz› filmler çekildi¤ini ancak konusu ve hikayesi aç›s›ndan hiç birinin Kahraman fierif’e benzemedi¤inin alt›n› çiziyor. Di¤er yap›mc› Cengiz Ketenci de medeniyetin sürekli yer de¤ifltirdi¤ini, Osmanl›’n›n ilerde oldu¤u y›llarda; ayaklar› üzerinde durmaya çal›flan bir ülkede yaflanan bir hikayeyi anlatmas› aç›s›ndan da önemli oldu¤una inan›yor. Ketenci, yerli filmlere ilginin artmas›yla ilgili olarak ise, “Türk sinemas› özüne dönmeli, mahallesinde geçen hikayeleri seyirciye ulaflt›rmal›yd›. 1980’li y›llardaki tüketim toplumunun fertleri özlerine döndü” diyor. TurkofAmerica • 41
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FROM EUROPE By Prof. Dr. Faruk Sen* sen@zft-online.de
A
THE AWAKENING IN ANKARA
s a result of the pressure from the non-governmental organizations in Europe, and also since the Turkish press’s European correspondents have been keeping track of the issue, the Ankara government has taken action in order to give voting rights to the Turkish citizens that live abroad. Considering the fact that there are 6,500,000 Turkish citizens living abroad, a number equal to 8% of the Turkish population have been denied their right to vote. In this regard, 4,200,000 emigrants of Turkish origin, who are the biggest political lobby living within the borders of the European Union, want the privilege of voting and have thrown their weight behind the measure. 2,440,000 Turkish citizens who are over 18 and therefore hold elector status, will have the right to vote in the elections that most probably will take place in November. This number is 25 thousand more than the number of electors from ‹zmir. Accordingly, when the European Union member states are considered as a new electoral district, 25 new parliamentarians from the European Union member states should join the Turkish parliament.
AWAKENING IN THE PARTIES The first party claiming to be the major proponent of the issue in Turkey has been DYP (True Path Party) and following its lead, the other two parties in the parliament, AKP (Unblemished Party) and CHP (Republican People’s Party) started to look into the matter. The assistant of the CHP (Republican People’s Party) of the present time, Onur Öymen, who took a negative attitude to the same subject during his ambassadorship in Bonn, was given the assignment to pioneer the subject. With luck, there will not be any setbacks or re42 • TurkofAmerica
versed forsaken decisions from the parties, and people will flock to the polls in Europe, as Prime Minister Tayyip Erdo¤an suggested. According to the compilations of The Center for Turkish Studies (TAM), if 3 poll places are installed in each of the 26 general consulates within the borders of the European Union, 2,440,000 people can vote very comfortably from Thursday to Sunday during the election week. Thus, the European Turks, that assume the duties of sending foreign assets and forming political lobbies, will have a voice in the elections also in Turkey for the first time. Subsequently, parties will not ever be able to state “we look after the European Turks!” by running any Turkish citizen from Europe as a candidate from their parties to show off self-indulgently. Instead of that, they will have to make specific additi-
met A¤ar, and Tayyip Erdo¤an will be seen more often in Europe. Another importance of this occasion is that the guest politicians will have the chance to meet with the party leaders and the leaders of the countries that they will visit. Consequently, Mehmet A¤ar, Devlet Bahçeli and Deniz Baykal, who have not had so many opportunities to meet with the foreign leaders up to now, will be going to Europe more. After compiling results from future research, in coming articles I will detail which parties have collected the greatest voter support, in the case of the European Turks who cast their votes. At last, parties are appearing on the field of combat for brave men. Party leaders will join the European arena together with their teams.!
ons to their election platforms suitable to the wishes of the European Turks. In this way, the people, who have had their money snatched by Islamic Holdings or wasted by the laborer enterprises for many years, will have the right to question the Turkish politicians by means of the politicians coming from among themselves. In reference to this, 8 newspapers publishing in Germany, and also 7 national European orientated transmitting television channels have made big contributions. The foremost has been Hürriyet Journal, the medium which in Europe has exposed how unreal the allegations, that had all along been put forward by the parties, like “the European governments do not allow the installation of polls...” are. In the next coming months, politicians like Devlet Bahçeli, Meh-
* Faruk Sen, Director of the Center for Studies on Turkey, in Essen, Germany.
If the election were held this Sunday, which political party would you vote for? 31,2
AKP 18,3
CHP 11,3
DYP
10,5
MHP 1,2
DEHAP SP
0,6
GP
0,4
ANAP
0,3 1,4
Sonstige
15,7
Ich würde nicht wählen 9,1
Ich weiß noch nicht 0
5
10
Ich würde nicht wählen: I don’t go to vote Ich weiß noch nicht: I have not decided yet Source: Türkiye Araflt›rmalar Merkezi Vakf›, Essen- Mart 2007
15
20
25
30
35
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WASHINGTON BACKSTAGE Ali Günertem agunertem@turkofamerica.com
T
he world’s natural resources are being consumed faster than nature can replenish them. The civilized world has finally realized the negative impact of this consumerism and started to implement the “Green” concept. What does this really mean? Being environmentally conscious and socially responsible, using organic methods in production, engaging in fair trade, respecting Mother Nature, going energy efficient, and helping local economies is what the green concept is all about. Today these words have escaped from the environmentalists’ dictionaries and become mainstream. Western culture and its way of living have long replaced the traditional ways of older cultures. In the last century, in the name of economic growth and benefits, Western capitalism has encouraged spending and wide-spread consumerism as never before in history. As the Western economy grew, its societies prospered. Due to many reasons such as colonialism, geography, politics, etc., many of the second or third world countries lagged behind this advancement. They, in turn, at the expense of their own ways in order to have similar if not the same economic benefits, tried to adapt to the western way of life. I believe that the Americanization of other societies is the direct result of this behavior. You would agree with me that sadly many Turkish traditions and old customs have been disappearing. Here is a great irony: In the past decade or so it’s been proven that the Western world’s demands have increasingly started to outgrow the earth and exceed planet earth’s natural resources. The scarcity of food and water, the falling water tables and rising temperatures are very serious and challenging problems that future generations will face. (The Oscarwinning documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” is a must-see) In 46 • TurkofAmerica
BAKKAL VS. SUPERMARKET the face of this scary scenario, the Western world has recently been taking responsible actions to reverse or at least slow down this downturn. Today Americans are more concerned about the future than at any time in history. Hurricane Katrina was a wake-up call. Even though this movement is still marginal, more Americans are now demanding green homes and sustainable, recycled and reusable household products. They are also looking for newer sustainable economies to be built as network of Local Living Economies, meaning they are searching for long-term economic empowerment and prosperity through local business ownerships. These new smaller but independent businesses create wealth by engaging local people in the production, marketing, and consumption of goods. In other words, Americans are willing for mom-and-pop shops to make a slow but sure comeback. There is an increasing pressure on big corporations to make eco-friendly products more available to customers. At the same time, there is also an incredible push to buy local products from local entrepreneurs who are getting their profits back, and in turn investing in their own local communities. Fresh Farm markets, specialized small organic shops, and individual coffee houses are great examples of how this new movement is on the rise. How many times have you complained about Starbuck’s coffee being too commercialized? Even its own CEO, Howard Shultz, whined about the loss of the familiar smell of its roasting coffee because of the faster automatic espresso machines that have replaced the traditional barista. Today, more restaurants are buying directly from fresh far-
mers’ markets rather than ordering from giant wholesale companies. People come to like buying from local groceries instead of going to huge soulless supermarkets. The survival of these small family operations is greatly important. Their survival will set up an example for many others to follow, and become operational too. If not for these smaller companies, big conglomerates may keep on swallowing the smaller ones. Do you see how there is a great hidden opportunity here for countries like Turkey? We are mostly but not totally Americanized, or westernized, so to speak. We still preserve our bakkal-kasap-manav (mom-and-pop shops)
culture. In recent years, giant supermarkets such as Carrefour and Migros have become part of daily life in urban areas. Turks prefer to shop at these mega stores. The biggest reason is undoubtedly the huge range of available goods. I respect that. However, having said that, I can’t stress enough the importance of keeping the bakkal culture alive. This is what has been supporting the local economy for ages. Today this is more essential than ever before. Now the civilized world is going back to basics because globalization has almost killed local economies. Today smart and responsible people are pushing back and trying to re-create local living. In Turkey local living is not dead but certainly going in that direction. Only smart societies learn from others’ mistakes. Blind followers follow to get hurt while smart ones draw their own conclusions. !
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INSECO
ew York - Some of the most frequent problems faced by people doing business in trade between the US and Turkey include trouble with the timely delivery of goods, the continued purchase of a product, and not making concessions on quality. Incorrect orders, a decline in the quality and nature of products shipped after the first order, a difference in business understanding: these all present headaches from time to time for people doing business in the US.
FRUSTRATION WITH A BUYER SPARKED THE CREATION OF A FACTORY At Inesco, the automotive and textile wings of the company share equal importance. Foto: Ayhan Kay
N
Inseco Inc., which was started up in 1984 in New York by Mike Behmoaras as a marketing firm for automotive spare parts, is one of those companies that has had to come up with new strategies based on its experience in the sector. Behmoaras, who was educated in England, started working in the automotive sector in 1979, when he arrived in America and began working in the export department of a large American company. His six years working in this department gave Behmoaras the opportunity to become familiar with South America and the Middle East market. Later, he worked in a rug company for two years. Mike Behmoaras' firm, Inesco, short for International Services Company, has now been in operation for the past quarter century in the New York market. Behmoaras' greatest support system and partner for the past 23 years in his business has been his wife, Lika Behar Behmoaras. Mike is repsonsible for the autmotive sector, while his spouse Lika is responsible for textiles. Inesco's textile wing started up in 1987, when, while trying to help out a friend, Inesco procured textiles from Turkish manufacturers to sell 48 • Turk of America
N
ew York - Zaman›nda mal teslimi, ürün tedarikinin devaml›l›¤›, kaliteden ödün vermeme Türkiye ile ABD aras›nda ticaret yapan ifladamlar›n›n s›kl›kla karfl›laflt›¤› sorunlard›r. ‹lk parti gelen maldaki kalite ve özenin daha sonraki gelenlerde olmamas›, hatal› siparifller, ifl anlay›fl›ndaki farkl›l›klar ço¤u kez ABD’de ifl yapanlar›n bafl a¤r›s› olur. 1984’te y›l›nda Mike Behmoaras taraf›ndan otomotiv yedek parças› pazarlamak üzere New York’ta faaliyete geçen Inseco, Inc., yaflanan ifl tecrübelerden yeni stratejiler gelifltirmek zorunda kalan firmalardan biri. ‹ngiltere’de e¤itimini tamamlayan Mike Behmoaras’›n otomotiv sektörüyle yollar› ABD’ye geldi¤i 1979 y›l›nda kesiflti. Oto yedek parça sat›fl› yapan büyük bir Amerikan firmas›nda ihracat bölümünde ifle bafllad›. Alt› y›l boyunca çal›flt›¤› firmada sat›fl yapt›¤› Güney Amerika ve orta do¤u pazar›n› yak›ndan tan›ma imkan› buldu. Daha sonra da bir hal› flirketinde iki y›l çal›flt›. Mike Behmoaras taraf›ndan kurulan, International Services Company’nin k›sat›lm›fl› olan Inseco, New York pazar›nda çeyrek yüzy›la yak›n bir zaman› geride b›rakt›.
Behmoaras' greatest support system and partner for the past 23 years in his business has been his wife, Lika Behar Behmoaras.
Mike Behmoaras’›n 23 y›ll›k flirket yönetiminde en büyük deste¤i ve orta¤› ise efli Lika Behar Behmoaras.
TEDAR‹KÇ‹S‹NE KIZDI FABR‹KA KURDU Inseco’da ifllerin a¤›rl›¤› otomotiv ve tekstil kollar›nda yar› yar›ya paylafl›lm›fl durumda.
Mike Behmoaras’›n 23 y›ll›k flirket yönetiminde en büyük deste¤i ve orta¤› ise efli Lika Behar Behmoaras. Otomotiv sektöründeki faaliyetlerden Mike, tekstil sektöründen ise Lika Behmoaras sorumlu. Inseco, 1987 y›l›nda bir arkadafla yard›m ederek bafllad›klar› tekstil kolunda Türkiye’deki üreticilerden tedarik etti¤i ürünleri Calvin Clein, DNKY, Liz Clairbonne, Victoria’s Secret, Bloomingdales, Bergdorf Goodman ve Lord & Taylor
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to famous clothing stores like Calvin Klein, DKNY, Liz Clairborne, Victoria's Secret, Bloomingdale's, Bergdorf Goodman, and Lord and Taylor's. The sales of textiles by Inesco, though begun as assistance to a friend who didn't know English, have become an important source of revenue for the company. THE SPARE PARTS FOR SOUTH AMERICA Due to the effect of American cars on the South American markets, European automotive companies like Renault and FIAT started decreasing their investments in this market. Behmoaras, who knew that there was a wide market for the production of spare parts for these types of cars in Turkey, thought to himself, "Why shouldn't the spare parts for these cars that are produced in Turkey be sold in the South American market?"
Following this, Ineso began to sell spare automotive parts in Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Ecuador, Columbia, Venezuela, and Brazil. The economic crisis which started in Brazil in 2001, though, meant a slow down for operations in South America.
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Behmoaras then entered into a joint project with a leading American automotive spare parts firm in the Istanbul free trade region of Tuzla. They began to produce spare parts in connection with an auto firing system implemented in Turkey and neighboring countries. Sales in the US of baggage shock absorbers began to help soften the blow of the economic problems they faced in the South American markets. The shock absorbers produced in the factory they set up one and a half years ago in Bursa are now on sale under their own name and marketing style at automotive spare parts sales points throughout the US, Middle East, and Europe. Behmoaras, who had previously experienced problems in the procurement and quality of spare automotive parts, solved his problems from the root: he set up a factory with a friend with whom he had once worked in the US, and who had returned to Turkey to live and work. The Bursa factory, which employs 30 people, is constantly raising the quality of its production according to customer need, and along with this, also raising its capacity.
"OUR DOOR IS OPEN"
For nearly 23 years, the Behmoaras pair has been working with both the US and Turkey, and they note that they can be of consulting help to people interested in opening up into the US market. Both Mike and Lika Behmoaras underscore the importance of the following pieces of advice for firms who want to try out the US market for the first time: * * * * * *
Get consulting advice from a source who knows the market. Rather than opening up and waiting for customers, work to get to know the market for at least two years. If you are going to open up an office, do so with someone who is familiar with the market. Try to get to understand the styles, likes and dislikes, habits, and needs of the American people. If necessary, make clothes for another firm until you get to know the market, and then establish a label of your own. Present your goods to the market only after testing the market first.
“KAPIMIZ AÇIK”
23 y›la yak›n zamand›r Türkiye ve ABD eksenli ifl yapan Behmoaras çifti, ABD pazar›na aç›lmak isteyenlere dan›flmanl›k, ofis yard›m› ve temsilcilik konular›nda yard›mc› olabileceklerini söylüyor. ABD’ye aç›lmak isteyen firmalara tavsiyelerde de bulunan Behmoaras çifti sat›fl yapabilmek için flu noktalar›n alt›n› çiziyor. * * * * * * *
Pazar› tan›yan birinden dan›flmanl›k hizmeti al›n. Ofis aç›p müflteri beklemek yerine en az iki y›l boyunca pazar› tan›maya çal›fl›n. Müflterinin aya¤›na gidin. Ofis açacaksan›z piyasay› bilen biriyle çal›fl›n. Amerikan halk›n›n be¤enisini, zevkini, al›flkanl›klar›n› ve ihtiyaçlar›n› anlayabilmek için çaba harcay›n. Gerekirse belli bir dönem fason üretim yap›p pazar› ö¤rendikten sonra markalaflma yoluna gidin. Ürünlerinizi piyasay› test ederek sunun.
gibi ABD’nin ünlü maza¤aza zincirlerine sat›yor. ‹ngilizce bilmeyen bir arkadafla yard›mla bafllayan tekstil pazarlamas›, bugün flirketin önemli bir gelir kayna¤› konumunda. GÜNEY AMER‹KA’YA YEDEK PARÇA Amerikan arabalar›n›n Güney Amerika pazar›ndaki etkisi Renault, FIAT gibi Avrupa kökenli flirketlerin de bu pazara yat›r›m yapmas›yla azald›. Ayn› markalar›n Türkiye’de de genifl bir yedek parça üretim imkan› bulunmas› Behmoaras’›n kafas›nda yeni bir flimflek çakt›rd›: “Neden Türkiye’de üretilen oto yedek parça ürünleri Güney Amerika pazar›na pazarlanmas›n?” Oto yan sanayiinde üretilen mallar› baflta Arjantin olmak üzere Uruguay, fiili, Ekvador, Colombia, Venezuela, ve Brezilya’da satmaya bafllad›. 2001 y›l›ndaki Arjantin kriziyle birlikte ifller ters dönünce, ABD ve Turkiye civari ulkeleri pazar›na yöneldi. Senelerdir ürünlerini pazarlad›¤›, halka aç›k, ve konusunda lider olan bir Amerikan oto yedek parça imalat flirketi ile, ‹stanbul, Tuzla serbest bölgesinde bir ortak giriflim yaparak, Türkiye ve civar ülkelere
yönelik oto ateflleme sistemleri ile ilgili oto yedek parça imalat›na bafllad›. ABD’de oto yedek piyasas›nda bagaj amortisörleri pazarlayarak G. Amerika’da yaflanan s›k›nt›lar› atmaya bafllad›. Yaklafl›k 1,5 y›l önce Bursa’da kurduklar› fabrikada yap›lan amortisörleri ABD, Orta Dogu, ve Avrupa genelinde kendi markalari, ve pazarlama sistemleri ile oto yedek parça sat›fl noktalar›nda sat›fla sunuyor. Daha önce oto yedek parça teminini yapt›¤› firmalardan mal tedari¤inde ve kalitesinde s›k›nt› yaflayan Behmoaras, sorunu kökten çözdü: ABD’de birlikte çal›flt›¤› ve Türkiye’ye dönüfl yapan bir arkadafl›yla ortak kendi fabrikas›n› kurdu. 30 kiflinin çal›flt›¤› Bursa’daki fabrikan›n üretim kapasitesi müflteri ihtiyaçlar› yönünde yükseliyor. Fabrika kapasitesi yükseldikçe, yeni müflteriler ile yeni kapasite kullan›l›yor, ve kapasite artt›r›m› devam ediyor. MARKASINI KURBAN VERD‹ Inseco’da ifllerin a¤›rl›¤› otomotiv ve tekstil kollar›nda yar› yar›ya paylafl›lm›fl durumda. Tekstilin patronu Lika Behmoaras, New York’a finans Turk of America • 49
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Foto: Ayhan Kay
INSECO
Inseco employees are together in New York office. Inseco çal›flanlar› New York ofisinde.
SHE SACRIFICES HER BRAND At Inesco, the automotive and textile wings of the company share equal importance. Lika Behmoaras, who runs Inesco's textile wing, finished her master's in financing in New York, after which she worked for a while in banking. Later, she created her own label, "Lyka Bear," and began selling to the children's textile market. She worked along with her partner, Sema Gunday, for 9 years to enlarge and develop the label, but when the textile company in Turkey that they had been procuring supplies from raised its prices dramatically, "Lyka Bear" was forced to close. Lika Behmoaras then began working for Inesco, her husband's company, in 1996. There are now 14 people working in Istanbul's Inesco office. The formation of the Turkish Inesco office follows a similar story to the formation of the factory at Bursa. Inesco decided to set up its own offices in Turkey for textiles after expe50 • Turk of America
riencing problems with orders that had declining levels of quality. This decision also meant that they could follow the chain of procurement more closely. The Turkish Inesco offices focus mostly on researching textiles, factory visits, and general quality control. Lika Behroamas sells textiles from many factories in Turkey to leading brand names in the US. She notes that she currently works with nearly 25 factories in Turkey. When asked whether the crisis that occurred in the automotive parts sector has emerged in terms of the "Chinese factor" in the textile sector, Lika Behroamas notes that her textile business stayed out of crisis by focusing on producing boutique items, and items that require extra work. She says, "By producing items which needed more specialty work and more detailing, we have proven ourselves." !
master›n› tamamlad›ktan sonra bir süre bankac›l›k yapt›. Sonra da “Lyka Bear” ismiyle kendi markas›n› yaratarak çocuk giyimine yönelik tekstil ürünleri sat›fl› yapt›. 9 y›l süreyle de markan›n büyümesi için orta¤› Sema Günday ile birlikte çal›flt› ancak Türkiye’den mal tedarik ettikleri fabrika ürün fiyatlar›nda fahifl art›fl yap›nca flirket sipariflleri baflka kanala kayd›ramad›¤› için kapanmak zorunda kald›. Lika Behmoaras, 1996 y›l›nda eflinin kurdu¤u Inseco’da ifle bafllad›. Halen sekiz kiflinin çal›flt›¤› Inseco’nun Türkiye ofisinde de 14 kifli çal›fl›yor. Türkiye ofisinin kurulufl hikayesi de Bursa’daki oto yedek parça fabrikas›n›nki ile benzer özellikte. Tekstil ürünleri tedarik eden firma dördüncü sipariflte kaliteyi bozunca, kalite ve tedarik zincirinin takibi için Türkiye ofisi kurul-
mas› kaç›n›lmaz oldu. Türkiye’deki ofis daha çok malzeme araflt›rmas› kalite kontrolü ve fabrika ziyaretleri konusunda yo¤unlafl›yor. Türkiye’de bir çok fabrikan›n tekstil ürünlerini ABD’nin önde gelen markalar›na pazarlayan Lika Behmoaras, Türkiye’de portföyünde 25’e yak›n fabrika oldu¤unu söylüyor. Pazarlamas› yap›lan ürünler aras›nda mayodan iç çamafl›r›na, t-shirt’ten havluya kadar pek çok çeflit bulunuyor. Otomotivde yaflanan krizin tekstilde Çin faktörüyle kendisini gösterip göstermedi¤i sorusunu, butik ve üzerinde emek harcanmas› gereken ürünler üreterek aflt›klar› fleklinde cevapl›yor. “Daha fazla emek ve özellik gerektiren mallar› üreterek fark›m›z› ispat ediyoruz” diye konufluyor.!
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BOOKS & EVENTS
Handbook for Living Türkiye'ye Yerleflenler in Turkey ‹çin Rehber
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ver thought of moving to Turkey but weren't quite sure what living there would be like? Coming to Turkey for work and wonder how easy it will be to adapt and what you may be unable to find? Already living in the country but feeling bamboozled by paperwork? This is the book for you. Written by the co-author of Lonely Planet Turkey and drawing on the experiences of expats from all around the country, A Handbook for Living in Turkey sets out to unravel the mysteries of being a foreign resident in a country whose language and culture are very different from those of most of its new settlers. From buying and restoring a house to writing a will, this book examines every aspect of everyday life in Turkey and offers practical ideas for making it easier. Each chapter comes with word lists to help non-Turkish-speakers navigate the system, while the appendices are a treasure-trove of addresses and contact details for everything from estate agents and relocators to pet shops and tennis clubs. !
T
ürkiye'ye tafl›nmay› düflündü¤ünüz ama Türkiye’de yaflaman›n nas›l bir tecrübe olaca¤›yla ilgili endiflelendi¤iniz zamanlar oldu mu? Türkiye'ye gitmek, çal›flmak ve uyum sa¤lamak; tüm bu düflünceleri akl›n›zdan geçiriyorsan›z, iflte bu kitap tam size göre. Lonely Planet Turkey'in yazarlar›ndan biri olan Pat Yale, deneyimlerini “A Handbook for Living in Turkey” ile birlikte herkesle paylafl›yor. Bu kitap dilini bile bilmedi¤iniz baflka bir ülkede yaflaman›n neye benzedi¤ini, ayr›nt›l› bir flekilde anlatarak aç›k bir rehber olma özelli¤i tafl›yor. Türkiye'de bir ev sat›n al›p restore etmekten komfluluk iliflkilerine, e¤itim sisteminden, hastanelere kadar pek çok konuya de¤inerek, günlük hayat içerisinde kullan›labilecek pratik bilgiler sa¤l›yor. Çitlembik Yay›nlar› taraf›ndan yay›mlanan kitap Türkiye'de yaflamay› hayal eden ya da burada mülk edinmeyi düflünen herkesin okumas› gereken bir kitap.!
ABOUT THE BOOK / K‹TAP HAKKINDA Written by/ Yazar: Pat Yale Illustrations by/ Çizimler: Trici Venola Pages / Sayfa Say›s›: 584 pages Publisher / Yay›nc›: Citlembik Publications (April 15, 2007) Language, Price / Dil, Fiyat: English / $16.50 ISBN-10: 9944424064 ISBN-13: 978-9944424066 To buy / Sat›n Almak ‹çin: http://www.nettleberry.com /or www.amozon.com 52 • TurkofAmerica
Turkish Scientists Come Together at Yale
Türk Bilimadamlar› Yale'de Bulufltu
T
T
New Target of Investments
Yeni Yat›r›mlar›n Hedefi
T
T
he Turkish Scientists and Academics Association (TASSA) held their third annual conference recently at Yale University. The main theme of the March 24-25 conference was "For a Better World: Energy, Environment, Nutrition, and Health," and it brought together a large group of academics from both the US and Turkey. The opening speech at the New Haven, CT conference was made by TASSA President Süleyman Göko¤lu. The US Ambassador to Ankara, Ross Wilson, and the Turkish Ambassador to Washington, Nabi fiensoy, were both present at the opening. (Ali Ç›nar – CT) !
"
ürk Amerikan Bilim Adamlar› ve Akademisyenleri Derne¤i (TASSA)’n›n 3. y›ll›k konferans› Yale Üniversitesi’nde yap›ld›. 24-25 Mart tarihlerinde yap›lan konferans›n ana temas› "Daha ‹yi Bir Dünya ‹çin: Enerji, Çevre, Besin ve Sa¤l›k” olurken, ABD ve Türkiye’den pek çok akademisyen panelde bulufltu. Connecticut'un New Haven flehrinde yap›lan konferans›n aç›l›fl konuflmas›n› TASSA Baflkan› fiüleyman Göko¤lu yapt›. Ankara'n›n ABD Büyükelçisi Ross Wilson ve Türkiye Washington Büyükelçisi Nabi fiensoy da konferans›n aç›l›fl›nda haz›r bulundu. (Ali Ç›nar, CT)!
urkey: New target of direct investments and private investment funds" conference was held by The American Turkish Society and Turkish-U.S. Business Council (TAIK) / DEIK at St. Regis Hotel in New York.
ürk Amerikan ‹fl Konseyi (TA‹K) ve Amerikan Türk Cemiyeti (ATS), taraf›ndan düzenlenen ''Türkiye: Do¤rudan Yat›r›mlar›n ve Özel Yat›r›m Fonlar›n›n Yeni Hedefi'' konulu konferans New York St Regis Otel’de gerçeklefltirildi.
Turkish State Minister Ali Babacan, Nick Rohatyn, CEO & CIO of Rohatyn Group, Turkish-American Business Council (TAIK) Chairman Ferit Sahenk and American-Turkish Society (ATS) Chairman Murat Koprulu and several speakers addressed nearly 200 American investors and senior business executives from Turkey at the conference. The conference was sponsored by leading American companies with operations in Turkey, Merrill Lynch & Co., Baker & McKenzie LLP, and AIG. (AA, NY)!
Devlet Bakan› Ali Babacan, Rohatyn Group CEO & CIO’su Nick Rohatyn, TA‹K Baflkan› Ferit fiahenk, ve ATC Baflkan› Murat Köprülü’yle birlikte konuflmac›lar 200’e yak›n yat›r›mc› ve uzman› bilgilendirdi. Konferans›n sponsorlu¤unu Merrill Lynch & Co., Baker & McKenzie LLP, ve AIG yapt›. (AA, NY)!
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BRIDGES OF HOPE
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DON'T BE "LESS" THAN HOPE "FULL"!
ridges of Hope Foundation founders Cigdem Acar, of Acar Law Firm PLLC, Huseyin Unver of Sabanci Holding's New York-based Exsa Inc., and Mehmet Uca of Dynasty Gold and Silver were able to arrange for financial support for the building of libraries in five different Turkish primary boarding schools (YIBO, or Elementary Level Local Boarding Schools) in 2006 alone. Up until now, the foundation has, with the funds it has raised, been able to pioneer the opening of 13 libraries in schools across Turkey, along with one "brain development" game room for children. The Bridges of Hope Project reaches its destinations, schools in Turkey, through the Turkish Primary School Assisatance Foundation, or ILKYAR (www.ilkyar.org.tr). Thus far, three schools in Mersin, two each in Adiyaman, Samsun, and Sinop, and one each in Tokat, Diyarbakir, Amasya, and Denizli have been helped by Bridges of Hope. In addition, the foundation opened a "brain developing" game room for youngsters in Sinop. By the end of 2007, Bridges of Hope aims to set up a total of 24 school libraries. Lale Deliveli, who is working on organizing foundation activities, notes that the foundation shares information openly about the funds they have raised on their internet site, and that one library could be set up with 1,430 dollars. People who donate 1,430 dollars or more can choose which school they would like to help, and the library which gets set up is opened in their name. Also, letters from donors encouraging the children will be hung on the school's walls, if the donor chooses. In the first half of 2006, Bridges of Hope raised $5,500, and at a fund-raising gathering held at the 54 • TurkofAmerica
Marmara Manhattan hotel in November 2006, was able to raise $18,000. Around 80 people participated in this drive to raise funds. During its November 2006 drive for funds, Bridges of Hope received its biggest boosts from The American Turkish Society, which donated $3,130 for the setting up of three libraries in Turkish schools, as well as from Dr.Metin Taskin, who contributed $2,200, and businessman Murat Agirnasli, who made a contribution of $1,000. In addition to its assistance for schools, the Bridges of Hope Project has also signed off on another first for a foundation of Turks based in the US: it was able to raise $5,000 in funds in the name of a much-loved member of the Turkish community in the US, Tanel Demiray, who died of cancer last year. Demiray had been the owner of the New York Bagel Shop in New York, as well as the CEO of Tanel Computer Consultants. !
FOR CONTACT-KONTAK ‹Ç‹N
Bridges of Hope Project, Inc. 404 Park Avenue South 16 th Floor New York, NY 10016 For detailed information: www.bridgesofhopeproject.org
To contact:
info@bridgesofhopeproject.org
YA ÜM‹T S‹ZS‹N‹Z YA DA ÜM‹TS‹ZS‹N‹Z!
A
car Law Firm PLLC’in kurucusu Avukat Çi¤dem Acar, Sabanc› Holding’in New York’taki flirketi Exsa Inc.’in genel müdürü Hüseyin Ünver ve Dynasty Gold and Silver flirketinin sahibi Mehmet Uca taraf›ndan kurulan Bridges of Hope, sadece 2006 y›l›nda Türkiye’deki befl yat›l› ilkö¤retim bölge okulunda (YIBO) (Elementary Level Local Boarding Schools) kütüphane kurulmas›na maddi destek sa¤lad›. Vak›f bugüne kadar toplanan yard›mlarla 13 kütüphane bir zeka gelifltirici oyun odas›n›n aç›lmas›na öncülük etti.
teki sitelerinde paylaflt›klar›n›, 1430 dolara bir kütüphane kurulabildi¤ini söylüyor. 1430 dolar ve üzerinde yard›m yapanlar, yard›m edecekleri okulu kendileri belirleyebiliyor ve kitapl›k onlar›n ad›na aç›l›yor. Ayr›ca çocuklara hitaben teflvik edici yaz›lar› okula as›labiliyor.
Bridges of Hope Project, Türkiye’de ‹lkö¤retim Okullar›na Yard›m Vakf› (‹LKYAR) (www.ilkyar.org.tr) vas›tas›yla yard›mlar› okullara ulaflt›r›yor. Yard›m edilen okullar aras›nda Mers›n’de 3,Ad›yaman, Samsun ve Sinop’ta ikifler, Sinop’ta ayr›ca zeka gelifltirici çocuk oyun odas›, Tokat, Diyarbak›r, Amasya ve Denizli’de birer okul bulunuyor.
Kas›m 2006’daki yard›m kampanyas›nda en büyük yard›m› 3,130 dolar ile New York’ta kurulu The American Turkish Society üç okula kütüphane yap›lmas› için yaparken, Dr. Metin Taflk›n 2200 dolar, ifladam› Murat A¤›rnasl› 1000 ile gerçeklefltirdiler. Ayr›ca vak›f geçti¤imiz aylarda yakaland›¤› kanser hastal›¤›na yenik düflen Türk Amerikan cemiyetinin sevilen isimlerinden Tanel Demiray ad›na $5,000 kadar bir ba¤›fl topland›. Demiray New Hyde Park’taki New York Bagel Stop’›n sahibi, Tanel Computer Consultants flirketinin yönetim kurulu baflkan›yd›. !
Bridges of Hope Project 2007 y›l sonuna kadar kütüphane kuracaklar› okul say›s›n› 24’ye ulaflt›rmay› planl›yor. Etkinliklerinin organizasyonunda görev alan Lale Deliveli, toplad›klar› yard›mlar› fleffaf bir flekilde internet-
Bridges of Hope, 2006 y›l›n›n ilk yar›s›nda 5,500 dolar, Kas›m 2006’da Marmara Manhattan’da yap›lan yard›m toplant›s›nda 18,000 dolar toplamay› baflard›. Yard›m kampanyas›na yaklafl›k 80 kifli kat›ld›.
Lale Deliveli and Burcu Islam delivering Lale Deliveli and Burcu ‹slam son yard›m the proceeds of their fundraising to kampanyas›nda toplanan paralar›n çekini mali ifllerden Huseyin Unver, our treasurer. sorumlu üyesi Hüseyin Ünver’e teslim ederken.
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ROBERT COLLEGE
GRADUATES WHOSE HEARTS STILL LIE ON THE BANKS OF THE BOSPHORUS
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restaurant on New York's Madison Avenue.....There are around 40 people between the ages of 25 and 70 near the entrance to the restaurant, in the bar area, talking and reminiscing. What has brought them together is that they are all graduates of Robert College (RC). And the reason they have come to this particular restaurant is that the owner too is a graduate of RC. RC was founded in Istanbul on a ridge overlooking the Bosphorus in 1863 by two men, Christopher Rhinelander Robert and Cyrus Hamlin.
there is a traditional "Young Graduates Dinner." The New York based alumni group also contributes to fund raising efforts for the Istanbul school. The current head of the New York RC graduates group is Mete Tuncel, who works in New York's financial sector. Volkan Kukrer, who graduated from RC in 1995, describes the pleasure he has gotten from being able to see fellow graduates in New York, after moving to this city from Pittsburg, PA, where he lived for 10 years, and
KALPLER‹ BO⁄AZ SIRTLARINDA KALAN MEZUNLAR
N
ew York’ta Madison Avenue üzerinde bir restoran... Mekan›n giriflindeki bar k›sm› yafllar› 25 ile 70 yafl›nda aras›nda de¤iflen 40’a yak›n kifli sohbet edip hasret gideriyor. Onlar› biraraya getiren neden, hepsinin Robert Koleji mezunu olmalar›. Mekan›n seçilme nedenlerinden en önemlisi de mekan›n sahibinin de kolej mezunu olmas›. Hay›rsever Christopher Rhinelander Robert ve Cyrus Hamlin taraf›ndan 1863'te ‹stanbul’un bo¤az s›rtlar›nda kurulan Robert Koleji’nin bugün ABD’de
There are an estimated 2,000 graduates of RC living in the US today (www.rcaaa.org) . This group of graduates has come together, regardless of age and profession, to talk and reminisce about the ties they share with each other. One of the Robert graduates at this New York evening announces "Actually, we are all the same age." Receiving some surprised looks, he explains "I mean, at these meetings, we are all the age we were when we graduated from school." One of the oldest graduates of RC at this meeting is Senih Fikrig, who graduated in 1946. After retiring as a doctor in New York, Fikrig describes the excitement of meeting up with fellow graduates from 50 years ago recently on the southern coastline of Turkey. In fact, RC maintains an office in the US to serve its graduates living there. Graduate Oya Nuzumlali runs the US office, making her the first graduate of the school to work full time in this office. Members of the RC alumni group pay a $20 fee annually, and come together once in the spring and once in the fall, when
ayn› yafltay›z asl›nda” diyor. fiaflk›n bak›fllar karfl›s›nda da “Yani hepimiz okuldan mezun oldu¤umuz yafltay›z bu toplant›larda” diye ekliyor. Aralar›nda en eski mezun 1946 mezunu olan Senih Fikri¤. New York’ta doktor olarak görev yapt›ktan sonra emekliye ayr›lan Fikri¤, geçti¤imiz y›llarda 50 y›l önceki mezunlar›n Türkiye’nin güney sahilindeki buluflmalar›n› anlat›yor heyecanla. Robert Koleji’nin ABD’deki mezunlar›na yönelik hizmet veren bir de ofisleri var. Ofisteki iflleri ise okulun 2002 mezunu Oya Nuzumlal› yürütüyor. ‹lk kez okuldan bir mezun New York ofisinde tam mesai çal›fl›yor. Y›ll›k 20 dolar ödeyerek derne¤e üye olan üyeler, y›lda bir kez bahar yeme¤inde, bir kez de sonbaharda “Young Alumni Dinner” ad›yla yap›lan yemekte biraraya geliyor. ‹stanbul’da okulun yapt›¤› y›ll›k yard›m kampanyalar›na üyeler New York’tan da para yard›m›nda bulunuyor.
where there were far fewer Turks. Says Kukrer, "Even though I am not a very social person, I try to get to these alumni meetings." Of the estimated 2,000 RC graduates living in the US, 1,200 are registered with this group. !
FOR CONTACT
yaklafl›k 2000’e yak›n mezununun yafl›yor. ABD’nin de¤iflik köflelerinde yafl ve kuflak fark›na bak›lmaks›z›n biraraya gelen mezunlar, eski günleri yad edip hasret gideriyorlar. New York’taki geceye kat›lan mezunlardan birisi “Hepimiz
KONTAK ‹Ç‹N
Robert College Alumni Association of America (RCAAA) www.rcaaa.org Robert Kolej New York Office Oya Nuzumlal› Tel: 212 843 5550 Onuzumlal›@robcol.org
fiu anki derne¤in baflkanl›¤›n› ise New York’ta finans sektöründe çal›flan Mete Tuncel yap›yor. 10 y›l Pittsburg, Pennsylvania’da yaflad›ktan sonra geçen y›l New York’a tafl›nan IT uzman› 1995 mezunu Volkan Kükrer, çok da Türk arkadafl› olmad›¤› Pitsburg’tan New York’a gelmenin kendisi için büyük de¤iflim ve mutluluk oldu¤unu söylüyor. “Çok da sosyal bir yan›m olmasa da, mezunlar›n toplant›s›nda gelmeye gayret ediyorum” diyor. ABD genelinde 2000’e yak›n Robert Koleji mezunun yaklafl›k 1200’ü derne¤e kay›tl›. ! TurkofAmerica • 55
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KERKUK Ali Kocak
THE REALITY OF THE TURKMEN POPULATION IN IRAQ The dilemma of the Turkmen population in Iraq has become a real irony. Although in the era of post Saddam Hussein, Iraq’s ethnic and sectarian diversity has become well-recognized in the United States and in the world, the Turkmens are being slipped off the pages despite their claim of being the third largest nationality in Iraq, and they are banging on the door for national recognition and self - determination. On the one hand, the Turkmens claim that their population in Iraq is more than 3 million (13% of Iraq’s population); but on the other hand most of the major media and the scholars in the United States present them in very diverse numbers ranging anywhere from 100 thousand to a million [Graham Fuller, 72 Foreign Affairs, 121 1992-1993], or up to 1.5 million [Inquiry Magazine, February 1987 London]. This ambiguity and the diversity in the numbers makes us wonder and ask what is the reality of the Turkmens and their population in this melting pot which makes up Iraq’s diverse ethnic and sectarian mixture. The reality of this diverse distribution and the share of the Turkmens in this mixture have long been suppressed throughout the years. The Turkmens claim further that even in the post Saddam era, for intentional and unin58 • TurkofAmerica
tentional reasons, they have been undercounted and their significant presence in Iraq has been forgotten. To understand the reality of the Turkmens in Iraq and the source of their claim, one may need to consider reviewing some historical facts: In accordance with decisions made during the Lausanne Treaty, a Committee was established to investigate the Social, Economic and the Ethnic structure of the Mosul Province. The established Committee concluded with the following reports: The only official newspaper published in Kirkuk was in Turkish. British political officers, among the local languages, were able to speak only in Turkish. The population of Altinkopru, Tuzhurmatu, Taze hurmatu and the 75% of Karetepe were inhabited by Turkmens. The population of Taze hurmatu and Tavuk were made up of Turkmens, though in the villages there were some Kurdish inhabitants. The commission, in their report, also considered and reflected observations made by British traveler Oliver in 1809 about the area. Based on the observations, the Committee reported that the distribution of the population in the Mosul Province was as follows [Dr.Faz›l Hüseyin, Musul Meseles (Mosul issues), S.95 Baghdad 1967]:
Christian: 7000 - 8000 Jews: 1000 Arabs: 25000 Kurds: 15000 -16000 Turkmens: 15000 -16000 The first draft and the original constitution of Iraq were written in three languages: Arabic, Kurdish and Turkish. According to article 74 of Iraq’s constitution, published in 1931, Turkish should be the court language in areas in which the Turkmen population is in majority. The first census in Iraq was conducted in 1947 and it showed a population of 4, 816, 185 [The New York Times, September 14, 1957] However, the first census which included the ethic structure of Iraq was conducted in 1957 and showed the total population of Iraq as 6,300,000, while the Turkmen population was estimated to be 567,000 [Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, Volume 24, Number 2, October 2004, pp. 309-325(17)].
Population density per square kilometer was: 42 person /km2 Average Birth rate: 4.5% Average population increase: 3.7% Average births per woman: 7 children Death rate: 0.87% In reference to the statistical data provided above, Iraq’s population was estimated to increase from (11, 505,000) in 1976 to (18,100,000) in 1988 [Iraq’s Ministry of Planning]. Based on these data and projections for the years 1921, 1926, 1947, 1957, 1959, and 1965, the estimated percentages of Iraq’s ethnic structure were as follows: Christians: 3% , Turkmens: 16%, Kurds: 18%, Arabs: 63%. The distribution of ethnic groups in Iraq’s total population (18,100,000) in the year 1988 was estimated as below: Christians: 546,000 Turkmens: 2,880,000 Kurds: 3,240,000 Arabs: 11,444,000
After the “1958 revolution”, the new government estimated the Turkmen population, based on 1957 census results, to be 570,000 and in 1965, according to Iraq’s Ministry of Planning, Department of Statistics, the Turkmen population was estimated to be 780,000.
In accordance with the data presented by Iraq’s Ministry of Planning, the population of Iraq in the year 2000 was shown to be 20,000,000. Based on this figure and the previous estimation, the Turkmen population in the year 2000 was estimated to be 3, 200,000.
According to the statistical data provided by the Iraqi Government, Iraq’s life statistical results showed the following:
15% of this population inhabits Arbil and 85% live in Kirkuk and Mosul, with some in Baghdad.!
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ISBI
SMALL IN SIZE BIG IN VOLUME
F
Despite ranking as the smallest in terms of square meter area, the free trade zone at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport retains its position as most efficient in terms of per square meter trade volume, investments, and personnel numbers. In the past ten years, the trade volume of Istanbul AHL Free Zone has surpassed thirty billion dollars, with the volume for 2006 standing at 3.22 billion dollars. This means that the trade volume of the Istanbul AHL Free Trade Zone accounts for 13% of the total volume of Turkey's 21 free trade zones. A total of 3845 companies are operating in Turkey's free trade zones, with 455 companies at Istanbul AHL, representing foreign trade companies from twenty different sectors and employing almost 2000 personnel. We talked to Selçuk Türk, the general manager of the ‹SB‹ Corporation (the company that oversees operations at the Istanbul A›rport Free Zone) about the general state of free trade zones in Turkey and their future expectations. What kinds of advantages does the competition among the free trade zones in Turkey bring for investment companies? Istanbul is home to three of the twentyone free trade zones in Turkey (this number increases to five if 60 • TurkofAmerica
Foto: Necdet Köseda¤
ree trade zones were first introduced to Turkey's commercial life in the 1980s and since then the number of such free zones has grown to twenty-one. By the end of 2006, the total trade volumes of these zones had surpassed 2.8 billion dollars. With three separate zones, Istanbul ranks as the province with the most free trade zones.
In the past ten years, the trade volume of Istanbul AHL Free Zone has surpassed thirty billion dollars, with the volume for 2006 standing at 3.22 billion dollars.
Selçuk Tür
KEND‹ KÜÇÜK HACM‹ BÜYÜK Son 10 y›ll›k dönemde toplam ticaret hacmi 30 milyar dolar› geçen ‹stanbul AHL Serbest Bölgesi’nde 2006 y›l› ticaret hacmi 3,22 milyar dolara ulaflt›.
S
erbest bölgeler 1980’li y›llarla birlikte girdi Türkiye’nin ticari hayat›na. Geçen süre zarf›nda ülke genelinde say›lar› 21’e ç›kt›. Toplam ticaret hacimleri de 2006 y›l› sonu itibariyle 23.8 milyar dolara ulaflt›. ‹stanbul üç serbest bölge ile en fazla serbest bölgeye sahip il konumunda. ‹stanbul Atatürk Havaliman› Serbest Bölgesi, 21 serbest bölge aras›nda alan olarak en küçük serbest bölge olmas›na ra¤men ticaret hacmi, yat›r›m ve istihdam olarak metre kare bafl›na en verimli serbest bölge olma özelli¤ini koruyor. Son 10 y›ll›k dönemde toplam ticaret hacmi 30 milyar dolar› geçen ‹stanbul AHL Serbest Bölgesi’nde 2006 y›l› ticaret hacmi 3,22 milyar dolara ulaflt›. ‹stanbul AHL Serbest Bölgesi, Türkiye’deki 21 serbest bölgenin toplam ticaret hacminin %13’ünü karfl›l›yor. Serbest bölgelerde faaliyet gösteren 3845 flirketin, 455’i ‹stanbul AHL’de yer al›rken, 20 farkl› sektörden d›fl ticaret firmalar› faaliyetlerini sürdürüyor ve yaklafl›k 2.000 kifli istihdam ediliyor. Türkiye’deki serbest bölgelerin mevcut durumu ve gelece¤i ile ilgili ‹SB‹ A.fi. Genel Müdür Selçuk Tür, sorular›m›z› cevapland›rd›. Türkiye'deki serbest bölgeler aras›ndaki rekabetin, yat›r›mc› firmalara sa¤lad›¤› avantajlar nelerdir? ‹stanbul, Türkiye'deki toplam 20 serbest bölgenin üçünü s›n›rlar› içinde bulunduruyor. (TÜB‹TAK ve Avrupa serbest bölgelerini de sayd›¤›m›zda bu say› befl oluyor.) ‹flletici firma olarak bunun size sa¤lad›¤› rekabet anlam›nda avantaj ve zorluklar nelerdir?
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we count the free trade zones of TÜB‹TAK and the European Free Trade Zone). As the managing company, what kinds of advantages and disadvantages does this competition entail for you? Free trade zones are among Turkey's least competitive sectors for investors, but rather than providing investors with price advantages that are inherent in competition, the basic structure of these free trade zones provides a different set of advantages. While some of the free trade zones are quite distant from city centers and develop into centers for manufacturers, the Istanbul Ataturk Airport Free Trade Zone is in close proximity to the city center, airport, main ground transportation corridors and ports. Its location at that very heart of Turkey's trade activities appeals primarily to purchasing and sales companies and to high tech companies engaged in the production of computer software. It is for this reason that each manufacturer selects a free trade zone that best complies with its own structure in terms of finan-
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cial, commerical and logistical advantages. Based on 31 January 2007 statistics, 388 foreign companies operating in the purchasing and sales fields and only 171 foreign manufacturing companies had operations in any of Turkey's free trade zones. Do you think this is a reasonable number, taking into consideration the size of Turkey's market and its proximity to neighboring markets? The ratio of foreign investors active in the free trade zones is no less than the ratio of foreign investors active within Turkey itself. Unfortunately, if we want to attract foreign investments to Turkey we have to do more than simply offer than a package of financial advantages. In particular, we have to provide such companies with a stable economy and political structure and we have to remove certain bureaucratic barriers. In the last ten years the volume of direct foreign investment in China and India topped 1 trillion dollars. Companies from develo-
DEVELOPMENTS IN THE ZONE WITH ISBI ‹SB‹’DEK‹ GEL‹fiMELER Usable closed area / Kullan›labilir kapal› alan Amounts of investment (US$) / Yat›r›m Miktar› Business volume (US$) /
01.07.1996
01.03.2007
7,297 sqm
58,870 sqm
3,500,000
40,000,000
512,000,000
3,220,486.000
‹fl Hacmi Total Area / Toplam Alan Firms located in the zone / Firma Say›s› Number of personnel Çal›flan Say›s›
(year 2006) 40,000 sqm
180,152 sqm
146
455
368
1947
Trading volume for (x1.000US$) / Ticaret Hacmi 2006
Total number of the users in the year 2006 / Toplam Firma 2006
The free zones / Serbest Bölgeler
23,824,029
3,845
Istanbul AAFZ / ‹stanbul AHL
3,220,486
455
14%
12%
The proportion of the AAFZ ‹stanbul AHL Pay›
Türkiye’ de rekabetin en az yafland›¤› sektörlerden biri olan serbest bölgeler yat›r›mc›lara, rekabetten kaynaklanan fiyat avantaj› yerine serbest bölgelerin yap›lanmas›ndaki farkl›l›klardan kaynaklanan avantajlar› sunmaktad›r. Kimi serbest bölgeler flehir merkezinden uza¤a konufllanm›fl olup üretici firmalar için sanayi merkezleri olurken, ‹stanbul Atatürk Havaliman› Serbest Bölgesi ‹stanbul merkezine, havaliman›, otoyol ve limanlara yak›nl›¤› ile Türkiye ticaretinin en yo¤un oldu¤u alanda konufllanmas› nedeniyle öncelikle al›msat›m firmalar›na ve bilgisayar program› üretimi yapan teknoloji firmalar›na hitap etmektedir. Dolay›s›yla, her yat›r›mc› firma, mali, ticari ve lojistik avantajlar› de¤erlendirerek kendi flartlar›na uygun serbest bölgeyi seçmektedir. 31 Ocak 2007 itibariyle Türkiye genelindeki serbest bölgelerde al›m-sat›m üzerine faaliyet gösteren yabanc› flirket say›s› 388, üretim amaçl› faaliyet gösteren firma say›s› sadece 171 . Yabanc› firma say›s› Türkiye pazar›n›n büyüklü¤ü ve çevre pazarlara olan yak›nl›¤› düflünüldü¤ünde yeterli midir? Serbest bölgelerdeki yabanc› yat›r›mc› oran›, Türkiye genelindeki yabanc› yat›r›mc› oran›ndan daha az de¤ildir. Yabanc› yat›r›mc›y› ülkemize çekmek için ne yaz›k ki sadece bir tak›m mali avantajlar sunmaktan daha fazlas› gerekir; özellikle ülkenin stabil bir ekonomiye ve siyasi yap›ya sahip olmas›, bürokratik engellerin kalkmas› gibi. Son 10 y›lda Çin ve Hindistan’a giden do¤rudan yat›r›m miktar› 1 trilyon dolardan fazla. Geliflmifl ülke yat›r›mc›lar› Do¤u’ya gidip yat›r›m yap›yorlar. Türkiye daha fazla yabanc› yat›r›mc› çekmek için bir an önce vergi ve sosyal güvenlik reformunu gerçeklefltirmeli. Ancak, baz› temel
problemlerden dolay› gelmiyor yabanc› sermaye. Bu problemlerin en bafl›nda “kay›td›fl›l›k” geliyor. Kay›td›fl› demek, haks›z rekabet demek. Yat›r›mc› bu riski göze alamad›¤›ndan ülkemize gelemiyor. Serbest bölgelerde yer alan firmalar›n ise faaliyetine iliflkin gerçeklefltirdi¤i ticaret hacimleri kay›t alt›nda tutuldu¤›ndan kay›t d›fl› ekonominin de önüne geçilmesi sa¤lanmaktad›r. Kay›tl› ekonomi ülke geneline yans›d›¤›nda yabanc› sermaye girifli gerek serbest bölgelerde gerekse Türkiye genelinde çok daha artacakt›r. ‹AHL Serbest Bölgesi'nde toplam ticaret hacminde 2006 y›l›nda 2005 y›l›na göre yüzde 6.8'lik bir düflüfl yafland›. 2007 y›l›n›n ilk 3 ay›nda ise bir önceki y›l›n ayn› dönemine göre 17.8'lik bir art›fl göze çarp›yor. Ticaret hacminde yaflanan art›fllarda ve düflüslerde, bölgede faaliyet gösteren firmalar›n faaliyetlerinin yan› s›ra, bölgenin iflletmesini üstlenen firman›n etkisi nedir? ‹stanbul Atatürk Havaliman› Serbest Bölgesi, 16 milyonluk nüfusu ve sanayi ile ticarette stratejik konuma sahip ‹stanbul’un merkezinde; sanayi ve finans sektörlerinin odakland›¤› Avrupa yakas›nda yer al›yor. Bölgemiz, bütün uluslararas› ticaret yollar›n›n kesiflti¤i noktada bulunmas›, co¤rafi konumu itibariyle bölgeyi Türkiye ve dünya d›fl ticareti aç›s›ndan önemli bir ifl merkezi statüsünde. Son 10 y›ll›k dönemde toplam ticaret hacmi 30 milyar dolar› geçen serbest bölgemizde 2006 y›l› ticaret hacmi 3,22 milyar dolar olarak gerçekleflti. Bu oldukça yüksek bir rakam ve Türkiye’deki 21 serbest bölgenin toplam ticaret hacminin %13’ ünü karfl›l›yor. Bölgemiz, y›llarca Türkiye’ deki alan olarak en küçük serbest bölge olmas›na ra¤men gerek ticaret hacmi, gerek yat›r›m, geTurkofAmerica • 61
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ped countries are going to the East and making investments. If Turkey is going to attract foreign investors than it has to very quickly reform its taxation and social security systems programs. Still, it is due to some very basic problems that foreign companies are wary about coming to Turkey; chief among these problem being that of certain “unofficial/unregistered” systems. This “informal” market engenders a state of unfair competition and so foreign companies do not come to our country as they are unwilling to take this risk. Companies operating in the free trade zones know that any trade volumes relative to their operations are registered, thus allowing them to by-pass the unregistered economy. When the face of the entire country reflects a registered economy system, than more foreign investors will be willing to come to Turkey, both to the country in general and to its free trade zones. Compared to 2005, in 2006 the total trade volume of the ‹AHL Free Trade Zone descreased by 6.8%. Figures for the first three months of 2007, however, show an increase in the same months of the preceeding year of 17.8%. What are the effects of these increases and decreases upon the operations of companies operating in the region and upon those companies which oversee the operations of these free trade zones? The ‹stanbul Atatürk Airport Free Trade Zone is situated on the European side of Istanbul, the area where the industrial and finance sectors of this city, which enjoys a strategic location in terms of regional trade and has a population of 16 million, are primarily centered. Because our zone is located at the very crossroads of major international trade corridors it has the status of being an important commercial center, both in terms of Turkish and world foreign trade. 62 • TurkofAmerica
During the past ten years, the total trade volume of our zone surpassed 30 billion dollars, with a 3.22 billion dollar volume for the year 2006 alone. This is quite a high figure and represents 13% of the total trade volumes achieved by Turkey's 21 free trade zones. For years, despite the fact that we are Turkey's smallest free trade zone in terms of square meter space, the free zone at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport has retained its position as the most efficient zone in terms of per-square-meter trade volume, investments, and personnel numbers. This is primarily due to the fact that investments are carried out in the way that will most effectively meet the needs of the individual user company, to the high quality of our services and to the sensitivity that we as the managing company demonstrate towards the personnel who work in the zone, in terms of meeting both their work and social needs. . In 2005 the area of the free zone was increased to 180 square meters and we are continuing in our own investments in constructing modern production units and warehouses that will meet the needs of those companies operating within the zone. The 57,250 square meters of enclosed space provides office and warehouse facilities for those foreign trade companies from twenty different sectors operating within our zone and provides jobs for almost 2000 individuals. When we look at the statistics on blue and white collar employees working in the free trade zones, we see that ‹SB‹ has a much higher percentage of white collar workers compared to the other free zones (1204 persons). Why do you have more white collar workers and what are the advantages of this for the companies operating here? Both because of its proximity to the city center and because of its
rekse istihdam olarak metre kare bafl›na en verimli serbest bölge olma özelli¤ini koruyor. Bunun bafll›ca nedeni; yat›r›mlar›n, kullan›c› firmalar›n ihtiyaçlar›na uygun en efektif flekilde yap›lmas›, yüksek hizmet kalitesi ve bölgede çal›flan personelin gerek ifl gerekse sosyal ihtiyaçlar›n›n karfl›lanmas›nda iflletici firma olarak gösterdi¤imiz hassasiyettir. 2005 y›l› itibariyle bölge alan› 180 bin metrekare genifllemifl olup bu alanda bölge firmalar›n›n ihtiyaçlar›na uygun modern üretim ve depo alanlar› yat›r›mlar›na devam edilmektedir. Bölgede 57.250 m2 lik kapal› alanda yer alan ofis ve depolarda 20 farkl› sektörden d›fl ticaret firmalar› faaliyetlerini sürdürmekte ve yaklafl›k 2.000 kifli istihdam edilmektedir. Serbest bölgelerde çal›flan iflçi ve büro elemanlar› incelendi¤inde, ‹SB‹'de büro çal›flanlar› say›s›n›n di¤er serbest bölgelerle k›yasland›¤›nda hayli yüksek oldu¤u dikkat çekiyor (1204 kifli). Büro çal›flanlar›n›n fazla olmas›n›n sebebi nedir, bunun firmalara sa¤la-
d›¤› avantajlar nelerdir? ‹stanbul Atatürk Havaliman› Serbest Bölgesi, gerek flehir merkezine yak›nl›¤›, gerekse dünya standartlar›nda teknoloji ve güvenlik altyap›s› ile al›msat›m firmalar›n›n operasyon merkezleri ve bilgisayar yaz›l›m› üretimi yapan yüksek teknoloji firmalar›n›n tüm haberleflme ve konfor ihtiyaçlar›na hitap eden bir ifl merkezidir. Kullan›c› firmalar›m›z sadece mali ve ticari avantajlardan de¤il, bölgemizdeki sosyal ve teknik altyap›dan da yararlanmaktad›rlar. Türkiye Serbest bölgeleri içinde Plaza binas› olan tek bölgeyiz. Dolay›s›yla bir ifl merkezi konforu içinde restoran›, a la carte kafeteryas›, klinik vb. gibi hizmetlerimizle kullan›c› firmalar›m›z›n kalifiye personeline, üst düzey yöneticilere hitap eden bir bölgemiz var. Bu nedenle firmalar, beyaz yakal› personellerini rahatl›kla bölgemizde istihdam edebiliyorlar. Serbest bölgeler, bugün toplam dünya ticaretinin yaklafl›k %15'ini yönetiyor. Serbest böl-
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infrastructure, which meets world standards in terms of technology and security systems, the Atatürk Airport Free Trade Zone is a work place that is set up to meet all the communication and comfort needs of companies with sales and purchasing headquarters and high tech companies engaged in the production of computer software systems. Our user companies not only enjoy financial and trade advantages, but all of the social and technical infrastructure advantages offered by our zone. We are the only one of Turkey's free trade zones to have a plaza building on its own grounds. This facility provides such amenities as a restaurant, an ala carte cafeteria, a medical clinic, and other such services, all of which meet the needs and expectations of the qualified personnel and upper level executives employed by our user companies. This, in turn, makes it easy to recruit white collar workers to our zone. Free trade zones account for approxmately 15% of total world trade. What is the total trade percentage of Turkey's free trade zones and what are your expectations for the future? Despite the fact that certain changes in relevant laws have decreased some of the attraction of tax benefits of free trade zones, when we look at the other advantages of working in these zones, we see that they continue to constitute an important distribution base in terms of Turkey's entrance into foreign markets. Free trade zones contribute to the competitive strength of user companies operating within the zone and to export-directed industries, both in terms of increasing work volumes and, relative to this, creating jobs. They also play an important role in the importation of inexpensive materials for the industrial sec-
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tor, thus allowing those companies to compete in the international marketplace. In addition to this, they also play an important role in creating jobs, both directly and indirectly. If Turkey begins directing its economic policies towards manufacture and consumption, the free trade zones may play the role of a dynamo. These free trade zones will also play a major role in increasing Turkey's profits from transit trade and in easing Turkey's transport of its manufactured goods to world markets. As a subsidiary company of Dinamik Corporation, how do you compare your company's investments in the field of operating a free trade zone with its operations in other sectors? What are the targets and plans of the corporation for the next ten years? Free trade zone management includes within its scope a wide umbrella of operations, including service provisions, logistics, construction and the like. Some of the projects the corporation is planning for the future include the establishment of an infrastructure and base of know-how. Along with the changes taking place in Turkey's free zones, ISBI plans to become a player in supply chain management by using the knowledge it has accumulated in the fields of warehousing and transport. In addition to this, by acting in conjunction with other free trade zones in Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean Region, and the Turkic Republics, we are planning to grow in many directions and to broaden our operational range of services. These strategic international partnerships will help us develop our know-how and with these projects we will gain usage advantages in different sectoral areas. !
gelerin Türkiye toplam ticareti içindeki pay› ve gelece¤i hakk›nda ne düflünüyorsunuz? Kanunda yap›lan de¤ifliklik neticesinde serbest bölgelerin vergi muafiyetleri aç›s›ndan eski cazibesi azalsa da, buna ra¤men sa¤lad›¤› di¤er avantajlar de¤erlendirildi¤inde Türkiye’nin ticari aç›dan d›fla aç›lmas›nda önemli da¤›t›m üstleri olarak görevini sürdürüyor. Serbest bölgeler, gerek bölgedeki kullan›c› firmalar›n gerekse ihracata dönük sanayinin rekabet gücüne katk›da bulunarak firmalar›n ifl hacminin artmas›na ve buna ba¤l› olarak istihdam yarat›lmas›na katk›da bulunmaktad›rlar. Sanayi sektörüne ucuz ithal girdi sa¤layarak onlar›n uluslararas› ticarette rekabet gücüne sahip olmalar›nda büyük role sahiptir. Bunun yan›nda direk ve dolayl› olarak istihdama katk›s› vard›r. Türkiye’nin ekonomik politika olarak üreterek tüketmeye yöneltilmesi halinde serbest bölgeler tam bir dinamo görevi görebilecektir. Ülkemizin transit ticaretten daha fazla katma de¤er sa¤lamas› ve üretilen mallar›n dünya pazar›na daha kolay ulaflmas›nda serbest bölgeler büyük rol üstlenecektir.
Dinamik Grup flirketlerinden olan ‹SB‹, serbest bölge iflletmecili¤ini di¤er faaliyet gösterdi¤i sektörler ile k›yaslad›¤›nda nas›l bir yat›r›m olarak de¤erlendirmektedir? Grubun gelecek 10 y›la iliflkin hedef ve planlar› nelerdir? Serbest Bölge iflleticili¤i, hizmet, lojistik, inflaat gibi bir çok ifli içinde bar›nd›ran çok yönlü bir sektör. Grubun ileride gerçeklefltirmeyi planlad›¤› projeler için altyap› ve know-how oluflturulmufl durumda. Türkiye’de serbest bölgelerdeki de¤iflim süreci ile birlikte ‹SB‹ A.fi, depolama ve tafl›ma konular›nda fluana kadar edindi¤i tecrübe ve yakalad›¤› hizmet kalitesi ile Tedarik Zinciri Yönetiminde (Supply Chain Management) yer almay› hedefliyor. Bunun d›fl›nda di¤er serbest bölgeler, Do¤u Avrupa, Akdeniz Bölgesi ve Türki Cumhuriyetler ile inorganik büyümeyi ve faaliyet konumuzu oluflturan hizmet yelpazesini geniflletmeyi planl›yoruz. Stratejik uluslararas› ortakl›klar sayesinde de elde edilen ve gelifltirilen know-how’i bu projelerimizde farkl› sektörel alanlarda da kullanma imkân›na sahip olaca¤›z.!
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THE MAGIC BEHIND THAT VOICE ON YOUR PHONE Dr. Mehmet Binal is one of the most prominent names to be involved to date in the formation of the technology that has turned voice messages digital.
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onnecticut- Every day, as we all know, millions of telephone calls to companies around the world are answered by a familiar voice message: "Welcome to such-and-such company. For English, press '1,' for Spanish, press '2,' press the star key if you know the extension you are looking for, and press '0' for the operator." What we might not all know, though, is that behind this familiar piece of technology, which has become a critical part of so many businesses and organizations, lies the work of a Turkish scientist and engineer. Dr. Mehmet Binal is one of the most prominent names to be involved to date in the formation of the technology that has turned voice messages digital. Dr. Binal is the founder and CEO of the BICOM telecommunications company in Monroe, Connecticut. BICOM is a company that works on everything from developing the foundation for telephone and fax communication, turning voices digital and then recording them, making digital voices audible, and coming up with technology which can interpret what certain telephone tones mean. In short, work done by BICOM is behind every sort of technology that you might take advantage of after your initial "hello" on picking up the phone. BICOM was formed by Dr. Binal in 1988, and has since been a 66 • Turk of America
leader in many revolutions in the telecommunications sector. BICOM's "signal and voice service" technology has allowed the voice messages, automatic operators, and call centers used by small and medium size companies to be integrated with telephone central systems. In the past, it used to be that the systems described above had to operate outside of the main telephone exchange, and were implemented with a special network card over a separate computer. This was not only more expensive, but it also meant that the systems were never able to be fully integrated into the telephone exchange's data base. BICOM’s special "In-Skin" enabling technology meant that these systems could be integrated into central phone exchanges, bringing the prices of these systems down, and allowing full integration into data bases too. BICOM, which has been among the fastest growing top 50 companies in Connecticut for the past three years, has seen its products receive annual awards many times from the famous technology magazine "Computer Telephony". BICOM's name first became well-known in 1989, after it signed an agreement with Fortune 500 company Philips. BICOM produced and marketed the Philips Speech Processing chip card, working with Philips until 1994. In later years, it turned the DSP technology which it had previously only worked with in connection
Founder and President of BICOM, Dr. Mehmet BICOM’un kurucusu ve baflkan› Dr. Mehmet Binal and his wife Yadigar Binal, CFO. Binal ve finanstan sorumlu efli Yadigar Binal.
TELEFONDA ALO DED‹RTENLER Dr. Mehmet Binal, sesli mesajlar› say›sal ortama çeviren teknolojinin kurulmas›na ön ayak olan isimlerden biri.
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onnecticut - Her gün milyonlarca flirketin çalan telefonlar› birbirine benzeyen sesli mesajlarla cevaplan›yor. “X flirketine hoflgeldiniz. ‹ngilizce için 1’e, ‹spanyolca için 2’ye, baflka bir dahili numara çevirmek için y›ld›z tufluna, santrale ulaflmak için 0 tufluna bas›n›z.” Her kurumsal flirketin vazgeçilmez bir parças› olan teknolojinin arka plan›nda baflar›l› bir Türk bilimadam›n›n da imzas› var. Dr. Mehmet Binal, sesli mesajlar› say›sal ortama çeviren teknolojinin kurulmas›na ön ayak
olan isimlerden biri. Monroe, Connecticut’ta faaliyet gösteren telekomunikasyon flirketi BICOM’un kurucusu ve yönetim kurulu baflkan›. BICOM, telefon ve faks için alt yap›s›nda ara birimi gelifltiren, sesleri say›sala çevirip kaydeden, say›sal sesleri tekrar duyulabilir hale getirip çalan, flebekedeki tonlar›n ne anlama geldi¤ini anlay›p ona göre gerekli ifllemleri yapan teknolojiler üreten bir flirket. K›sacas› telefona “alo” dedi¤iniz andan itibaren yararland›¤›n›z her teknolojide onlar›n eme¤i var.
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with Philips into a general voice processing technology, and then began to market this to the general sector. BRINGING THE PBX SYSTEM TO THE GIANTS Though technology was evolving quickly, BICOM was able to keep up, developing and producing new products. Putting together the chip cards it had prepared for infrastructures with computers, BICOM developed the PBX system. This system, which effected a deep-rooted change in the classic telephone operation seen up until that day, rapidly became a boon for businesses. The PBX system worked like a telephone central exchange, but allowed calls to businesses to be made without having to be connected to any operators. It also made it possible for co-workers to talk to each other at the touch of a button, for employees to connect through an outside li-
BICOM signed agreements for its PBX system in 1996 with NEC, in 1998 with Samsung, Panasonic, and later with ComDial. Changing its strategy, BICOM left production aside, focusing on giving other firms licensing rights to sell its products. At this time, BICOM gave NEC sales rights for 15 of its products, and Samsung sales rights for 5 of its products. Since its formation until today, BICOM has granted licensed sales for more than 150,000 systems, with an annual average of 30,000 licensed sales. STUDIED WITH A NATO SCHOLARSHIP Dr. Mehmet Binal graduated from the Advanced Degree Electrical Engineering Department of Istanbul Technical University in 1969. In 1971, after receiving a scholarship from NATO, he went to England to further his education in the area of telecommunications. After
Dr. Binal taraf›ndan 1988 y›l›nda kurulan BICOM, telekomünikasyon endüstrisinde pek çok yenili¤in de öncüsü oldu. Gelifltirdi¤i temel "iflaret ve ses iflleme" teknolojileri küçük ve orta boy flirketlerde kullan›lan sesli yan›t, birlefltirilmifl mesaj, otomatik operatör, arama merkezi gibi uygulamalar›n telefon santraline entegre edilmesini sa¤lad›. Daha önce bu tür uygulamalar telefon santralinin d›fl›nda ek bir bilgisayar üstünde özel flebeke kartlar› kullan›larak yap›lmaktayd›. Daha pahal›ya malolan bu sistem tam olarak telefon santralinin veri taban›na entegrede edilemiyordu. BICOM teknolojisi "In-skin" ad› ile telefon santrallerinin içine entegre edilerek hem bu uygulamalar›n fiyatlar›n›n düflmesini hem de telefon santrallerinin veri tabanlar› ile tam olarak entegre edilmesini imkan sa¤lad›. Connecticut eyaletinde üç y›l üstüste en h›zl› büyüyen ilk 50 flir-
t
BICOM has been among the fastest growing top 50 companies in Connecticut for the past three years.
ne automatically, or for calls from outside the company to be connected to either a live operator or robot operator automatically.
working at the British firm Eddystone, Dr. Binal returned to Turkey in 1976 and started working as an electronics researcher at TUBITAK-MAM.
BICOM Connecticut eyaletinde üç y›l üstüste en h›zl› büyüyen ilk 50 flirketi aras›na girdi.
keti aras›na giren BICOM’un ürünleri, ünlü teknoloji dergisi Computer Telephony taraf›ndan pek çok kez de y›l›n ödülüne lay›k görüldü.
fiirket sektördeki ad›n› ilk kez 1989 y›l›nda Fortune 500 flirketlerinden Philips ile yapt›¤› anlaflma ile duyurdu. Daha önceleri Philips Dictation Systems olarak bilinen Philips Speech Processing için çip kart üretip pazarlad›. BICOM, 1994 y›l›na kadar Philips’le çal›flt›. Sonraki y›llarda da sadece Philips’le çal›flt›¤› DSP teknolojisini genel olarak ses iflleme teknolojisine (voice processing technology) çevirerek genel pazara sundu. PBX S‹STEM‹YLE DEVLERLE BULUfiTU Teknoloji h›zla ilerlerken BICOM da teknolojiye ayak uydurdu, yeni ürünler gelifltirdi. Altyap› için haz›rlad›¤› çip kartlar› ile bilgisayar› bütünlefltiren PBX sistemini kurdu. O güne kadar klasik telefon iflleyiflini kökten de¤ifltiren sistem ifl yerleri için bulunmaz bir nimetti. Otomatik telefon santrali iflleviyle, bir ifl yerinde ça¤r›lar›n herhangi bir operatöre ba¤l› kalmaks›z›n yap›lmas›n› sa¤layan PBX, flirket içinde çal›flanlar›n birbirlerini tek numara çevirerek aramas›na, bir çal›flan›n flirket d›fl›nda bir telefon numaras›na harici hat alarak otomatik olarak gerçeklefltirmesine veya d›flar›dan gelen bir ça¤r›y› gerekti¤inde bir canl› operatör veya robot operatör arac›l›¤› ile do¤rudan ba¤lanmas›na imkan tan›yordu. BICOM, bu yeni bulufl ile ilk antlaflmalar›n› 1996’da NEC , 1998’de Samsung, Panasonic daha sonra da ComDial ile yapt›. BICOM, stratejisini de de¤ifltirerek üretimi bir kenara b›rak›p firmalara lisans satma hakk›n› verdi. NEC’e 15, Samsung’a ise befl farkl› ürün için sat›fl hakk› tan›d›. BICOM, kuruldu¤u günden bugüne kadar 150 bin üzerinde sistem, y›lda da ortalama 30 bin lisans sat›fl› gerçeklefltiriyor. NATO BURSUYLA OKUDU Dev flirketlerin kulland›¤› teknolojiyi yaratanlar›n bafl›nda olan Dr. Mehmet Binal, 1969 y›l›nda ‹stanbul Teknik Üniversitesi Yüksek Elektronik Mühendisli¤i Turk of America • 67 00
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In 1981, Dr. Binal went to work in Holland as a researcher at the NATO Shape Technical Center. When he received an offer from a Canadian company, BNR, his North American adventure began. After a two-year stay at BNR, Dr. Binal moved to a different Canadian telecommunications company, Voice & Data Systems, as a director. Here, at one of the first companies in the world to develop voice message systems, Dr.Binal signed off on many important projects. When Voice & Data's technology was sold in 1985 to the Dictaphone Corporation, Dr. Binal took on the directorship of a new company, and moved from Canada to the US. Dr. Binal then took his place on a team of engineers who developed the first numerical computerized registration system. This new system, known as the DS700 system, made 800 million dollars in sales for the company. Dr. Binal was a large part of this success. NEW PROJECT Dr.Binal, who says that his company has no real competition since the market they are active in is so specialized, notes that despite the fact that voice message systems are not widespread in Turkey, without them US companies have a difficult time becoming successful. "Some of the companies which are our companies could, in their current state, enter the market and become our competitors, but it would actually be more profitable for them to buy production licenses from BICOM, rather than spending lots of money." BICOM, which has a representative company in Austria, is working on joint projects with Karel, which set up the first electronic telephone central exchange in Turkey in 1986. Karel, which introduced PBX products to the Turkish market, became a leader in the sector when it passed from electro68 • Turk of America
mechanical communication systems over to electronic communications systems. BICOMKarel is currently working on a multi-media internet-based telephone communications system which, when completed, will be prepare the company to enter into talks with other companies like Skype regarding products. BICOM also has its own research center in the Technology Zone in one of Turkey's developed industrial cities, Gebze, outside of Izmit. RIGHT-HAND MAN AT THE COMPANY Dr. Binal's most important helper is his wife, Yadigar Binal, who has worked since 1989 as Vice President of BICOM in charge of Operations and Finance. The last name to join the business has been their son, who was working at IBM. The Binal pair has gained tremendous amounts of experience from the last twenty years of working at BICOM, but they note that the lack of firm laws in Turkey is discouraging people thinking of investing in Turkey. Dr. Binal notes that the research company formed by BICOM in Turkey has encountered many obstacles, saying "We hope to see immediate reforms aimed at encouraging foreign investors." Both Binals also complain that they are not able to find the same atmosphere of work ethics in Turkey as they are able to find in the US. Yadigar Binal is convinced that for women to succeed in a business world dominated by men, it is more difficult. She says, "But this general conviction can, when approached positively, actually be a motivator for women." Binal talks about the danger of losing control from time to time in the fast changing stream of technology these days: "It's the case that even when you find yourself on a wrong path, with no return, you have to keep working and working until you find an exit, and this is very difficult." !
Bölümü’nü bitirdi. 1971 y›l›nda NATO’dan burs alarak, telekomünükasyon üzerine ‹ngiltere’ye e¤itime gitti. ‹ngiltere’de Eddystone flirketinde çal›flt›ktan sonra, 1976 Türkiye’ye dönerek TÜB‹TAK-MAM’da elektronik üzerine araflt›rmac› olarak ifle bafllad›. 1981 y›l›nda Hollanda’da bulunan NATO’nun Shape Teknik Merkezine araflt›rmac› olarak geri döndü. Kanada’da BNR adl› flirketten ifl teklifi al›nca Kuzey Amerika maceras› 1981 y›l›nda bafllad›. BNR’de iki y›ll›k deneyimin ard›ndan baflka bir Kanadal› telekomüniskasyon firmas› Voice & Data Systems’e direktör olarak transfer oldu. Dr. Binal, dünyada ilk sesli mesaj sistemini kuran flirketlerden biri olan Voice & Data Systems bafl›nda pek çok projeye imza att›. 1985’te flirketin teknolojisi Dictaphone Corporation flirketine sat›l›nca Dr. Binal yeni flirketin direktörlü¤ünü üstlenerek Kanada’dan ABD’ye tafl›nd›. Sesli yan›t sistemini, say›sal merkezli dikte ve transkripsiyon sistemine dönüfltürenlerden ilk isimlerden biri olan Dr.Binal, ilk say›sal bilgisayar kay›t sistemini gelifltiren ekipte yer ald›. DS700 sistemi ad›yla an›lan ürün ile flirket 800 milyon dolarl›k sat›fl yapt›. fiirketin baflar›s›nda pay sahibi oldu. YEN‹ PROJE Faaliyet gösterdikleri pazar›n çok özel bir alan oldu¤u için rakipleri olmad›¤›n› söyleyen Dr. Binal, Türkiye’de her ne kadar sesli mesaj sisteminin yayg›nlaflmasa da ABD’de ses mesaj› olmayan herhangi bir sistemin baflar›l› olamayaca¤›n› iddia ediyor. “Hali haz›rda bizim müflterilerimiz olan firmalar bu pazara girerek bize rakip olabilirler ancak çok büyük masraflar›n alt›na girmektense BICOM’un lisanslar›n› alarak üretmeleri daha karl›” diyor. Halen Avusturya’da temsilcili¤i bulunan BICOM, 1986 y›l›nda özgün tasar›mlar›yla Türkiye’de ilk defa elektronik telefon santralini kuran Karel ile de ortak projelerde çal›fl›yor. Türkiye pazar›-
na PBX ürünleri kazand›ran Karel, Türkiye’nin haberleflme alan›nda elektro-mekanik sistemlerden elektronik haberleflme sistemlerine geçiflinde de öncü oldu. Internet üzerinden telefon iletiflimi sa¤layan multi-medya bir sistem üzerinde çal›flan BICOMKarel, proje tamamland›¤›nda Skype gibi pek çok firma ile ürün konusunda görüflmeye haz›rlan›yor. BICOM’un ayr›ca kendi bünyesinde kurdu¤u Türkiye’nin geliflmifl sanayi flehirlerinden ‹zmit’e ba¤l› Gebze’deki Teknoloji Serbest Bölgesi’nde araflt›rma merkezi bulunuyor. fi‹RKETTE SA⁄ KOLU Dr. Binal’in flirkette sa¤ kolu 1989 y›l›nda beri BICOM’da Operasyon ve Finanstan sorumlu baflkan yard›mc›s› olarak görev yapan efli Yadigar Binal. fiirkete kat›lan son isim ise IBM’de çal›flan o¤ullar›. BICOM’da harcad›klar› 20 y›la yak›n zamanda ifl hayat›yla ilgili büyük bir tecrübede edinen çift, Türkiye’de kurallar›n çok s›k› olmas›ndan dolay›, yat›r›m yapmak isteyenlerin hevesinin k›r›ld›¤›n› söylüyor. Dr. Binal, Türkiye’de ek olarak kurdu¤u araflt›rma flirketinin kurulmas›nda pek çok engel yaflad›¤›n› vurgulayarak, “Bir an önce yabanc› yat›r›mc›lara yönelik reformlar›n yap›lmas›n› arzuluyoruz” diyor. Çift ifl ahlak›nda ABD’de bulduklar› ortam› kendi ülkelerinde bulamad›klar›ndan yak›n›yor. Yadigar Binal, erkek egemen ifl dünyas›nda kad›nlar›n iflinin daha zor oldu¤u inanc›nda. “Ancak bu genel kan› olumlu bir yaklafl›mla kad›nlara baflar›l› olmalar›nda önemli bir motivasyon da sa¤layabiliyor” diyor. Teknolojideki h›zl› de¤iflimlerin ak›fl›nda zaman zaman kontrolü kaç›rma tehlikesi ile karfl› karfl›ya olduklar›n› söyleyen Binal, “Öyle ki kendinizi geriye dönüflü olmayan yanl›fl bir yolda bulman›za ra¤men ç›kar yolu bulana kadar devaml› u¤raflman›z gerekiyor ve bu da oldukça zor bir çaba” diye konufluyor. !
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COLLECTION OF PORSCHE AHMET - 1
THE ADVENTURE OF TURKISH MONEY IN THE U.S.
I
n the 1930's, a man named Albert A. Grinnell was a collector who not only brought together the most valuable examples of money (notes and coins) in the U.S., but also provided inspiration for generations of collectors to come. In November 1944, Grinnell bought what is still known as the world's most popular banknote, a $1,000 bill which had been printed in 1890. This banknote, known as the “Grand Watermelon” because of its zeros’ resemblance to melons, was put up for open bidding in December 2006 in Dallas, Texas. Just a few month prior to the ac72 • TurkofAmerica
tual auction, Ahmet Sandikci – who owns the most impressive and most valuable Paper Money Collection in history - named the “Grand Watermelon” in his Educational Speech held at the January 2006 Florida United Numismatist Show, as one of the most valuable note in history after the famous “Technicolor” Notes (the only surviving & known sequential serial numbered cut-sheet which is owned by Ahmet Sandikci and estimated at over $200,000,000). The “Grand Watermelon” thus – because of the Educational Speech given by Ahmet Sandikci – reali-
zed a record breaking auction price of $1,092,000, and then just 6 month later was resold at another record breaking auction price of $2,255,000. It is estimated around 150 million people in the U.S. are interested in collecting both small and large denominations of coins and bills. Money collectors do not only gather money for their collections; they also examine the important political, historical, and economic aspects of the time period the money they are collecting is from. Ahmet Sandikci, who has attracted attention for his U.S.-based money col-
lection, and who signed off on a first when he opened up the “Arcade Currency Palace,” is also known by his nickname, “Porsche Ahmet.” Sandikci does not limit himself to U.S. bills, however; he also collects Ottoman and early Turkish Republic notes. He is the owner of an unparalleled collection. Sandikci opened up his collection for TurkofAmerica readers and displayed his banknotes, each of which has an interesting history. Sandikci explains the stories behind some of the pieces in his money collection—the adventures of some of his Turkish banknotes:
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BILLS FROM A SUNKEN SHIP The most interesting story in Sandikci's collection involves the kurus coins and lira notes that Turkey ordered from England in 1930, but which were not delivered to Turkey until the WWII years. The items in this ill-fated
order included the 50 kurus coin, 50 lira note, and 100 lira second-issuance banknote. These banknotes, which were printed by the Bradbury-Wilksonson firm, were loaded onto a British ship which set sail for Turkey. The ship sank at Greece's Pira-
eus Port, after bombardment by the German military. Every example of coin and banknote from this order that is available today was collected from the bottom of the sea. Also, the front face of the 100 lira note from this series shows a picture
of former leader Ismet Inonu, along with the incorrectly written words “Turkiye Cümhuriyeti” (rather than “Turkiye Cumhuriyeti,” which means “Turkish Republic:). This banknote is one of the most precious pieces in Sandikci's collection.
BRITISH WAR GAME The British, who were preparing to invade Ottoman lands during World War I, ordered fake Ottoman banknotes from Canada. This fake money was scattered over the Arab deserts by airpla-
nes in 1918. One unit of secret Ottoman police at the time notices a flaw on some of the money, and after this, a distinction is made between this fake money and real Ottoman issue. Examined closely, the flaw on
the banknotes printed in Canada can be seen. The number 10 which is visible among the stars that decorate the edges of the back face of the original Ottoman banknotes is written in an Arabic script that reads from
left to right in a harmonized style. In the fake Canadian note, the number 10 is only printed in one direction amidst the stars. (Look closely at the area marked on both the original and fake versions.)
DID THE PRINTING OF TURKISH NOTES HELP HITLER? Until the 1960's, Turkey did not have the technology necessary to print its own money, which is why it turned to England and the U.S.
for this job. It also turned to one other country to have money printed: Germany. The Turkish Republic Central Bank gave Germany the authority to print A and B series of its money. But, according to ru-
mors, Adolf Hitler, though he realized his own third Reich was going to fall, decided to carry on the printing of the E, F, G, H, I and J series in order to keep his administration's financial powers in place.
(Look at the 10 and 100 Turkish lira notes.) The second issuance of the 50 kurus note in 1944, as well as the third issuances of the 10 and 100 lira banknotes in 1942, are all from German printing presses.
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COLLECTION OF PORSCHE AHMET - 1
THE FIRST LATINATE ALPHABET BANKNOTES The Ottoman Empire, which collapsed in 1923, was replaced by the new Turkish Republic. There was therefore a need for banknotes that used the Latinate alpha-
bet, to take the place of the notes written in Ottoman script. The first Turkish money to use the Latinate alphabet was printed on December 5, 1927 by the British company Thomas de la Rue. The first sample batch, which inclu-
ded only 50- and 1,000-lira notes, was prepared, but when the printing occurred, it was once again with Arabic and French writing. These samples, which picture Sakarya on their back faces, were never put onto the mar-
kets. Sandikci's collection includes samples of these valuable 50and 1,000-lira notes, which are in themselves testimony to the many changes that Turkey went through during the early years of the Republic.
MONEY WITH THE ENGRAVER'S SIGNATURE The special strokes and engraved signatures found on printed money, which are the result of serious efforts to ensure the mo-
ney is not copied, are of extreme importance. Among the precious examples found in Ahmet Sandikci's collection are one 5 and one 1,000 lira note which carry the signature of the engra-
ver himself who was involved in the printing process. The 5 lira note, which was printed in England, depicts a wolf, the Ankara castle, and the Turkish Parliament on its front face, while
the back face shows another Ankara castle. The sample 1,000 lira note, which was printed in the U.S., features Ismet Inonu on the front, while the back shows Turkish scouts.
THE BRITISH PERIOD IN THE PRINTING OF TURKISH MONEY Despite the fact that they were involved in efforts to force the collapse of the Ottomans by printing fake Ottoman money
during the WWI years, the British were still involved in the printing of Turkish Republic money long after the actual collapse of the Ottoman Empire. The first issuance of the “1 Tur-
kish lira” note was on December 5, 1927, by the British company Thomas de la Rue. This continued until 1949. These “1 Turkish lira” notes, of which there were 39,995,985 printed,
show the Ankara Castle, the Turkish Parliament, and a farmer on the front face of the bill, while the back side depicts the former Prime Ministerial buildings.
74 • TurkofAmerica
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A U.S. COMPANY PRINTS MONEY FOR TURKEY Turkey, which had previously used a British company to print its money, for the first time ever in April of 1942, turned to an American company, the American Bank Note Company, for the printing of its currency. The company, which was formed in 1795 by Enter Robert Scot, printed 6 million copies of the 50 Turkish lira note. The printing of this denomination continued until 1962.
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The 1947 third issuance of the 50 Turkish lira note was also done by an American company, which printed 8 million copies of this banknote. Just as with the 1942 version, the signatures of both Kemal Zaim Sunel and Nedim Ersun were on this note. The American Bank Note Company in 1946 then brought about the third-issuance printings of both the 500 and the 1,000 Turkish lira banknotes. While 1 million of the 500 Turkish lira notes were printed, 500,000 of the
1,000 Turkish lira notes were printed, and the notes continued to be turned out until 1963. Ahmet Sandikci is one of the few people to actually own a samples of this rare edition of the 1,000 Turkish lira banknote. Again, in 1947, the American Bank Note Company turned out its fourth issuance of the 100 Turkish lira note, printing 5 million copies of this banknote. Changes to the Turkish currency continued until 1962.
Ahmet Sandikci, Mark Milovanovic, Currency Grading & Authentication, Omer Sager, and Pulko all contributed to the preparation and editing of this article. For more information, please go to : Mark Milovanovic (www.acp-store.com), Ahmet Sand›kç› (www.arcadecurrencypalace.com), Currency Grading & Authentication (www.cganotes.com), Omer Sager (www.pamukkalepulevi.com), Pulko (pulko@superonline.com).
*All images provided by Ahmet Sandikci from the PORSCHAHMET Collection.
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SOCCER
A TURKISH
HAREM IN TOKYO
In and around Tokyo, there are approximately ten Turkish restaurants in operation. Harem Turkish Cuisine, which Erer opened in Tokyo in 2000.
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OKYO - Japon Adalet Bakanl›¤› verilerine göre 2005 y›l› sonu itibariyle Japonya’da yaflayan yabanc› say›s› 2 milyon. Bunlar›n yaklafl›k 600 bini Koreli, 520 bini de Çinli. Japon ‹statistik Bürosu’nun resmi rakamlar›na göre 8.5 milyon kiflinin yaflad›¤› Tokyo’da çal›flma saatlerinde bu rakam 20 milyona kadar ulafl›yor. Tokyo’da 85,000 kay›tl› ruhsatl› yemek ve içki mekan›, 10,000 civar›nda büyük küçük ‹talyan restoran› 8,000 civar›nda irili ufakl› Frans›z restoran› bulunuyor. Ülkenin genelinde ise 235 bin adet yemek yeme mekan› faaliyet gösteriyor. Tokyo ve civar›nda 10’a yak›n Türk restoran› faaliyet gösteriyor. Japonlara Türk mutfa¤›n› sevdirmek üzere yola ç›kanlardan biri de Japon anne, Türk babadan dünyaya gelen Kei Eren. Tokyo’da 2000 y›l›nda açt›¤› Harem Turkish Cuisine, Türk mutfa¤›n› tan›mak isteyenleri a¤›rl›yor. Eren’in iflletti¤i Harem Cuisine’de mezeler 900 Yen ($7.6), ana yemekler 1600 Yen ($13.5), tatl›lar 700 Yen’den ($5.9) servise sunuluyor. Giriflimci Eren, Tokyo’da sorular›m›z yan›tlad›.
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OKYO - According to figures from the Japanese Ministry of Justice, at the end of 2005 there were 2 million foreigners living in Japan. Of these, an estimated 600,000 are Korean, and 520,000 are Chinese. Also, the Japanese Statistics Bureau's official figures assert that while Tokyo's population is 8.5 million, this number swells to around 20 million during working hours. Meanwhile, of 85,000 registered eating and drinking locales in Tokyo, there are around 10,000 Italian and 8,000 French restaurants. In total around the country, there are 235,000 registered eateries. In and around Tokyo, there are approximately ten Turkish restaurants in operation. One person who has set out to introduce the Japanese to Turkish food is Kei Erer, born of a Japanese mother and a Turkish father. Harem Turkish Cuisine, which Erer opened in Tokyo in 2000, hosts guests interested in tasting Turkish foods in the Japanese capital. At Harem Cuisine, you can get mezes for 900 Yen ($7.00), main dishes for 1,600 Yen ($13.50), and desserts for 700 Yen ($5.90). Eren answered some of questions in Tokyo:
How and when did you come to Japan? I first came to Japan when I was a child, during the years between 1976-1980, because of my father's work. Later, I re76 • TurkofAmerica
Tokyo ve civar›nda 10’a yak›n Türk restoran› faaliyet gösteriyor. Harem Turkish Cuisine, Türk mutfa¤›n› tan›mak isteyenleri a¤›rl›yor.
Japonya'ya nas›l ve ne zaman geldin? Japonya’da ilk kez çocukluk dönemimde 1976-80 y›llar› aras›nda babam›n görevi dolay›s›yla bulundum. Daha sonra 1994-96 y›llar› aras›nda geldim. 1999 y›l›ndan beri de Tokyo’da yafl›yorum.
TOKYO’DAK‹
TÜRK HAREM‹
Yaflad›¤›n zorluklar nelerdi? Annemin Japon olmas› dolas›yla çok zorluk çekmedim. Her ne kadar e¤itimimi ‹ngilizce alm›fl olsam da pratik olarak Japonca konuflabilmem, çocukluk evremin bir süresini de Tokyo’da geçir-
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turned between 1994-1996. And since 1999, I have been living in Tokyo. What are some of the difficulties you have experienced? I have not had many problems, since my mother is Japanese. Despite the fact that I received most of my education in English, the fact that I spent a lot of my childhood in Tokyo, and was thus able to speak and practice Japanese, meant that I haven't had too many problems. I also have not had many problems in the business world. After opening Harem, I had some difficulties for the first three or four years. Since people weren't familiar with Turkish cuisine here, I had a lot of trouble just getting the restaurant known. How do Japanese people approach Turkish cuisine? As I mentioned earlier, most Japanese people aren't familiar with Turkish food; other than those who know about shish kebabs and doner kebabs, the majority don't know what Turkish food is like.....Our customers though tell us they love the taste of Turkish cooking, and they especially find our vegetable-based dishes delicious. What traits do you see in the Japanese in particular? Do they tip well, do they drink a lot? First of all, the idea that Japanese people do not eat very much is wrong. People who live and work in the big cities tend to eat dinner out at least three or four times a week. There are 85,000 registered eating and drinking establishments in Tokyo alone. This is an important figures in terms of showing the size of this sector. In general though, in Japan, there is no tradition of tipping. What are some of the similarities and differences between Japanese and Turkish culture? Well, though Japanese culture
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may, at a distance, appear to resemble Turkish culture, there are actually many large differences. Asian roots of course display some similarities with our Anatolian culture. Respect to elders, family relations, and devotion to tradition are some of the areas of similarity between Turkish and Japanese cultures. Of course, I am not including the younger generations, which have begun to show signs of degeneration, in this picture. I think one of the biggest differences between Turkish and Japanese cultures is the level of seriousness in interpersonal relations, and the resulting sense of "distance" in Japan. Also, Japan is more flexible on the subject of religion, and philosophical thinking plays a more decisive role in life, and silence too plays an important role in daily life. These are some of the more opposite sides to Japanese culture, when compared to Turkish culture. What are some of the differences in these two countries' food and eating cultures? Japanese people like to try as many small tastes of different foods as possible. Generally, since males lean towards alcohol when they go out, the females are more sensitive when it comes to tastes. Also, the amounts of money left by a Turk at a Turkish restaurant as opposed to a Japanese at a Turkish restaurant are different, as a Japanese person wants to try as many new tastes as possible, and also since alcohol is generally an important part of the bill. What is your goal in terms of running and managing this restaurant? At this point, we have opened Harem in a new spot. We want to introduce Turkish cuisine as best we can in Japan, and be able to contribute in some way to Turkish cuisine itself, and thus Turkish culture, as much as we can. !
mem pratik yaflamda çok zorluk çektirmedi. ‹fl dünyas›nda da çok zorluk yaflamad›m. Harem açt›ktan sonra ilk üç dört y›l çok zorland›m. Türk mutfa¤›na yabanc› olduklar›ndan ilk bafllarda restoran› tan›nmas› baya¤› zor oldu. Türk mutfa¤›na yaklafl›mlar› nas›l? Daha evvel de belirti¤im gibi Türk mutfa¤›na yabanc›lar, flifl kebap veya döner kebap olarak bilenlerin d›fl›nda da Türk yeme¤ini nas›l oldu¤unu bilmeyen çok büyük bir kesim... Restoranda yemek yiyen müflterilerimiz Türk yemeklerindeki lezzeti kendilerine yak›n oldu¤unu belirtiyorlar. Özellikle sebzeli yemekleri çok lezzetli buluyorlar. Japonlar›n kendilerine has özellikleri neler? Çok bahsis b›rak›rlar m›, çok içerler mi? Bir kere Japonlar›n az yedi¤i düflüncesi yanl›fl oldu¤unu savunuyorum, genelde büyük flehirlerde yaflayan ve çal›flan ço¤u Japon akflam yamaklar›n› haftada en az üç ile dört kere d›flar›da yemektedir. Tokyo’da 85,000 kay›tl› ruhsatl› yemek ve içki mekan› bulunuyor. Bu da yiyecek endüstrisinin büyüklü¤ünü göstermesi aç›s›ndan önemli. Genel olarak Japonya’da bahflifl al›flkanl›¤› yok. Japonlar›n kültürel olarak Türk kültürüne olan benzer ve ayr›l›klar› nelerdir? Uzaktan her ne kadar Türk kültürüne yak›n gözükse de sonuçta epey farkl› yanlar› var. Asya kökenli olmas› bizim Anadolu kültürüne benzerli¤ini sa¤la-
maktad›r. Büyüklere sayg›, aile iliflkileri, adet ve geleneklere ba¤l›l›k gibi konularda benzerlikler di¤er kültürlere göre daha yak›n gözüküyor. Tabiiki buna dejenere olmaya bafllayan yeni nesli katm›yorum. En büyük farkl›l›klardan bir tanesi ise san›r›m insan iliflkilerindeki ciddiyet ve bundan kaynaklanan mesafe olsa gerek. Bir de Japonya’n›n din konusunda daha esnek olmas›, felsefik düflüncenin yaflamda belirgin rol oynamas›, sessizli¤inde çok önemli bir yere sahip olmas› gibi san›r›m Türklerin cana yak›n çoflkun kültürü ile zit giden noktalar› olsa gerek. Yemek yeme kültürüdeki farkl›l›klar nelerdir? Kültürel olarak bir sürü yemekten azar azar tatmak mümkün oldu¤unca çok fley tadabilmeyi isterler. Genelde erkekler içkiye yöneldi¤i için bayan müflteriler lezzet konusunda daha hassaslar. Bir Türkün Türk restoran›na yeme¤i yiyip karn›n› doyurmas› ile bir Japonun Türk restoran›nda b›rakt›¤› mebla¤lar farkl› oluyor. Japonlar bir sürü tada bakma iste¤i ve içki içtikleri için genelde hesap konusunda yüksek rakamlar harc›yorlar. Restoran iflletmecili¤inde hedefin nedir? fiu anda Harem’i restoran›n› yeni yerinde açt›k. Türk mutfa¤›n› Japonya’daki gürme dünyasi içerisinde en iyi flekilde tan›tabilmek ve bir flekilde Türk mutfa¤› ve dolas›yla kültürüne bir katk›da bulunabilmek.!
POPULAR TURKISH RESTAURANTS IN TOKYO TOKYO’DAK‹ TÜRK RESTORANLARI Restaurant Name / Ad› Anatolia Ankara Bosphoras Cappadocia Gelik Harem Pamukkale Topkap›
Region / Bölgesi Shibuya Shibuya Hasan Shinjuku Ikebukuro Gaienmae Gaienmae Kichijoji Omotesando
(Source/ Kaynak: www.bento.com)
Tel +81 +81 +81 +81 +81 +81 +81 +81
3486-2995 3780-1366 3354-7947 3987-6049 3404-9177 35786-2929 42223-5660 3498-3510
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EXPLORER OF THE AMERICAS
THE LAND WHERE STARBUCKS, BOEING AND MICROSOFT WERE BORN Go to downtown Seattle to sip your coffee at the first ever Starbucks Cafe, located in Seattle's Pike Place Market.
T
STARBUCKS, BOEING VE MICROSOFT’UN DO⁄DU⁄U TOPRAKLAR
he first city to come to mind when thinking of Starbucks, Boeing, and Microsoft undoubtedly has to be Seattle, as it is the place where all three of these companies were formed. Seattle is a beautiful city, surrounded by lakes and green mountains, a place where rain is never far off, and where the autumn trees, with their leaves of crimson, yellows, and greens turn the area into a paradise. This city, which doesn't make you sweat through the summer, either, hosted me for three months. The city is full of Starbucks cafes. You can see them on practically every corner. If you love nature, green trees, lake life, canoeing, and the rain,
78 • TurkofAmerica
Amerika’n›n sembollerinden ve en büyük cafe zincirlerinden olan Starbucks’›n ilk hayata bafllad›¤› cafede Starbucks kahvenizi yudumlamak isterseniz downtown Seattle’daki Pike Place Market’e gitmelisiniz.
S
then Seattle is perfect for you. But if you are flying to Seattle from Turkey, you had better prepare yourself for a trip from one end of the world to the other.
tarbucks, Boeing ve Microsoft markalar› ard arda s›raland›¤›nda akla gelecek tek flehir flüphesiz Seattle. Üçünün de do¤du¤u yer.
One of the best places to take in a view of Seattle is from one of the city's symbols, the Space Needle. This is a spiral in the air which will allow you a 360 degree view of the city. Though you may have only seen this Space Needle in photographs before, the elevator takes you up to the very top of the tower, allowing you a view that stretches all the way to the waters off of Puget
Çevresi göllerle ve yeflil da¤larla kapl›, ya¤muru hiç eksik olmayan, a¤açlar›n sonbaharda ald›¤› k›rm›z›ms›, sar›ms›, k›z›l›ms› ve yeflilimsi renklerinin birleflimiyle sonbahar aylar›nda ender bulunan bir cennete dönüflen, yazlar› terletmeyen ve beni 3 ay misafir eden ve kendine ba¤layan flirin mi flirin bir flehir Seattle. Her köfle bafl›nda rastlayabilece¤iniz Starbucks Cafe’ler ile dolu.
Da¤lar›, do¤ay›, serin havay›, yeflil a¤açlar›, göl yaflant›s›n›, kayak yapmay› ve ya¤muru sevenlerdenseniz Seattle tam size göre ama Türkiye’den uçacaksan›z dünyan›n nerdeyse öteki ucuna seyahati göze almal›s›n›z. Seattle manzaras›n› görebilece¤iniz en güzel yerlerden birisi flehrin sembollerinden biri olan Space Needle. fiehri 360 derece aç›yla izleyebilmeniz mümkün gözetleme kulesinden. O ana kadar resimlerden gördü¤ünüz Space Needle’›n en tepesine ç›kabilmek için binece¤iniz asansörde Puget Sound’un sular›n›, karlarla kapl›
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‹lknur Gürdal Fieldhouse igurdal@turkofamerica.com
Sound, to the snow-capped peaks of Mount Ranier. It is very exciting. The elevator which takes you to the top does so in only 41 seconds, and the view that spreads out below you when you reach 520 feet in the air is worth it. Go to downtown Seattle to sip your coffee at the first ever Starbucks Cafe, located in Seattle's Pike Place Market. The first Starbucks opened up in 1971, and this one has maintained its original appearance, since Pike Place Market is a historical site. Microsoft and its founder, Bill Gates, are also two names which come to mind in relation to Seattle. Gates's home, which was designed by architect James Cutler, is located on the eastern shore of Washington Lake on a large plot of land. You can actually add a tour of Gates's home to your Seattle plans, as some sections of the house are opened to the public on certain days of the week. Pioneer Square stretches over 20 blocks in downtown Seattle, and is the city's most important cultural center, as well as its historical heart. For Bruce Lee and Jimi Hendrix fans, you have a chance to visit their graves, which lie in Seattle's Lake View Cemetary, on your visit to this city. One Seattle park which will make you feel like you're in the middle of a forest is Seaward Park; you can see eagle nests in the branches of trees at this park, as well as a stunning variety of birds. The park also features a bicycle path, an ampitheater, an art studio, mountain climbing trails.....and much more. You also need to take a look at Washington University on your trip to Seattle. With its hundredyear-old trees, this campus is the
perfect place to take a deep breath and a walk, and to enjoy the views of the ocean bay on which it sits. What about a trip to the airplane museum in this city, the birthplace of the world-famous Boeing? This Seattle museum lays out the history of airplanes and flight before your eyes, giving you a chance to examine war planes and passenger planes up close, or to sit in the pilot's seat of a real SR-71 Blackbird or F/A-18 Hornet if you wish. You could also decide to try flying the first US Air Force One if you like, or take a stroll down the aisle of a Concorde. So pack your umbrellas and raincoats for your trip to Seattle, and remember to make your peace with rain before your visit. Don't worry, it's not as though you are made out of sugar, you're not going to melt in the rain! As it is, getting wet in the Seattle rain is all part of the adventure.!
Rainier Da¤›n› görerek yukar› ç›kman›n heyecan› çok farkl›. 41. saniyede en tepeye ulaflt›¤› iddia edilen ve sizi 520 feet yukar›ya ç›karan asansörden ç›k›p da gözeteme kulesine ulafl›nca muhteflem bir flehir manzaras› sizi bekliyor. Union Gölü ve Elliott Körfezini süsleyen tekneler süzülerek geçiyor gözlerinizin önünden. Amerika’n›n sembollerinden ve en büyük cafe zincirlerinden olan Starbucks’›n ilk hayata bafllad›¤› cafede kahvenizi yudumlamak isterseniz downtown’daki Pike Place Market’e gitmelisiniz. 1971 y›l›nda aç›lan ilk Starbucks cafe, Pike Place Market’in tarihi bir yer olmas› nedeniyle ilk aç›l›fl›ndaki d›fl görünüflünü koruyarak bugünlere ulaflm›fl. Seattle deyince akla gelen en önemli fleylerden birisi de Microsoft ve Bill Gates. James Cutler taraf›ndan dizayn edilen Gates’in evi Washington Gölü’nün do¤usunda 6 dönümlük bir alan› kapl›yor. Haftan›n baz› günle-
rinde halk›n ziyaretine aç›lan Bill Gates’in evini görmek de Seattle planlar›n›za eklenebilecek baflka bir seçenek. Yaklafl›k 20 blo¤a yay›lm›fl olan Pioneer Square Seattle’›n en önemli kültür merkezi ve ayn› zamanda en tarihi bölgelerinden bir tanesi. Tarihi binalar, sanat galerileri, genifl bir ma¤aza zinciri ile gece hayat›n›n en canl› oldu¤u yerlerden birisi. Bruce Lee ve Jimi Hendrix hayran› iseniz Lake View mezarl›¤›n› da ziyaret etmeniz mümkün. Seattle s›n›rlar› içinde kendinizi bir ormanda hissedebilece¤iniz parklardan birisi Seaward Park›. Yeflil bir orman, kartal yuvalar›n› görebilece¤iniz dallar, bir çok çeflit kufllar, bisiklet kullanma parkuru, amfi-tiyatro, sanat stüdyosu, da¤a t›rman›fl patikalar› ve daha neler... Seattle’a gidip Washington Üniversitesi’ne u¤ramamak da olmaz. Yüzy›ll›k a¤açlar›n zenginlefltirdi¤i üniversitesinin kampüsünde dolaflmak ve körfezi seyretmenin tad›na doyamayacaks›n›z. Boeing uçaklar›n›n do¤um yeri olan bir flehre gelip de uçak müzesini ziyaret etmemek de olur mu? Müzede savafl uçaklar›n› görmek bile mümkün. Gerçek SR-71 Blackbird veya F/A-18 Hornet’in pilot kabininde oturman›z, ABD’nin ilk baflkanl›k jeti Air Force One’› yönetmeniz, ses ve ›fl›kla yar›flan Concorde uçaklar›n›n içinde yürümeniz, 100 y›l öncesinin uçufl dünyas›na seyahat etmek inan›lmaz bir tecrübe. Seattle’› dolu dolu yaflamak için flemsiye ve ya¤murluklar›n›z› paketleyip, ya¤murla bar›fl›k olman›z gerekti¤ini hat›rlaman›z gerekli. Ne de olsa fleker de¤ilsiniz, erimeyeceksiniz! Zaten Seattle’da ya¤murda ›slanmak da e¤lencenin ve maceran›n bir parças›... ! TurkofAmerica • 79
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BROKEN ANGEL
BROKEN ANGEL:
A FILM WITH AN ANGELIC PURPOSE
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ilk etapta “Broken Angel” filmini projesini ortaya ç›kard›.
t started with “Lawrence of Arabia,” continued with “Midnight Express,” and has escalated with “The West Wing” and “24.” Most of the characters in those films are examples of what is commonly known as “Turk Bashing,” or taking a misconception about Turks and Turkey and spreading it in the media as a truth through popular drama.
fiirket 2004 y›l›nda, Cihangir “John” Safyurtlu ile film yap›mc›lar› Aclan-Leslie Bates Büyüktürko¤lu çiftinin tan›flmas› ile kuruldu. Büyüktürko¤lu Ailesi’nin sahibi oldu¤u yap›m flirketi UniCvision ile avukat olarak çal›flan Safyurtlu ayn› hayal etraf›nda birleflti: Türkiye ve Türklerin popüler kültür araçlar› vas›tas›yla oluflturulan yanl›fl imajlar›n› bir film çekerek de¤ifltirmek.
One company, appropriately named Mad Turk Productions, has taken a new approach: Use the same media, film and TV, to show the truth, not just protest. And the “Mad Turks” are taking their first step with their film “Broken Angel.” Mad Turk Productions came to life in 2004 when John Safyurtlu met Aclan and Leslie Bates-Buyukturkoglu, filmmakers. They soon found out that they were working separately – Aclan and Leslie with their production company, uniCvisions, and John as a lawyer and film buff with an idea for films – with the same goal in mind: to invest in the improvement, if not the complete change, of the image of Turks and Turkey through popular films. Broken Angel, based on the novel, “Ruzgarli Sehir” by Chicago resident Tulay Pirlant, will star “Yabanci Damat’s” Nehir Erdogan and will be shot completely in Los Angeles in both Turkish and English. The story concerns a young Turkish girl who comes to the United States seeking the life she saw on shows such as “Beverly Hills 90210” and “Baywatch,” only to find that life in the U.S. is not that easy. Broken Angel LLC, announced that they have designated the Bridge to Turkiye Fund as their favorite charity. This means that 10% of all investment in the film, as well as a portion of the profits, will be 80 • TurkofAmerica
Chicago’da yaflayan yazar Tülay P›rlant taraf›ndan kaleme al›nan “Rüzgarl› fiehir” kitab›ndan esinlenerek çekilecek Broken Angel filminde, baflrolü Türkiye’de büyük ilgi uyand›ran “Yabanc› Damat” dizisinin y›ld›z› Nehir Erdo¤an oynayacak. Los Angeles’ta çekilecek film, Türkçe ve ‹ngilizce olarak çekilecek.
MELEK G‹B‹ F‹LM:
BROKEN ANGEL used to benefit the needy in Turkey through the fund. The filmmakers intend Broken Angel to be only the first in a series of films, each a little larger than the one before, aimed at the international audience and showing Turks and Turkey in a positive light.!
CONTACT INFORMATION: Leslie Bates-Buyukturkoglu Broken Angel LLC Producer-Writer www.brokenangelfilm.com Tel: 818 752 4884
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rabistanl› Lawrence” ile bafllad› herfley. “Geceyar›s› Ekpresi” ile devam etti. “The West Wing” ve “24” dizi filmleri ile de yükselifle geçti. Bu filmlerde oynayan bafl rol karakterlerin ço¤u genelde Türkler ve Türkiye’yi yanl›fl tan›tan karakterler olarak bilindi. Medya kanal›yla da bu karakterler günlük hayata gerçek olarak sunuldu. Sadece protesto etmek yerine ayn› medya kanallar›n› kullanarak gerçekleri göstermek için yola koyulan Mad Turk Productions
Filmin yönetmeni Leslie Bates Büyüktürko¤lu, filmin senaryosu, hikayesi ve oyunculu¤u aç›s›ndan devrim niteli¤inde olaca¤›n› söylüyor. Film, Hollywood dizilerinde gördü¤ü ABD’yi yaflamak üzere Los Angeles’a gelen genç bir k›z›n, hayat flartlar›n›n asl›nda göründü¤ü kadar kolay olmad›¤› ve yaflad›¤› zorluklar› anlat›yor. Broken Angel, LLC ad›nda bir flirket kurarak filmi hayata geçirecek filmin yap›mc›lar›, filmden elde edilecek gelirin yüzde 10’unu da North Carolina’da kurulan Bridge to Turkiye Fund’a aktaracak. Filmin yap›mc›lar› filmin Türkiye’yi ve Türklerin gerçek yüzünü anlatan film serisinin ilki olmas›n› planl›yor. Her bir filmin bir öncekinden daha uzun olmas› planlan›yor.!