Welcome to the ATA-DC Website

Here you will find valuable information on Turkish-American life in the Washington D.C. area.

Founded in 1965, the American-Turkish Association of Washington, D.C. (ATA-DC) is a 501 (c)(3) Non-Profit corporation. ATA-DC is dedicated to:

- promoting better understanding and relations between the peoples of Turkey and the United States of America

- increasing, promoting, fostering friendship, raising the public knowledge level and understanding of the Turkish culture and history in the community

- furthering the interests of the Turkish American community in Metropolitan Washington, DC and the United States

- performing other activities which are charitable, educational and not for profit, in accordance with the meaning of Section 501 (c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954

- supporting and maintaining ties with other organizations of like goals, to include the Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA)

Turkish Restaurant Week selected as the Best International Food Event

ATA-DC is proud to announce that this year ATA-DC’s 3rd Annual Turkish Restaurant Week was voted the Best International Food Event 2012 by the readers of the Washington City Paper. Three years ago there was a vision to promote our exotic and delicious Turkish Cuisine and now Washingtonians are enjoying every last bite they have of our cuisine. We’d like to thank the participating restaurants of this event that have made it such a great success: Agora Restaurant, Café Divan, Ezmè Restaurant & Wine Bar, Levante’s, Mezè Restaurant Bar Lounge, Rosemary’s Thyme Bistro & Zaytinya

The Mobile Turkish Coffee House is touring the East Coast this April/May 2012

Turkish Coffee is world-renowned and this spring it is coming to your backyard with the Mobile Turkish Coffee House!

In collaboration with Turkayfe.org, American Turkish Association of Washington DC (ATA-DC) will be organizing ‘Turkish   Coffee Culture Series 2012’ which will start this April. The ‘Mobile Turkish Coffee House’ will be travelling to six major cities to share free Turkish coffee with people. By introducing this cultural series, ATA-DC aims to increase awareness of the ‘Turkish coffee culture’ while bringing two societies that love coffee closer together.

Please find the coffee tour schedule below.

1. Music Center, Strathmore Hall, MD – April 25, 2012 (The truck will be introduced for the first time before the ‘Symphony of Voices from Turkic Lands’ concert featuring the TURKSOY Symphony Orchestra)
2. Washington, DC – April 27-28, 2012
3. Baltimore, MD – May 1, 2012
4. New York City, NY – May 4-6, 2012
5. New Haven – May 8-9, 2012
6. Boston – May 11-14, 2012

You can get the latest updates and the full schedule at:
www.turkayfe.org
www.facebook.com/mobileturkishcoffeehouse
www.twitter.com/TRcoffeetruck

For your questions, please e-mail turkishcoffeeculture@gmail.com

ATA-DC Republic Day Fundraiser Raises $14,500 for Mehmetcik Vakfi and Earthquake Relief

Dear ATA-DC Members and Friends:

ATA-DC Board thanks all of you for supporting ATA-DC’s Republic Day Fundraiser event that took place on Saturday, October 29, 2011 at Grand Hyatt Hotel in Washington DC.
As you know this event was a fundraiser for the Mehmetcik Foundation and Earthquake Relief Efforts in Van.  300 people attended the Fundraiser and Congressman Russ Carnahan and Congresswoman Donna Edwards joined as well to deliver remarks highlighting the importance of the 88th anniversary of the Proclamation of Turkey and Turkish-American Friendship.
As a result of the fundraiser and through the donations that were sent to us afterwards, we are pleased to announce that an amount of $9,392 was raised for both causes. We are also pleased to inform you that ATA-DC board has decided to top this amount up to $12,000 from its own funds.
Knowing that you made these hard-earned donations to ATA-DC with a full faith and trust, we took that responsibility very seriously with the intention to make sure the funds would go in the right places and where they would be needed the most. After careful consideration and research ATA-DC has decided to donate the Funds as follows:
$5000 to Mehmetcik Foundation
$5000 to Turkish Philanthropy Funds (TPF) Van Earthquake Relief Fund through the World Bank’s Disaster Relief Community Campaign. World Bank is matching these donations with 50% from its own funds. TPF will receive $7,500 with the matching program. 100 % of this amount will go to AKUT, Kizilay and TPF grantee partners who are directly involved with Van, to help victims recover from the devastating effects of the earthquake.
$2,000 to a local NGO that supports kids who lost their parents in the earthquake (I have a brother in Van)
As you can see with this allocation we are able to create value of $14,500 for the Mehmetcik Vakfi and the Earthquake Victims.
We would like to thank you all for your generous donations and for putting your trust on ATA-DC.
We also would like to thank other Organizations and Sponsors who made this event possible as well as Ambassador Namik Tan for supporting this event by helping us with sponsorships.
Sponsors:
Ministry of Tourism and Culture
Motorola
EA Aerospace / Eclipse Aerospace
Cankaya Belediyesi
Turkish Airlines
Organizations:
Assembly of Turkish American Associations
Ataturk Society of America
Turkish Coalition of America
HOYTUR Folk Dance Troupe
Kind regards,
ATA-DC Board of Directors

ATA-DC Awarded as ‘The Most Successful Non-Profit Organization’ in the Turkish American Community

We are proud to announce that the American Turkish Association of Washington, DC has been awarded with a Golden Turk Award as the ‘Most Successful Non-Profit Organization.’ We are delighted to have won this prestigious award on behalf of our volunteer team and we thank our community members and friends who have supported us throughout the years and who voted for us in the public poll. We also want to extend our appreciation to the event organizers, and jurors who recognized our organization, other successful individuals and institutions that have been giving back to our society and contributing remarkably. The Golden Turk Awards, established in 2008, is the first and only independent organization created to reward successful Turks and Turkish companies, as well as those individuals and institutions that support Turkey. Visit the official page for more information: www.goldenturkawards.com



ATA-DC Turkish Festival selected as the Best Festival of DC by Washington City Paper’s public poll

We are delighted to announce the selection of Turkish Festival as the Best Festival in DC. In March 2011, Washington City Paper launched a public poll and asked the readers to make their pick on the bests of the city. Under the Arts & Entertainment Category, Washington, DC Turkish Festival won over the best festival title while DC Short Film Festival and Cherry Blossom Festival followed as second and third, respectively. We would like to thank our members and friends for your continuous support and congratulates our community for their accomplishment. Follow the link to see the official results. This year’s festival will take place on October 2, 2011 Sunday. For more information, please visit our website and social media pages:

www.turkishfestival.org

Turkish Festival on Facebook

Turkish Festival on Twitter