Contact:
Nurten Ural, President ATAA
Allison Block, Advocacy Director, ATAA
Tel: 202.483.9090
E-mail: president@ataa.org

Turkish Americans Gaining Power through Grassroots
NEW YORK

New York, NY, October 23, 2007-As part of its Public Outreach Plan, on October 18th ATAA held its first Grassroots Networking meeting in New York in cooperation with the local Turkish American community and organizations. Many people representing the broader Turkish American community attended the event, which was hosted at Gallery MC in downtown Manhattan, an art gallery space that was generously opened to the Turkish American community by the Macedonian Community of New York. The event began with opening remarks by Turkish Deputy Consul General for New York Ms. Zeynep Kiziltan. Turkish Consul General Mr. Mehmet Samsar was unable to attend the event, as he was in Turkey.

“The start of this program comes at a critical time for the Turkish American community. We hope that we will continue to have as many enthusiastic and eager participants in the other cities as we had in New York,” said President Ural.

This meeting kicks off a series titled “Turkish Americans Gaining Power through Grassroots,” and is planned for more than 30 cities across the United States geared at activating the Turkish American community, as well as sharing information with the community on how to be more civically active citizens. The presentations by ATAA representatives last for about one and a half hours, and included presentations by ATAA President Nurten Ural, ATAA President-Elect Gunay Evinch, and ATAA Advocacy Director Allison Block. The program begins with a presentation by President Ural, sharing general information about ATAA, its strategic and public outreach plans, and new ideas for the Turkish American community. ATAA Advocacy Director Allison Block in her presentation goes into further detail about specific skill sets and methodologies for Turkish Americans to be more effective in communicating with different audiences. President-Elect Evinch closes out the seminar with an informative, detailed and accurate presentation on issues that are currently confronting the Turkish American community. The presentation was followed by a Q&A session, where attendees can ask pertinent, timely and engaging questions.

More importantly, during these visits, ATAA staff assists in arranging meetings for constituents with their local representatives in Congress. Due to the fact that many members of the Turkish American community are new to such processes, ATAA makes the facilitation of this process one of its top priorities.

For a complete schedule please contact Allison Block, Advocacy Director, at the ATAA Headquarters at: 202.483.9090.