Dear Members of the Assembly of Turkish American Associations and Friends,

January 16, 2021, Alexandria, VA  – I am humbled and honored to take the role of president of the Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA). My sincere thanks to our immediate past president Mr. Gokhan Ozalp, for his contributions to ATAA during his presidency. Also, my sincere thanks to the members of Board of Directors and Board of Trustees. With BOD and BOT’s commitment, ATAA will continue serving Turkish-American community years to come and ATAA will continue to be most effective and successful umbrella organization for Turkish American associations. As a team, we will continue to promote ATAA’s our values and mission, reaching out to our member associations and other organizations.

ATAA’s success depends on the collaboration and hard work of the BOD, BOT and all ATAA component organizations. To accomplish that I will focus on working closely with our committees such as United Nations Committee, Bright Future Language Committee, and component associations. I will also continue to work with all major U.S.-based organizations, advocacy groups, and think-tanks, and build stronger ties with them.

Recent developments in the U.S. shows that as Turkish American organizations at all levels we need to work harder on advocacy. As Turkish Americans we need to be more active in civic and political institutions in the U.S. This would require financially stronger ATAA and component associations, therefore we will also focus on our membership and fundraising efforts in upcoming months and years.

One of the long-term goals is involvement of our youth in component organizations so we can help them learn about their rich culture, heritage, and language so they can carry on ATAA’s mission into future.

As I committed to serve ATAA, I will need your support and involvement. This could be renewing your membership to ATAA or becoming a member of ATAA. Your financial support will have a valuable impact on ATAA’s efforts now and in the future.

I look forward to working with you all and serving ATAA in throughout my term as the President of ATAA.

Sincerely,

Mazlum Kosma
President of the Assembly of Turkish American Associations