MONTHLY NEWSLETTER    July-August 2020
TCA Bids Farewell to Summer Interns
Closing Ceremony via Zoom for TCA's 2020 Summer Interns
On August 31, TCA concluded its 2020 summer internship program. Due to Covid-19, this year's interns worked remotely with the TCA Washington Team on various projects and programs. Special events were hosted exclusively for this class, including interacting with former TCA Congressional interns, and workshops on grassroots activism by newly-elected Milwaukee City Comptroller Aycha Sawa, Ceylan Rowe, running for the Massachusetts House of Representatives, and Lydia Borland of the Ten Thousand Turks Campaign.*
Virtual Meetings with Members of Congress
TCA's Washington team met with the following Members of Congress virtually during July and August-Representatives Don Beyer (D-VA/8th) and Deb Haaland (D-NM/1st). Discussions ranged from current foreign and domestic issues affecting Turkish Americans to the co-sponsorship of House Resolution 931 - Congratulating the people of the Republic of Turkey and Turkish Americans nationwide on Turkish National Sovereignty and Children's Day.
TCA Jointly Hosts Webinar Series with
Australian Turkish Advocacy Alliance (ATA-A)
On July 26 and August 25, the Australian Turkish Advocacy Alliance (ATA-A) and TCA jointly hosted webinars discussing Turkish foreign policy. At the July event, Mike Doran of The Hudson Institute and Luke Coffey of The Heritage Foundation discussed Turkey's value for the US-led Western bloc against China and Russia. In August, Professor M. Hakan Yavuz of the Turkish Studies Project at the University of Utah discussed issues surrounding the international push for recognizing the Armenian Genocide, the 2019 U.S. Congressional Resolutions, and the effects that this has had for Turkey and the Turkish diaspora.  David Saltzman from the Turkish American Legal Defense Fund (TALDF) moderated the August event.
House Resolution 931 Gains
Three Additional Co-Sponsors
In April, Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN/9th), with the co-sponsorship of Representative Virginia Foxx (R-NC/5th), introduced House Resolution 931 - Congratulating the people of the Republic of Turkey and Turkish Americans nationwide on Turkish National Sovereignty and Children's Day. The resolution also recognized the founding of the Turkish Grand National Assembly on April 23, 1920.
 
As of August 30, House Resolution 931 has gained three more co-sponsors - Representatives Ann Kuster (D-NH/2nd), Adam Kinzinger (R-IL/16th), and Gerry Connolly (D-VA/11th). 
TCA Celebrates James Baldwin's Birthday with
Screening of"James Baldwin / From Another Place"
James Baldwin in Istanbul in the 1960s.
TCA hosted a second screening of Sedat Pakay's short documentary,"James Baldwin / From Another Place" via Zoom on August 2, Baldwin's birthday. After the screening, Carole Weinstein, a close personal friend of Baldwin, spoke about his legacy with Jami'r Smith moderating the event.
TCA Interviews Fatma Aytac
TCA intern Pelin Ensari, a Political Science major at the University of California, Berkeley, had the opportunity to interview Fatma Aytac, a Founding Deputy of the Kadin Partisi (Women's Party) in Turkey and Chairwoman at the Red Pepper Association based in Istanbul. Aytac discussed the challenges women face in Turkey and the U.S. and their need for more political engagement. The article can be found here and is also under the Turkish American Women's Leadership Initiative section on the website.
*Please note: as a 501(c)3 charitable organization, TCA is prohibited by law from engaging in activities that could be construed as political campaigning. TCA cannot and does not donate funds to a political action committee or support any political candidate or group of candidates. With this initiative, TCA is not endorsing or supporting any candidate for any office.