WASHINGTON – The Maryland Sister State Turkish Committee represented Turkish commerce and culture at the 14th Annual Maryland’s Secretary of State Sister State Reception on January 30, 2018.
The receptions was attended by more than 400 state executives, legislators, judges, business owners and civil society leaders at the State Senate Building in Annapolis.
The Turkish Table boasted Turkish wines, Turkish olive oil, Turkish Coffee, Turkish Delights and Baklava, as well as a Turkish tourism video, art and literature. Maryland’s First Lady Yumi Hogan and Secretary of State John Wobensmith honored the Turkish Table, tasting smooth Turkish Yakut red wine and Turkish Delights. Lt. Governor Boyd Rutherford enjoyed Turkish Coffee and a Fortune Telling. Secretary Wobensmith spoke a few words of Turkish he had learned from his years as the Pentagon’s top representative in Turkey.
The Maryland Turkish Committee is presided by Dr. Ahmet Aydilek, who also serves as Secretary General of the Turkish American Community Center and Mosque (TACC) in Lanham, MD. Committee Vice-Chairwoman, Vered Mullin, CEO of Kristal Olive Oil, is both a representative of Izmir Turkey’s Jewish and Israel’s Turkish communities. The Committee Secretary General is Cagla Oruc of Johns Hopkins Medicine.
Turkish America National Steering Committee (TASC) Co-Chairman Gunay Evinch, who serves as a political appointee on the Maryland Governor’s Middle Eastern Affairs Commission, helped form the Maryland Turkish Committee and became its ranking member.
Members of the Turkish Committee also include Hande Uzun of Kazan Restaurant and Sandalyeci Inc., Aysel Basci of the World Bank, Onur Bulbul of Innovative Advisors Inc., Sitki Kazanci of Creative Edge Design Studio, Mert Kayan of Fannie Mae, Mehmet Gorgulu of IT Department of MD State, Sami Oktay of CardioMed Device Consultants, Cagla Oruc of Johns Hopkins University Hospital, Gizem White of The Turkish Coffee Lady Inc., and Cemal Yavuz of JD Logistics.
Omur Kizilarslan, Chief Commercial Counselor of the Turkish Embassy was critical to the effort to restart the program. Deputy Secretary of State Luis Borunda emphasized the importance of foreign embassy support in the Sister State Program, thanking the Turkish Embassy and 16 other foreign missions from Belgium, Brazil, Estonia, France, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Korea, Liberia, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru, Poland, South Africa, Russia, Vietnam.
On January 31, 2018, the major port province of Kocaeli, Turkey, re-joined the Maryland Sister State Program. Evinch drafted the MOU and Legislative Resolution to make sure Maryland recognized the broadest diversity of Turkish Americans.
Chairman Aydilek thanked the Turkish Coffee Lady and Kazan Restaurant for the Turkish Coffee and Turkish food respectively, Kristal for Turkish Olive oil samples, and Mehmet Yorukoglu of House of Burgundy Inc. donating Turkish wines, and Erkan Erdogan General Manager of Turkish Airlines in the United States, for their support.
