Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA), representing over 50 local chapters is the largest, democratically elected Turkish American membership organization in the United States. Established in 1979 to fight defamation and attacks on Turkish Americans, ATAA has evolved to be the most influential grassroots umbrella organization for the Turkish American community in the United States. ATAA’s mission is to create cohesion and cooperation between the social and cultural Turkish American organizations around the United States to establish an informed national Turkish American community that can help foster the United States – Türkiye relations and take an active part in promoting a balanced and truthful picture of Türkiye in the United States. As a non-faith-based organization, ATAA is open to people of diverse backgrounds. ATAA is governed by the Board of Directors with executive responsibility and a Board of Trustees that provides financial guidance and oversight. ATAA is a tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that relies on membership dues, private donations, as well as private and public grants.
What is ATAA?
Click here to view the ATAA Bylaws.
ATAA Regional Map
With 10 regional vice presidents nationwide, ATAA represents local Turkish American associations coast-to-coast, as well as member associations in Canada and Türkiye. Mid Central Region (Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio); Midwest Region (Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin); New York Region (New Jersey, New York, Canada); Mid Atlantic Region (Delaware, Pennsylvania, West Virginia); Northeast Region (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont); Southwest Region (Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Texas); Western Region (Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah); Capital Region (Washington DC, Maryland, Virginia, Türkiye); Southeast Region (Tennessee, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina); Northwest Region (Alaska, Oregon, Montana, Washington, Wyoming, Idaho)
ATAA Leadership
The ATAA Board of Directors is composed of the following elected officers: a president, a president-elect, 9 regional vice-presidents, a secretary, a treasurer, and the immediate past president.
Board of Directors (2024)
Alev Wieland has Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from University of Cincinnati, OH. Worked for Balcan Engineering at Proctor of Gamble as Project Engineer for 7 years. She retired from PepsiCo, Inc-AMEA Capability Director in 2012.
Alev has extensive experience in Lean Manufacturing, Lean Product Life Cycle Management, Equipment and Processes Development. Project Management, Construction Management, Food Manufacturing, Paper Converting, Cosmetics and Laundry Soap Industries. She has solid understanding of Engineering, Manufacturing and Operations Processes.
She is an expert in ISO 9001 and GMP Certifications and Standards. Alev is the CEO of Manufacturing Excellence Technical Services and Alev Cosmetics.
Alev has been serving as the President-Elect of ATAA since May 2024. She served on the ATAA Board of Directors as the Southwest Region Vice President from 2020 to 2024 and as First Vice President from October 2023 to May 2024. Alev also serves as the co-Chair of the ATAA UN Relations Committee and Chair of the ATAA Newsletter Committee.
She is the Secretary General and NGO Relations Director Contemporary Education Foundation (COEDFO) since 2013, has been responsible for organizational communication, meetings management, documentation, website management. As the Trustee and active member of the Turkish American Association of Northern Texas (TURANT), she has been providing organizational operations support to its elected board members and helping with executions of projects since 2000.
Since 2008, Alev takes active role at her local Main Street Organization and International Community, helps with organizations of the major festivals that is proven to become the key events that provides income to the city. She served as President of Cincinnati Turkish American Association (CTAA) from 1994 to 1996.
Seda Arık, a native of Bursa, is an attorney at law and received a law degree from Istanbul University and a Masters of Laws degree from University of Minnesota. She is pursuing an MBA degree. She was elected and served as a city council member in Bursa, Türkiye and also served as a board member in many associations. She is a board member of American Turkish Association of Washington, DC (ATA-DC) and continue to support the American-Turkish community. Her goal is to contribute to the American-Turkish community with her experience and strong relationships with Türkiye.
Orhangazi Ilgaz Ülger has been in the Chicago region since 1993. He was born and raised in Ankara, Türkiye. He has completed his graduate degree in Civil Engineering and has been working in the same field since. Mr. Ülger’s involvement with Turkish American Cultural Alliance (TACA) started in early 2000s. He was involved in the organization of April 23rd celebration events in Naperville until 2020. He actively served at the TACA board from 2006 through 2009. Mr. Ülger also served in the organization committee for the Chicago Turkish Festival and Chaired the event several years. After Serving two terms as the TACA President, Mr. Ülger has been a member of the Board of Trustees for the same organization.
Ms. Pervin Karamete was appointed as ATAA New York Region Vice President in October 2023. Pervin Karamete was born in Ankara, Turkey. Karamete family settled in New Jersey, USA when she was a small child. Being a very accomplished student, Pervin not only excelled academically but also received honorable mention awards in volleyball, for her achievements in Junior Olympics. She started her career at Brooks Brothers after studying “Management and Marketing” at Fashion Institute of Technology. Her career blossomed after working with Perry Ellis and Henry Grethel. Along the way she started working with various Hollywood stars and legends like Jack Nicholson, Gregory Heins, Alec Baldwin, John Tesh and Kim Basinger. Her entrepreneurial spirit led her to establish her own company for design and production where she was also a consultant for Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren and Donna Karen. Doing all this work she never stayed away from her community. Being a good standing member of the community, she served as the Vice President of the “Turkish American Community Center” and opened community’s first “Mustafa Kemal Ataturk School” in New Jersey. She was elected as the president of the association in 2018 where she expanded the Mustafa Kemal Ataturk School to a second location in Clifton NJ. Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, she was able to offer online classes and continue educating young members of our society. Eventually reopening the two locations in 2021 successfully, she announced the opening of the third location in Summit NJ in 2023.
Göknur McAvoy was born and raised in Türkiye. She obtained a degree from the University of Ankara, Faculty of Russian Language and Literature before she moved to the US in 1980. She studied Computer Science in US and worked in this field for 32 years. She has been an actively involved member of the Turkish and American communities. She has served as an executive board member and advisor in many organizations. She is an active member of the Southern New England Turkish American Association (SNETACA) in Connecticut for 25 years. From 2009 and 2010 she served as president of SNETACA. She also served as the Chairperson of the Disciplinary Committee for the Federation of the Turkish American Associations (FTAA) during this time. She organized and moderated a teacher’s workshop on Türkiye for more than one hundred teachers in Wolcott, Connecticut in 1994 and received an award from ATAA. She provided seminars and teacher/student workshops on Türkiye at many other schools in Connecticut. She introduced the Turkish kitchen to her community and taught Turkish cooking for the Wolcott Adult Education. She was the SNETACA Coordinator for education and the Director of the SNETACA Turkish School. She taught Turkish language and culture periodically from 1993 to 2017. She represented Connecticut with the Turkish American delegation of the ATAA, during their visits with the Turkish Republic, Northern Turkish Cyprus, and Israeli governments. She was honored as a Turkish Mayor and the Turkish flag was raised for the first time over the Wolcott Town Hall in 2004. Since then every year she raised the Turkish flag and celebrated the Turkish Republic Day with town and state officials and the Turkish American community. She lives in Wolcott, CT with her husband, Timothy. She has a son, who is a police sergeant and a granddaughter.
Canan Özaktay was born in Istanbul and moved to Michigan in 1969. She received her BS degree from Michigan State University in 1978 and spent most of her career through 2005 in the Automotive Industry and later moved to New Hampshire where she received her MS degree in Healthcare Management from Franklin Pierce University. In 2007 Canan moved to Florida where she received her Real Estate license in 2012 and Broker’s License 2019. Currently she is the Broker/Owner of Epic Solutions Realty, Boca Raton FL. Canan is an enthusiastic member of the community and believes in service. While she lived in Michigan, she was a member of Turkish American Cultural Association of Michigan (TACAM) and served in various positions which included the President of the organization (2004-2005). She joined Florida Turkish American Association (FTAA) as a member in 2008 and volunteered in several committees and was the President 2022-2024 term. Canan’s memberships include Boca Raton Rotary Club where she serves in the Foundation Committee and also the Leadership Boca Class of 2023. She is a proud new member of the ATAA UN Relations Committee. Living in Boca Raton, Fl, Canan is married to Dr. Cüneyt Özaktay. She is mother of Crystal Smith, Brandon Hampton and Levent Özaktay.
Born in Izmir, Turkey. Following graduation from METU Business Administration, worked in corporate banking and in human capital consultancy at Ernst & Young. Currently, working as US Loyalty CRM Manager, following various roles for 19 years at Shell. Manages direct communications for loyalty programs across the US in all digital owned and paid channels to keep Shell customers engaged with loyalty initiatives. Actively volunteered in organizations including but not limited to LOSEV, Rotary Club and ‘Smiling Heals Association’ which specializes on providing psychological support for kids fighting with cancer as a founding member. Has been actively participating and volunteering in American Turkish Association of Houston since 2018 and serving as the president, since 2021. Organized Houston Turkish Festival with approximately 10,000 participants.
Board of Trustees (2024)
Bülent Başol is a technologist residing in California for over 40 years. He is a Bogazici University graduate with a PhD from UCLA in electronics. Bülent started several high technology companies in Southern California and Silicon Valley and developed new technologies in the fields of solar energy, and semiconductor manufacturing and characterization. His research and development activities have been published in over 150 journal articles and 266 international patents. He is in the group of 25 Turkish inventors with the most number of patents in the world. Bülent has been active in Turkish American organizations for many years. He served as the President of ATA-SC, VP and President of ATAA and the Chair of the ATAA Board of Trustees.
Kenan Çağlar received his B.A. degree in International Marketing at the Marmara University in Istanbul. After immigrating to the United States in 1988, he enrolled in Virginia Commonwealth University and received a certificate in Information Systems. He is currently employed by Wells Fargo as Vice President in Enterprise Technology. Caglar served as President of Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA) from 2016 to 2018. Since 2011 He has contributed significantly to ATAA by volunteering for many positions. In addition to serving on the Executive Committee, Board of Directors and Board of Trustees, he served as the Treasurer before becoming President of the Assembly, successfully reducing operating costs and producing thousands of dollars in savings annually. He has served as the Chairman of the Investment Committee which oversees ATAA’s Endowments Fund. Employing principles of prudent investment and disciplined spending, He has helped marshal considerable growth in ATAA’s Endowments Fund. He currently serves on the Education, Anti-Discrimination, and Fundraising Committees as well. Çağlar has three daughters and resides in Miami, Florida.
Turgut Çakırağa is a rocket scientist residing in Southern California. He is married to Maria Florence Russell Çakırağa (BS ME), herself a rocket scientist and a past Western Region VP of ATAA. They have a rocket scientist son, William Mustafa Çakırağa. Turgut has been a long-time supporter of the Turkish Cause since 1977, when he was the VP of the Student Association at Tufts University. After moving to Southern California in 1982 he first worked at Bechtel Power Company-Nuclear Division and then at Boeing Co. as a Senior Scientist and Corporate Tech Lead on Missile Testing. He designed and tested several of the critical systems for Space Shuttle and Ground Based Missile Defense. During his 34-year professional career, Turgut was heavily involved with the local Turkish American organization (ATA-SC) as Chairman of the Board, Acting President, Treasurer, and Chair of various committees. Since turning over the reins of ATA-SC to younger generation Turgut has been a mentor and financial supporter of the organization. Turgut was the 2017-2018 President of the Rotary Club of Placentia and he will be the President for the 2023-2024 term. He also served as the Club International Projects Chair for over 20 years. Turgut is a current Advisory Board Member for House of Türkiye-San Diego. He was a member of the Board of Directors of that organization in 2022.
Kürşad Doğru graduated from Ankara Koleji, received Bachelors degree in City Planning from METU, and continued graduate studies with a Master of Business Administration degree from University of Texas at Arlington. He served ATAA as a regional VP under Dr. Kaymakcalan’s presidency. Appointed to ATAA Board of Trustees during Bonnie Kaslan’s chairmanship. He has been METU Alumni Asso-ciation’s Dallas representative since 2001 and the President of NEXT International, Inc.(www.neqx.com) since 1995. He was a member of Turkish National junior track team with 6th rank of the world in 400Ma and ran the Hurdle in juniors in 1984. He is married to Bengu Dogru and has 2 children.
Dr. Selim Erhan was born in Istanbul Turkey. He has a BS in Chemical Engineering degree from the University of Istanbul, and a Ph.D. in Polymer-Organic Chemistry from Western Michigan University. After teaching at, Kalamazoo College and Lake Michigan College, he started a research career first at the USDA’s National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research in Peoria, IL. He continued his career in the private industry, working on application of bio-based products to industrial applications. Dr. Erhan started actively working on introducing Turkey and the Turkish Culture in USA while studying at Western Michigan University in 1980. He joined the Turkish American Cultural Alliance in 2000 and became active in educational activities and in 2009. He was the co-founder of the highly successful TACA – Public Outreach Program, aiming at educating middle school, high school and university students on important issues. In 2013 he joined TACA’s Board of Directors and became the Director of the Ataturk School and the Adult Turkish School. Dr. Erhan was elected as ATAA’s Midwest Region VP 2015 to 2019. He has continued working at ATAA, helped to form the UN Committee and was instrumental to form the highly successful Turkish American Presidents Group under ATAA, improving communications with the Component Associations in USA and pulling in similar Turkish organizations from Canada. In 2022, he was elected to ATAA’s Board of Trustees.
Fatma Gul, MD., MSc. is a Professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center was born in Bursa Turkey. Her father decided to move family to Istanbul to give access the higher education to his daughters when she was in second grade of elementary school. She graduated from Istanbul Kiz Lisesi and received her medical degree from Istanbul University Faculty of Medicine. Shortly after graduation she married with Hakan Gul and immigrated to United States. She started her residency in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center after welcoming two daughters and enjoying being a mother and wife for a few years. She has experience of private practice and academics over 40 years and she serve as principal investigator on several clinical trials exploring the use of botulinum toxin as treatment for limb spasticity. She enjoys being a clinician, educator and an investigator. She is an active member of several National and International Medical Societies, she is a frequent presenter in the meetings and has multiple publications in her expertise spasticity management that involves in most neurological conditions. She has been recognized numerous times as a Texas Monthly Super Doctor, Best Doctor by D Magazine, and other prestigious local and national honors. Dr. Gul and her husband are one of the founders of TURANT and they continue to be active members of TURANT, she has been a former president and currently she serves in BOT. She is also one of the founders and permanent board member of COEDF that nonprofit organization, mission is raising funds to educate unprivileged youth especially girls. She is serving her term as president. Dr. Gul and Hakan have two daughters and two granddaughters, she and her husband enjoy fishing, boating, gardening and traveling with family.
Ergün Kırlıkovalı was born in Izmir, Türkiye. He attended Robert College, Istanbul, Turkey. He received his BS degree in Chemistry from Bogazici University and MS degree in Polymer Science from the University of Manchester, England. He also conducted research on polymers in Holland and Austria. He was employed as a product development and research chemist in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York. Currently, he is the founding president of his company which conducts research and development on new materials based on interpenetrating network polymers. He found himself in need of promoting and defending Turkish culture and heritage due to a relentless barrage of unsolicited and unjustified anti-Turkish attacks by Armenian and Greek lobbies and others in America. He had written more than 5,000 letters to the editors, news programmers, panelists, politicians, academicians, and other opinion-makers. He also appeared on TV and radio shows and participated in conferences and panels in universities and colleges in an effort to present the other side of the story and fight against discrimination and censorship fostered by a surprisingly racist and dishonest version of history persistently promoted by anti-Turkish lobbies. He served as President of Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA) from 2011 to 2013. He has served as President of American-Turkish Association of Southern California (ATA-SC), Public Relations Committee Chairman and later Western U.S. Regional Director for the Federation of Turkish American Associations (FTAA) in New York and ATAA in Washington DC. He is married, has one son, and lives in Southern California.
İbrahim Onaral received a Bachelor’s Degree from Robert College in Civil Engineering and a Master’s Degree from Bogazici University. He is a structural engineer by profession. He has worked as a bridge and structural engineer in a variety of positions both in the US and overseas. As a young bridge engineer, he participated in the construction of the first suspension bridge over the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Turkey. Currently he serves as an Associate for LS Engineering Associates in charge of two offices in South Jersey and in Philadelphia. Previously he served as a Vice President for QBS International, Inc. in charge of the Bridge Department and Business Development. A couple of decades ago, motivated by the need to defend the Turkish Culture and history against unfair and unjustified attacks by various anti-Turkish lobbies in this country, he decided to join the Turkish American organizations with the hope and determination of making a difference. He has served for the local Turkish American organization in the Philadelphia area TAFSUS (Turkish American Friendship Society of the United States) at various positions such as board member, as President and Vice President in the last 20 years. As a TAFSUS board member and as a Turkish American, he has written articles and participated in radio programs fighting against articles, and news distorting and misrepresenting Turkish history and culture. He has been a member of ATAA since 1979. Currently he serves as the past president and treasurer of TAFSUS. He also served two terms (2009-2013) as the ATAA Vice President for the North Central region. During his tenure as the regional vice president for ATAA, he organized various grassroots efforts and cultural events to increase awareness of Turkish American interests in his region and to promote ATAA as the national organization for Turkish Americans. He is married to Banu Onaral and has one son. He lives in Philadelphia, PA.
Davut Okutçu received his BSc degree in Chemical Engineering at Robert College, İstanbul Turkey in 1969 as a Fulbright Scholar which was followed by his graduate study at Syracuse University, New York – where he received his Master of Science degree in Industrial Engineering. His graduate study at Syracuse University was financed through Turkish Education Fund – USAID joint scholarship. Mr. Okutcu joined the Koç Group in 1971 and served in various levels of management during his 32 years with Koç. At his latest assignment as Assistant to the President of Consumer Goods Group his responsibilities covered new business and joint venture development, mergers, acquisitions, restructuring of companies, et al. He retired from the Koç group in 2003. Mr. Okutcu served two consecutive terms as the Chairman of the Economic Development Foundation (IKV)- an NGO dedicated to promoting Turkey’s membership into the European Union. He served 10 years on Board of Directors of the American Turkish Council (ATC). He represents AYGAZ A.S. at DEIK-TAİK (Turkey-US Business Council). He has served as Assembly Member of the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ITO), Istanbul Chambers of Industry (ISO). He is Honorary Member of the Turkish American Businessman Association (TABA) and American Turkish Business Development Council (ATBDC). He is an active member of the Board of Trustees of Turkish Education Foundation (TEV), Vice Chairman at Koç Executives Association (KOÇ-YÖNDER), currently serves as Board Member of such companies as Marmaris Altınyunus and Çeşme Altınyunus besides his membership on the board of several other charitable organizations, such as Darussafaka Association et al. Mr. Okutcu is married and speaks Turkish, English, French (limited).
Dr. Ülkü Ülgür, co-founded the Assembly of Turkish American Associations in 1979 and served as its First president (1980-84). Later, during his tenure as Chairman of Board of Trustees he initiated and developed ATAA Endowment Fund. Dr. Ülgür is one of the founders and Past President of the Maryland American Turkish Association (MATA). He also served as President of Turkish American Neuropsychiatric Association. Dr. Ülgür completed his Primary Education in Darussafaka Lisesi and his undergraduate and medical education at the University of Istanbul Turkey. He came to USA in 1959 for his specialty training in Psychiatry. After finishing, he had an additional two-year Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. In 1965, following his child training he joined the University’s full-time faculty serving for ten years as Director of its inpatient, outpatient, and hospital consultation services. While he continued his teaching activities as a member of clinical faculty he developed and maintained an active office and consulting practice in Maryland. Dr. Ülgür is an active teacher and lecturer who has given many regional and international talks and wrote many scientific papers and book chapters. He is a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. He also served as President of Maryland Regional Council of the AACAP. He has received awards for his services to children and families from the University of Maryland and the City of Baltimore.
Nurten Ural is the CEO for the Turkish Resource Center of North America. Ms. Ural currently owns Ural LLC, a consulting firm and previously owned Ural Interiors, Inc., a commercial interior design company for 32 years. She also serves as a consultant to Michigan State University. In 2004 Ms. Ural was appointed as Honorary Consul General for the Republic of Turkey and now serves on the Executive Board as Past President of the Consular Corps of Michigan. She also serves on the Board of the Metropolitan Museum of Design Detroit and on the International Committee for Crimea, Inc. In the past she has served as President for ATAA, President of TACAM, and President for Farmington Chamber of Commerce and served on the boards of other Chambers of Commerce and on the board of the National Association of Women Business Owners. She also served on the board of the Detroit Institute of Arts. Her great accomplishments include receiving the 1998 Athena Award, 1992 and 1995 Business Accomplishment Award, the 2002 Daughters of Atatürk Women of Distinction Award, 2001 Republican of the Year Award, 2002, 2004 & 2005 Service awards from ATAA, the 2008 “Gobustan” International award by Azerbaijan Prime Minister in Berlin and an award from Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan for being an accomplished Turkish American business women. In 2012 she received the Charles A. Gliozzo International Award for Public Diplomacy.
Dr. Engin İnel Holmstrom is a graduate of the American College of Girls -Robert College- Istanbul. She is a Fulbright scholar and earned her M.A. and her Ph.D. in Sociology from Duke University. Her professional career includes teaching and research both in Turkey and in the US. She is the author of over 50 professional publications and over 30 speeches. She has been active in the Turkish-American community since 1970s. She served on the Board of Directors of the ATA-DC. She also served as its president in 1983-1989, and was the editor of its publication, ATA News for 17 years. As president, she helped established ATA-DC’s annual Teacher Workshop Program which has been implemented by other component associations of ATAA. As a member of the ATA-DC’s Board of Directors, she was involved in the creation of ATAA from its beginning. She served on its Board of Directors for a number of terms and edited its first publication (ATA-USA). She is a successful fund-raiser for ATAA and currently serves on its Advisory Committee. She has given many public presentations on Turkish-American relations, including the legacy of Ataturk, the importance of secularism and the status of women in Turkey. She has received numerous awards from ATA-DC, ATAA, and AFOT/Turkish American Business Council for her volunteer activities in the Turkish-American community. She lives with her husband in Leesburg, Virginia.
Bonnie Joy Kaslan received her undergraduate degree from the University of California, Davis and is a former graduate student at the Sorbonne, Paris. She served as the San Francisco Bay Area’s Honorary Consul General for the Republic of Türkiye for 32 years. Kaslan is former Executive Vice‑President of Kaslan Associates, Inc, Sonoma based Structural and Geotechnical Engineering firm. She was the president of the Turkish American Association of California from 1983‑1985 and served as the first woman on the Board of Directors of the ATAA as Western region VP. She is past national chairman of the Assembly’s Curriculum Committee on History and Social Science as well as past Chairman of ATAA’s Board of Trustees. She has represented Turkish American interests at high level State Department meetings, addressed human relation commissions nationwide, worked on congressional representatives and their staffs and delivered expert testimony before the Committee on Foreign Relations. She is the first non‑Turkish woman worldwide to represent the Republic of Turkey as Honorary Consul General. She was awarded Soroptimist’s distinguished “Women Helping Women” award. She received ATAA’s Distinguished Service Award in 1987 and Meritorious Service Award in 1989, Lifetime Distinguished Service Award in 2014 and The International Institute of the East Bay’s Women of Tribute Award in 1991. The Daughters of Ataturk recognized her for her efforts to advance Turkish American causes in 1999. In 2007 the Turkish American Business Connection recognized her for her contributions and dedicated support for the Turkish American community of Silicon Valley. She is also a member of the Citizens Advisory Council of the Sonoma Police Department. In December, 2007 she had her first showing as guest artist at the Arts Guild of Sonoma.
ATAA Committees
ATAA Advocacy and Outreach Committee
Erkan Demirağcı, ATAA Western Region VP
Dr. Selim Erhan, ATAA Board of Trustees Member
Ergün Kırlıkovalı, ATAA Board of Trustees Member
ATAA Rules Committee
Dr. Ülkü Ülgür, Chairperson and Member of the ATAA Board of Trustees
Dr. Bülent Başol, Chair of the ATAA Board of Trustees
Kürşad Doğru, ATAA Board of Trustees Member
Gökhan Özalp, ATAA Former President
ATAA Education Committee
Dr. Mehmet Yaya, Co-Chair and ATAA Treasurer
Lale Iskarpatyoti, Co-Chair and Secretary, Turkish American Friendship Society of US – TAFSUS
Hülya Koç, Founder, Empowering the Turkish American Community – ETAC
Cennet Köse Rivera, Former President, Maryland American Turkish Association -MATA
Dr. Ülkü Ülgür, ATAA Board of Trustees Member
ATAA Social Media Committee
Burcu Tansu, ATAA Western Region Past VP
Hakan Dakın, ATAA Art, Media and Communications Director
ATAA Membership Committee
Yücel Burdurlu, Chair, ATAA Midwest Region Past VP
Dr. Nilüfer Esen-Bilgin, ATAA President
Engin Ateş, ATAA Mid Central Region VP
Dr. Mehmet Yaya, ATAA Treasurer
ATAA Music and Visual Arts Committee
Dr. Nilüfer Esen-Bilgin, ATAA President
Yücel Burdurlu, ATAA Midwest Region Past VP
İbrahim Onaral, ATAA Board of Trustees Member
Tiraje Guneyman Ruckman
ATAA Newsletter Committee
Alev Wieland, Chair, ATAA President-Elect
Selim Erhan, Editor, ATAA BOT Member
Yücel Burdurlu, Coordinator, ATAA Midwest Region Past VP
Demet Edeer, Coordinator, Turkish-Canadian Society Past President
Levent Onat, Coordinator, ATAA Southeast Region Past VP
Sinem Atasoy, Designer
ATAA UN Relations Committee
Executive Officers:
Dr. Nilüfer Esen-Bilgin, ATAA President
Alev Wieland, Co-Chair & ATAA President-Elect
Yücel Burdurlu, Co-Chair, ATAA Midwest Region Past VP
Saime Atakan, Youth Representative
Hakan Dakin, Art, Media and Communications Director
Members:
Demet Edeer, Turkish Canadian Society Past President
Dr. Selim Erhan, ATAA Board of Trustees Member
Dr. Fatma Gül, Contemporary Education Foundation President, ATAA BOT Member
Zuhal Kavak, Turkish Canadian Society President
Gizem Kılıç, ATAA Member
Dr. Levent Onat, ATAA Southeast Region Past VP
Canan Özaktay, ATAA Southeast Region VP
Deniz Özensoy, Turkish Canadian Society Director of Compliance
Nilgün Özsoy, Indiana American Turkish Association Past President
Burcu Tansu, ATAA Western Region Past VP
ATAA Youth Committee
Mehmet Efe Taşcıoğlu, Co-Founder & Chair
Ela Elmas, Co-Founder & Vice Chair
Eren Okuyucu, Co-Founder & Secretary
Dr. Nilüfer Esen-Bilgin, ATAA President
Yenal Küçüker, ATAA Capital Region Past VP
G. Lincoln McCurdy is an international affairs professional with over 40 years of leadership and management experience in the U.S. government, private sector, NGOs, and community service. Currently, he serves as a consultant on U.S.-Türkiye relations and grassroots organizing. He advises five Turkish American political action committees (PACs) under the Ten Thousand Turks Campaign and previously served as an officer for the Turkish Coalition USA PAC. Until recently, he was the president of the Turkish Coalition of America (TCA), an independent not-for-profit organization in Washington, DC. He also served on the Board of Directors of the Turkish Philanthropy Funds. Prior to TCA, Mr. McCurdy was the president of the American-Turkish Council in Washington, DC. Earlier in his career, he worked at the U.S. Department of Commerce, served as the Consul for Commercial Affairs at the U.S. Consulate General in İstanbul, and was a consultant for the Bank of Boston in Türkiye. He has received several awards and honors throughout his career. In 2018, Mr. McCurdy was one of the laureates of the Gusi International Peace Prize in Manila, Philippines, Asia’s foremost award for the attainment of peace and respect for human life. In 2023, he was honored at the 10th Turkish World Business Council (DTIK) Congress in İstanbul with a Friend of Türkiye Award presented by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Previously, the U.S. Department of State and the İstanbul Chamber of Commerce recognized Mr. McCurdy for his contributions to enhancing commercial relations between the United States and Türkiye, and he received the Turk of America Outstanding Achievement Award in Leadership & Management. He graduated from Hanover College in Indiana and holds an M.A. in International Management from George Washington University. He and his wife have two daughters and two grandchildren.
ATAA Central Office
Hakan Dakın, Art, Media & Communication Director