On February 11th, YESAM hosted Osman Güldemir, faculty member of Anadolu University and a culinary scholar for a lecture on “Immigrant Cuisine of Eskişehir.” The lecture addressed the culinary traditions, ingredients, and recipes of Balkan and Tatar immigrants and how these traditions are still practiced today. This and past YESAM lectures can be viewed online at the TCF Video Gallery.

Turkish cooking traditions are highlighted every month with the YESAM Recipe of the Month. This month’s featured recipe is “Mushrooms with Nettles.”

TCF has provided a grant to support Stone Sounds: Echoes from 4000 years at Sinop Kale, an exhibition that explores the history of the fortress of Sinop, a historical and archaeological site on the Black Sea in Turkey. Through the use of images and sound recordings from Sinop and the excavations at Sinop Kale, the exhibition allow viewers to experience the history of an important port in the Black Sea/Eurasian world. Sinop Kale excavations are led by Dr. Owen Doonan of California State University Northridge and Dr. Alex Bauer of Queens College of the City University of New York. The exhibition will be on view at California State University Northridge Art Galleries from February 11-March 2, 2017.

Makam New York's program Turkish Story Time, supported by a TCF grant, continues to present weekly programs in New York City. Turkish Story Time brings children and their caregivers together to learn about Turkish culture through reading stories in Turkish, learning songs, rhymes, and riddles, introducing instruments and advancing literacy. The program is recorded the first Saturday of every month at 4:00 pm at Book Culture on Columbus in New York City and is open to the public. The recordings, stories and materials are available on Makam New York’s website.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Berna Kurt (Cultural Exchange Fellow 2012), Head of the Arts Management Department and member of the Fine Arts Faculty at Istanbul Aydın University published a book entitled: "Ulus'un Dansı" Türk Halk Oyunları Geleneğinin İcadı (Pan Yayıncılık, February 2017).

Carol Szymanski (TCF Cultural Exchange Fellow - 2014) exhibited her work with Barry Schwabsky at the Galerie Tanja Grunert in New York from January 12 - February 18, 2017.

Ayşe Gül Süter (TCF Cultural Exchange Fellows - 2016) was featured in the "On Botany" exhibition at  BLOK art space, which opened January 17, 2017 in Istanbul with 10 participating artists. The exhibition remains open until March 10, 2017.

Esra Sağlık (TCF Cultural Exchange Fellows - 2015) was featured in the "AUFTAKT Rhythm Section" exhibition at  European House of Art Upper Bavaria - Schafhof, which opened February 20, 2017 in Freising, Germany with 17 participating artists. The exhibition remains open until April 17, 2017.