Turkish-American Community in Madison came together at the Eagle Heights Community Center and celebrated Kurban Bayrami (Eid al-Adha).

At the beginning of the program, Turkish-American families served a rich meal, including meat, rice, salad, and baklava. Then, Alper Bolat, a Turkish businessman, gave the keynote speech. He extended his sympathies to those who lost their loved ones in Van Earthquake. In his speech, he explained the meaning of “Bayram”, and encouraged the audience to watch Azra Bebek’s rescue in Van Earthquake and see an Iranian movie, called Children of Heaven, in …

Eid al-Fitr, the festival of fast-breaking, is an important Muslim holiday, celebrated at the end of Ramadan.

We believe that  festivals like Eid al-Fitr help bring together people from different cultural and social backgrounds to reinforce friendship and emphasize on the values such as mutual understanding, respect, love, and peace. Nevzat, a member of TACC-Madison’s executive committee, made a presentation about Ramadan’s meaning for Muslims in spiritual and social life after the dinner.   Among our guests are UW-Madison faculty and staff members, religious leaders, business people, students …

TACC-Madison members meet people of different backgrounds to share Ramadan iftar dinners.
Ramadan is the ninth month of the lunar calendar, when Muslims fast from dawn to sunset. It is also the month when the relationships within and outside the community are strengthened by fasting and breaking the fast together. Ramadan is the month in which Muslims reach their spiritual climax through individual and congregational prayers and social activities.
In Turkey, like many other Muslim majority countries, it is a common practice for people to invite friends, relatives, and neighbors to …

On July 24th, a beautiful Sunday afternoon, the Turkish American community got together with American families for a picnic at Lake Mendota Public Park.
The weather was perfect for the picnic. People were smiling, chatting, laughing, talking and enjoying each others company. The friends we didn’t see for a long time were seen. Meeting many different people and just seeing smiling faces made us all happy. There were fun activities and as people talked, the children made new friendships and played around. The air was full of the delicious smell …

The loss of life and great destruction of property in Japan due to the 8.9 magnitude earthquake followed by a devastating tsunami on Friday, March 11, 2011 saddened Turkish Community of Madison. We remember very well that Japanese people generously and graciously extended their helping hand to Turkish people in the aftermath of Kocaeli, Gölcük Earthquake in 1999. To share the pain of Japanese friends in the aftermath of this unprecedented disaster and to remember our common history, we organized a get-together friendship meeting on April 23rd, 2011 at …