The NC State Turkish Student Association (TSA) introduces Turkish art, music, culture, folklore and cuisine to NC State and the surrounding community. Turkey, which is about 100,000 square kilometers bigger than Texas, is a transcontinental country rich in diverse culture and located in Eurasia.

Semih Isik, a graduate student studying electrical engineering and current TSA president, gave an overview of the student organization.

“TSA’s main objective is to represent Turkish students at NC State University,” Isik said. “Its mission is to introduce Turkish culture to the NC State community as well as the public. TSA brings Turkish students together who study at NC State University and increases cooperation between Turkish students and other students and associations. Although it’s been only seven months since we restarted this organization, we have been very successful at getting students’ and the public’s attention through various events.”

These events include picnics, cultural shows, concerts, trips and celebrations to share with the NC State community.

On Turkey’s Republic Day last fall, the TSA hosted a large celebration with over 350 guests in Talley Student Union with free authentic Turkish food, refreshments and wine along with live Turkish music and dance groups, according to Isik. Special guests included Burc Ceylanhe, the consul general of Turkey in Miami, Aziz Sancar, the 2015 Nobel Prize Winner in Chemistry, and Gwen Sancar.  

“Aziz Sancar specifically mentioned that this was the best Turkish celebration we have had in the last 35 years in North Carolina,” Isik said.

TSA members also came together for International Night at the NC State men’s basketball game to support Turkish NC State basketball player Omer Yurtseven, according to Isik.

Berra Kara, a first-year studying physics and mathematics and an officer with the TSA, talked about the TSA booth at the recent International Festival.

“TSA had a booth set up in the second International Festival at NC State,” Kara said. “A lot of people tried Turkish water marbling, also as known as Ebru, for the first time in their life along with delicious Turkish coffee and Turkish delight. Turkish water marbling can simply be defined as ‘art on water.’ We refer to it as Turkish to put more emphasis on the fact that the Ebru art was first encountered in Istanbul, Turkey.” 

This Saturday, the TSA will be hosting Turkish Music and Dance Night, the biggest event that TSA organizes this academic year according to Isik.

“The tickets for the events are sold very fast — we opened extra space for the night,” Isik said. “Three live music bands, a dance group, a belly dancer and a DJ will perform during the event.”

Turkish Airlines is sponsoring the event by giving two round trip flight tickets on any dates from the U.S. to Turkey, according to Isik. Other gifts, such as $50 gift cards, raffled off to guests throughout the night.

The organization has additional events coming up as well.  On April 7, the TSA will be screening a free documentary about seven different cats of Istanbul at Witherspoon Student Center. On April 22, the TSA will host a Turkish-American picnic to close the semester.

The group regularly collaborates with other groups and initiatives to support their various events.

The TSA has a musical partnership with the American-Turkish Association and worked with the Global Training Initiative during the Tournees Film Festival to promote the screening of “Mustang.”

“TSA was responsible for promoting the movie,” Kara said. “We had over 100 students show up and we welcomed them with Turkish delight and free popcorn at the entrance.”

Advancing social and cultural interaction among Turkish students as well as American and all international students is part of the TSA’s mission.

“Turkish Student Association is very important at NC State since the Turkish culture helps raise cultural awareness and gets students exposed to mixed culture from Europe and Asia since Turkey, which is located both in Europe and Asia, makes the culture very rich and interesting,” Isik said. “The easiest way for someone who wants to learn about many different European and Asian cultures is just simply stopping at least one of our events. We have a lot of students with different backgrounds, not necessarily Turkish.”

It is a goal of the TSA to become a nonprofit association at the state level, and the TSA hopes to accomplish its goal at the beginning of the next tax year.

Students can get involved by attending the TSA’s events and following the TSA on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter at @tsaatncsu.