Dear PTAA Members and Friends,
As we celebrate the 30th anniversary of our organization, we would like to thank all of you who supported us in 2002-2003. We also thank last year's president, Baris Uzman, and the board members for all their work. We appreciate it.
Last year, PTAA organized various events (three with TASA), including October 29th Celebration Dinner, a pop music concert, a winter get-together, Children's Day Celebration and a picnic. PTAA supported the Turkish Nationality Room project and also the repair of an elementary school building in Turkey. PTAA also provided financial support to Brother's Brother foundation, ATAA, and scholarships in Osman Gazi University.
The PTAA's annual election was held on September 28th, 2003, at Vocelli Pizza Headquarters in Greentree. The new board members for 2003-2004 are:
| President: | Atilla Soran |
| Vice President: | M. Baris Uzman |
| Treasurer: | Selim Sancaktar |
| Secretary: | Tayfun Gol |
| Social Event Coordinators: | Gunsenin Ablak
Sule Aykent |
| Executive Members: | Sakir Oguz
Emre Sancaktar |
| Auditors: | Ali Ozuer
Sezin Uzman |
In addition to the board members, Murat Uzman will continue to serve as the Webmaster of PTAA.org
We are already planning two events: our traditional Declaration of the Turkish Republic Day (October 29th) Celebration and New Year's Eve party. In addition to these activities, this year we will be working to:
- Increase the communication among the Turkish American community in the tri-state area.
- Improve our web site by adding links to serve our members better. These links will include job postings, immigration lawyers, and classifieds where you can buy and sell used items etc.
- Issue PTAA Membership cards to get discounts at participating member firms.
- Increase the amount of scholarship we send to Turkey.
- Have regular movie nights (first of which will take place on November 7th).
- Celebrate April 23rd, Children's Day, at an international level by including other ethnic organizations in the Pittsburgh area.
- Plan a day in the spring when the college students can meet with Turkish professionals/businessmen to learn about the opportunities open to them.
- Help the new Turkish families with their adjustment to Pittsburgh area.
As most of you already know, we have a web site, which is updated regularly. www.ptaa.org Please use our web site to get information about our upcoming events including the directions to event locations, among other things. Also, please update your personal information on the web site, when the information changes. If you do not know your password to get to your personal information, please ask by sending an email to webmaster@ptaa.org, or click on the "Forgot Password?" link at the login screen.
To be able to achieve all our goals, we need your support more than ever. Please send your 2003-2004 dues as soon as possible. Simply fill out the form and send it with your check made out to PTAA.
Our first activity of the year will be the October 29th celebration. It will be held on Friday, October 31st at 7:30pm in the William Pitt Student Union on the University of Pittsburgh campus. It will include dinner, Turkish music, a video show etc. The tickets will be $20 for PTAA members,$25 for non-members and $10 for the students. Reservations must be made in advance; tickets will not be sold at the door. We hope that all of you will be able to attend. For more information you can check out our web site or call Emre Sancaktar at 412-856-5616.
Thank you in advance for your support and we are looking forward to seeing you at our activities throughout the year.
Sincerely,
For PTAA Executive Committee,
Dr. Atilla Soran , President
Click here for PTAA Membership Form.
