Valued friends and community members:
Welcome to the Turkish-American Community Center (TACC) website!
As President of the TACC, on behalf of myself and the Board of Directors, I would like to relay, with regards and respect, gratitude to all of you for supporting the TACC’s goals and activities. This website will provide you with the most current information regarding our Community Center.
The main objective of the TACC is to strengthen the relationship between the Turkish-Muslim and American community, specifically in the Washington, DC Metropolitan area. To fulfill this purpose we have decided to create a “Turkish-American Cultural Center” that will prosperously provide services to our Washington, DC Metropolitan community.
Reminiscent of fellow Turkish communities in many countries across the world, the TACC will first and foremost build a Mosque. Our center, along with the Mosque, will offer services to fulfill all the needs of our community. Our plan includes the building of the following essentials: conference hall, lodging, exhibition hall, library, cafeteria, market, day care, retirement home, gym, parking lot, and cemetery.
Why do we have the need for this Cultural Center? We, as Turkish people, are the proud members of one of the world’s most significant and strategic countries, the Republic of Turkey. Our people are endowed with an honorable history, a just religion, and a wholesome culture. We hold certain national and moral values that make us who we are, including our religion, our language, our customs, and our practices. In addition, we are members of the Islamic faith which emphasizes love, respect, peace, and a need for an open dialogue with those of other religions. The main principle driving our country and people to overall wellbeing is, “Peace at home, peace in the world.” American society, where we live and breathe, where we have been welcomed and educated, holds different religious beliefs and fosters a distinct culture from ours, yet allows us the luxury of human rights and freedom to practice our religion and culture, even encourages it. There have been times when our two societies have been unable to agree with or understand one another. We look to alleviate any tensions and ally the two societies. It is for these reasons that we have determined to assemble the TACC.
The TACC intends to achieve its objective by completing its proceedings in a manner definite and considerate to the American laws. We live in a country, far from home, where diverse cultures exist, yet are in the world’s most noteworthy nation’s capital, Washington, DC. Although living, working, and being educated here brings us great pleasure, we still find ourselves saying, “if only we had this,” or, “maybe if this was different.”
As Turkish-American Muslims in the Washington, DC Metropolitan area, we reflect:
If only we could all unite.
If only we had…
A Mosque which properly reflected our religion;
Better means for teaching our children Islam, the Turkish language, our culture;
A day care for our children;
A retirement home for our elders;
A residence hall for our Turkish students;
A gymnasium for recreational activities;
A market with our own butcher to provide helal foods;
A restaurant in which we can eat our traditional meals;
A conference hall in which we can meet to discuss our issues;
A library that provides books about our culture in our language; and
A cemetery in which we may bury our deceased.
If only we could build stronger ties with the American society in which we live.
We could have all of these things, while educating and sharing with American society our religion and culture, with the actualization of a Turkish-American Cultural Center. In that case, every “if only” statement we make, and all of our needs can be met by constructing a complex of buildings in which to house our Cultural Center, which is exactly what we are working towards achieving.
We realize that this will not be an easy task. We will not be daunted and we will not tire until we have accomplished our goal. It saddens us that the Turkish people in America are late in starting this process and with such a small population. In this country, in order to have our voices heard, we must think quantitatively and qualitatively. The success of the Turkish people in this country depends on the appropriate organization of civil establishments with proper representation.
We may be few in number, but it must be said, that we have gained some significant accomplishments in the last few years. Only, we have not been able to organize in a manner appropriate for expressing ourselves, or taken the time to get to know the community around us. Now is our time to form an organization, our chance to mutually acquaint ourselves with one another. The Turkish-American Cultural Center is our answer. By working together hand-in-hand we can make this vision a reality. From now on, we will eliminate “if only,” and promote “now!” Now WE are here; now we labor; now we provide financial and moral support!
With fondness and regard, I wish every one good health and success in this endeavor.
Ýbrahim UYAR
President of Turkish-American Community Center (TACC)
TACC Founding Member
