News

Turkish Tunes in Phoenix

04/25/2012

Phoenix's Musical Instrument Museum has an expanded Turkish music collection. Read about this extensive single-country exhibit that showcases mehter (Ottoman ceremonial) music, various traditions of the Turkish countryside, the music and movement of the Mevlevi Sufis, and the vibrant music of Turkey's urban centers that TPF is proud to support. Read more.

Social Entrepreneurship in Turkey: Mustafa Sari Saves Van

04/17/2012

Booming is the adjective most often used to describe Turkey these days. Ranked the 16^th largest economy (and growing) in the world, the country saddled between Europe and the Middle East is looked as a sound investment and economic model for others, especially in the region. Yet, it is important to note that this Turkish economic miracle is regional, contained to Turkey’s west. What happens in Istanbul stays in Istanbul. Read more.

Ayca Ariyoruk

Ayca Ariyoruk is the Director of Communications and Outreach at Turkish Philanthropy Funds. Ayca joined TPF in May of 2011 to help TPF meet its growing communication needs, to expand outreach and elevate impact.

From 2006-2010, Ayca served as a Senior Policy Associate at United Nations Association of the USA, nation's largest membership based foreign policy association supporting active US engagement with the United Nations. Before joining the United Nations Association, Ayca worked for a senior editor at Newsweek. Previously she was a research fellow at the Center for UN Reform Education, a New York based non-profit specializing in UN reform.  In 2002, Ayca was named the Marcia Robbins-Wilf International Young Scholar and Research Assistant at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, where she researched issues relating to US engagement with Turkey and Israel. She observed the 2003 presidential elections in Azerbaijan for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and assisted with the implementation of democratic procedures.

Ayca received her M.A. from the John C. Whitehead School of Diplomacy and International Relations at Seton Hall University and a B.A. in political science from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. While a graduate student, she participated in a quantitative risk assessment study on emerging markets at the Eurasia Group, a consulting firm based in New York. A frequent commentator on US/UN relations, Ayca has appeared on Financial Times, the New York Times, Toronto Star, BCC, Radio France, Voice of America, Business Channel Turkey, the Independent-Uganda, China Daily, Xinhua Net, the Christian Science Monitor on US/UN relations, UN reform, civil society and business participation. Ayca currently serves on the boards of New York-based Center for UN Reform Education and Washington DC-based Citizens for Global Solutions.

Blog Posts:

June 20, 2011 "Yes She Can! TPF Joins Public-Private Partnerships" by Ayca Ariyoruk

June 7, 2011 "Hillary's Smart Power and a Golden Age for Philanthropy in Turkey" by Ayca Ariyoruk