Just as Turkey serves as a bridge between two continents, the Mississippi State University Turkish Student Association hopes to join Turkish and American cultures here at MSU and the local community.Faculty adviser to the TSA and head of landscape architecture Sadik Artunc said the association provides opportunities to educate both the Turkish and American communities.
“[TSA] provides opportunities for education and information to the Turkish community of the America and Mississippi cultures, customs and opportunities,” Artunc said.
Artunc said this exchange allows Turkish students a chance to experience the culture instead of just receiving an education.
TSA also helps students build on their experience at Mississippi State, Artunc said.
“It provides opportunities for the Turkish community and supporters to develop friendships and networking that will continue beyond their education while at MSU,” he said.
The association’s treasurer, genetics graduate student Ercan Selcuk Unlu, said that as a Turkish student, he wants interaction with national and international students.
“I believe that it is very important for all students to know other cultures,” he said.
“While we introduce our culture at MSU, we also learn about other cultures.”
One of the ways the TSA seeks to include the Starkville community is through hosting events pertinent to their culture.
TSA president and physics graduate student Kemal Efe Eseller said one of the main events that the association tries to promote is Independence and Children’s Day. Independence Day marks the beginning of the first Turkish Parliament, called the Grand Assembly, on April 23, 1920, he said.
Eseller said the holiday is intended for children of all nationalities and has been celebrated around the world since 1979.
Celal Gungor, a TSA member and graduate student studying forest products, said Children’s Day developed from the work of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, a commander who founded Turkey from the ruins of the Ottoman Empire.
“[Ataturk] was the first president of the [Grand] Assembly,” Gungor said. “He dedicated that day to children because the Assembly was young like children and it had energy and vitality like children who will form the future.”
The holiday is unique because it is a Turkish national holiday that is now celebrated internationally, TSA vice president and chemical engineering graduate student Aytug Gencoglu said.
“Children from all over the world are invited to Turkey for the holiday,” Gencoglu said. “Our purpose in the April 13 event was to bring together the families of MSU and give a chance to MSU children to meet other children of different cultures and learn about diversity while enjoying a fun day.”
This was the first year that the holiday has been recognized at MSU. The TSA hosted the event on the Drill Field.
“We hope that the university will make the Children’s Day celebration an annual event with the leadership of the TSA,” Artunc said.
TSA and its events are open to anyone, not just the Turkish community, Gencoglu said.
“Our goal in organizing events and having this association is to help cultural dialogue and correct misconceptions between peoples,” he said.
There are 16 students and 8 faculty and staff members in TSA, Gencoglu said.
All but one student member is from Turkey, he said. There are attendees from all over the world that come to the meetings and activities, but are not official members, Gencoglu said.
“TSA invites everybody in the university community and the great Starkville community to come and join the TSA and/or participate in our cultural, educational and recreational activities,” Artunc said.