Annual Gala 2022
Honoring American and Turkish Entrepreneurs
The American Turkish Society (The Society) held its Traditional Annual Gala Dinner for the year 2022 on Tuesday, October 25th at the Plaza Hotel (the Gala). At the Gala, we celebrated American and Turkish Entrepreneurs and honoured their distinguished and inspiring global achievements. Meanwhile, we also welcomed over 300 guests from public and private sectors, including diplomats, leading business executives, artists, scholars and thought leaders from Turkey and the United States. Our guests had the opportunity to exchange views and reinforce our strategic relationship and historical friendship between the U.S. and Turkey.
For seven decades, The Society has worked to develop US-Turkey relations and cross-cultural programming. The Gala was a timely and important event for the business and civic leaders of both the United States and Turkey. While they all have unique backgrounds, entrepreneurs Ant Yapi, BTC Turk, Chobani, Getir, Marti, Insider, Sierra Nevada Corporation, and Trendyol unite in building bridges between two nations. They do not just establish big businesses; but also, they simultaneously add value for several countries. In that way, they establish an innovative and inclusive workplace culture. Along with their creative ideas, they have also formed excellent models with their organizational setups and business practices.
Gala started off with a performance by Mr. Chris Norton, who is one of the most sought-after and lauded performer in the NYC and the L.A. Welcome speeches of our co-chairs, Suzan Sabanci Dincer and Linda Wachner are followed. Awards were also presented to “Mr. Erdem Inan from Trendyol”, “Ms. Sena Oktem from Marti, “Mr. Tevfik Kinik from BTC Turk”, “Mr. Nazim Salur from Getir”, “Mr. Hamdi Ulukaya from Chobani”, “Mr. Eren Ozmen from Sierra Nevada”, and “Ms. Yeliz Kalafat from Insider”.
The goal of the Society is to strengthen the relations between Turkey and the United States on a business and cultural level. We are confident that the accomplishments of these notable businesses will inspire newly launched projects and play a major role in enhancing the economic relationship between Turkey and the United States. All our programs serve as a gateway to deepen the dialogue and the understanding between the two nations. Now more than ever, we are fully committed to promoting, confirming and celebrating the strategic relationship and historical friendship between two countries.