"Ottoman America" QR Book Introduced

The documentary film "Ottoman America," which brings back to mind the world of Ottoman immigrants in the United States, has become a book. The "Ottoman America" book will tell stories from the Ottoman world as lived in the USA to the international public, and readers will also be able to watch each chapter of the book by scanning the QR codes under the chapter titles. The launch and presentation of the "Ottoman America Book," produced in collaboration with the Bahçeşehir University Center for Civilization Studies (MEDAM), Bay Atlantic University, the Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities (YTB), took place on Sunday, 18 September 2022 at 19:30 US time at the Rockefeller Center in New York, at the program of the Turkish American National Steering Committee (TASC) and the Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities (YTB), with the participation of President of the Republic of Türkiye Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The program, which brought together 250 guests in a special session, continued with the screening of the book's promotional film, followed by the distribution of Ottoman America QR Books to the guests. YTB President Abdullah Eren also presented a signed book to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Aiming to tell the stories of the Ottoman world as lived in the USA to the international public in an objective way, the book sheds light, through personal stories, on the lost "Ottoman America." It will also enable readers both to be informed and to become part of the personal stories as this lost time is rediscovered.

ANATOLIA WILL ALSO BE PROMOTED

Among the book's goals are to reveal the contributions of Turkish immigrants who came to the USA in the early 1900s to both the USA and Türkiye, to provide a common platform for Turks, and to bring the contributions of Turks to the country to light.

The book also aims to offer business people and politicians of Turkish origin a strong historical database, to contribute to tourism by promoting Anatolia, to bring a new perspective to the immigration debates in the country by positively changing misperceptions about those who migrated to the USA, and to strengthen the sense of belonging to the country among members of the Turkish community who have been in the USA for more than 100 years.

Describing the immigrants' points of arrival in America and their experiences within America, the book tells the human stories of the Ottoman people who began contributing to American society, economy and politics in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Imam Mehmed Ali Efendi, who was appointed by the Ottoman Government as an attaché to the Washington Embassy in 1910, spoke 6 languages and had a mosque built in the area where the World Trade Center would later stand, is among the figures whose stories are told in the book.