Turkish Canadian Society of Edmonton (TCS) was officially established in 1976 by a small number of Edmontonians of Turkish descent and their friends. Its original mission was to promote Turkey, Turkish culture and history to all Albertans. In time, as new immigrants arrived helping new immigrants and their families to successfully integrate in their new homeland became a supplementary mission for TCS.
Today, TCS organizes both cultural, religious and educational activities at its Community Centre. While those arriving from Turkey have become quite diverse over the years, and some of them started their own organizations, TCS strives to be the confederating entity in Edmonton, bringing all the representatives from different religious, ethnic or socio-economical background in unity for a variety of activities and services.
History
Here’s a summary of how TCS was established as described on the 2001 issue of Merhaba Magazine in an interview with Ms. Kahyalıoğlu (one of the founding members of the Society):
It all started when the Kahyalıoğlu family moved to Edmonton in 1967. There were only 3-5 Turkish families in Edmonton then. Having moved to Edmonton from a large Turkish Community, they were quite disappointed in Edmonton, which was more like a very small town in those days. They even thought of moving back. Then they started helping all the new families arriving in Edmonton, so they wouldn’t go through the same hassles Kahyalıoğlu’s went through. Years passed, the Turkish community in Edmonton started growing, and they forgot their woes of loneliness. One day, they received a letter from the Government of Alberta, congratulating them for their efforts in helping the Turkish Community, and informing them that they have been selected to “preside” the Turkish Community, and tasked to establish a formal Turkish Society. The letter concluded with wishes for success and expressed desire to get updates soon.
Ms. Kahyalıoğlu told all her friends about this letter, many ideas floated but they couldn’t agree on a form of action initially. As time passed, the Kahyalıoğlu family started receiving formal invitations from the Government of Alberta to attend special events. As they attended these events they gathered information while continuing to inform people around them about Turkey and the Turkish Community in town. As the Turkish Community in town grew even further, Ms. Kahyalıoğlu and Dr. Talibi had a conversation and decided that it was time to formally establish the Turkish Canadian Society of Edmonton. The first meetings of the society were held at Dr. Talibi’s practice and the founding Board Members were selected. They were Tarık Karslı, Sudi Kocaoğlu, Melahat Kahyalıoğlu, Dr. Talip Talibi, and Ahmet Çetin. An office above Dr. Talibi’s practice was rented and they organized the very first event for their Turkish and Canadian friends there.
Ms. Kahyalıoğlu stated: “We were very happy. It is with the efforts and devotion of all the Turks living in Edmonton that this Society achieved what it has achieved today. I am sure they will continue to devote their time in the future.”
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