First Native American Business Cooperation Trip

ISTANBUL, TURKEY — Representatives from 17 Native American tribes left the U.S. on Nov. 6 for a week long business, educational and cultural exchange trip to Turkey on Turkish Airlines’ inaugural flight from Washington, D.C. to Istanbul, organized by the Turkish Coalition of America.

Among the delegation is NAIHC Executive Director Mellor Willie (Navajo), former Salish and Kootenai Chairman James Steele, Tom Acevedo of S&K Technologies, and representatives from the Montana State Tribal Economic Development Commission, the Montana State Tribal Economic Development Program, and the Montana Native American Development Corporation.

Participants on the first Native American Business Cooperation Trip are scheduled to meet with Turkish Minister for Foreign Affairs Ahmet Davutoglu, Minister for Foreign Trade Zafer Caglayan, and members of the Turkish Parliament’s Turkey-USA Friendship Group.

The group also met with representatives of the Turkish Exporters’ Council; participate in business symposiums and networking at Istanbul Technical University, Hacettepe University, and Bahcesehir University; and visited Gallipoli, the site of a World War I campaign that still resonates with Turks as a defining moment in the history of the Turkish people and the modern Republic of Turkey.

“The Native American Business Cooperation Trip is the highlight of our recent efforts to foster increased economic and cultural ties between Turkey and Indian Country,” G. Lincoln McCurdy, president of TCA, said. “It is one of the largest Native American international delegations in recent years, and the first to visit Turkey. This trip marks the latest evolution in our work promoting the development of relationships between the Turkish peoples and the many ethnic and cultural groups in the United States.”

TCA has already organized three meetings with Minister for Foreign Trade Caglayan in 2010, including two meetings in the U.S. between Minister Caglayan and Native American delegations, laying the groundwork for the Business Cooperation Trip.

The delegation returned on Nov. 14. Other participants on Turkish Airlines’ inaugural flight include Members of Congress, journalists and think tank experts.

-courtesy of Tracy Schall

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