FAMOUS TURKISH AMERICANS / TURKS IN AMERICA

History
The presence of Turks in the Americas dates to the 17th century. However, there is little authoritative evidence for this claim other than archives dating from the Ottoman Empire. The biggest migration from the Ottoman Empire to the new continent was driven after slavery became illegal. It is known that approximately 7,000 Turks mostly from the small Anatolian city of Elazığ worked on the Ford Motor Company assembly line in Detroit. The onset of World War I was a turning point for many Turks who had come to America. Several hundred Turks returned to Turkey and joined the Ottoman Army. Most Turks stayed in America and some Turks enlisted in the American military.

However, upon knowledge of the allied occupation of Istanbul and Greek occupation of Izmir, fights broke out between Turks and Greeks in factories and streets and about half of the Turkish community in the United States returned to Turkey to fight against the invading foreign forces in what is now known as the Turkish War for Independence.

A second exodus of Turks occurred during the Great Depression. Turkish President Mustafa Kemal Atatürk sent Turkish ships to America, offering free passage home to any Turk who would leave, so many Turks took up the offer and returned to Turkey. The second wave of migration came right after World War II when the United States accepted the Alien Registration Act. After this date, especially elite Turkish academics migrated to the United States for better educational opportunities and resources. Along with the brain drain immigrants, many working class Turks also settled in the United States. A brief history of the Turkish presence in the United States can be found at AmerikadakiTurk.

Early Turkish immigrants to the United States were predominantly from Turkey's rural community. They settled in large, industrial cities and found employment as unskilled laborers. The majority came to earn money so that they could improve their economic situation and that of their families in Turkey. After the 1950s, a well-skilled and highly educated class immigrated to the United States, the majority being medical doctors, engineers, and scientists. Today, Turkish Americans are visible in virtually every field. The majority are professionals and enjoy a upper middle class lifestyle.
Music industry
Perhaps the most successful Turkish name associated with music outside of Turkey and in the United States is Atlantic Records' founder, Ahmet Ertegün. His promotion of some of the most famous R&B and soul artists in North America and contribution to the American music industry has earned him a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame together with his brother Nesuhi Ertegün. Arif Mardin is another major popular music producer and arranger in America. His clients included Aretha Franklin, the Bee Gees, Carly Simon, Roberta Flack, and Bette Midler. After briefly meeting Ahmet Ertegün at the Newport Jazz Festival, he joined Atlantic Records and served as their Vice President until his death.


[edit] Science and mathematics
Feza Gursey (1921-1993) was the J. Willard Gibbs Professor Emeritus of Physics at Yale University. He contributed major studies on the group structure of elementary particles and the symmetries of interactions. Professor Gursoy helped bridge the gap between physicists and mathematicians at Yale. He was the winner of the prestigious Oppenheimer Prize and Wigner Medal.