The Turkish Students Association served authentic Turkish food to over 130 people for their biggest event of the year, Turkish Night on March 29.

The attendees ranged from students to families who joined around tables to share conversation, eat authentic Turkish food and learn more about Turkish culture.

The event was held from 6-10 p.m. at a venue called The PLEX in north Ames.

Irmak Sargin, graduate student in materials science and engineering, is a member of the Turkish Student Association and has been planning this event since September. 

Sargin said if they held the event on campus, the university requires that staff from the university cooks the food and they wanted to be sure that the guests were getting authentic Turkish food cooked by the Turkish students.

“Once we made sure we would be the ones cooking, it was very hard to choose the dishes for the night because we miss all of them,” Sargin said.

Sargin said that Turkish people cook a combination of Italian, Indian, Arabic and Greek foods, but the foods for the event all had a Turkish emphasis.

The foods they prepared are hard to find in the U.S., Sargin said.

The guests were served a four-course meal, all made by the students themselves. As people finished the first plate of food, students from the Turkish Student Association would bring out another plate of food.

“Of course we [had] baklava for dessert, people love it,” Sargin said.

All throughout the night there were slideshows projected on the walls showing important pieces of Turkish culture, such as influential people, places and dances.

“The goal was to make people more aware of Turkish culture,” Sargin said.

As the final courses were being served, a six-man Turkish band from Iowa City took the stage.

The singer, a professor from the University of Iowa, translated and explained some of the lyrics before the band broke into an upbeat love song. Immediately people began dancing throughout the room.

“I love to dance and it’s not very often we get a live Turkish band here,” Sargin said.

Omer Ozgur Capraz, graduate student in chemical and biological engineering, said that his favorite part of Turkish culture is the shared language with other countries.

“Sometimes when I go to different countries, I realize that we have a common verse. A lot of words are the same in Turkish as in other languages, it shows that we are connected,” Capraz said.

In Turkey, people are all very different with varying point of views Sargin said. No matter who you are, there is something in Turkish culture for you, he said.

Capraz said it’s nice to meet people who have moved here from Turkey and are going through the same things — it’s easy to make connections.

The Turkish Student Association has held other events through the year, such as celebrating Turkish Republic Day and a movie night.

“We want to reach more people and welcome everyone to learn more about Turkish culture,” Sargin said.