About House of Turkey
In 2003, American Turkish Association Southern California San Diego Chapter asked the local Turkish-American community to express their priorities and expectations in order to serve them better. Launching a Turkish School and building the House of Turkey in Balboa Park were the top two requests. This was not entirely surprising! For Turkish Americans, accurate representation of our culture and educating the next generation so that they don’t forget their heritage are paramount principals along with becoming an essential part of the larger fabric of the American way of life!
With this in mind, the Turkish-American community of San Diego quickly set up a task force of volunteers in 2004 and established the organization called “House of Turkey”. After more than a year of hard work and much help from our active members, House of Turkey became an official member of the larger organization named “House of Pacific Relations International Cottages”.
The House of Pacific Relations (HPR) is a consortium of ‘houses’ representing 33 countries in San Diego’s Balboa Park. Currently, 21 out of these 33 countries have an actual structure in Balboa Park.
The HPR promotes multicultural goodwill and understanding through educational and cultural programs, creating a small replica of the United Nations.
Over the past 10 years, House of Turkey grew into a well-functioning organization. More than 10,000 man-hours were volunteered to organize around 60 events to promote Turkish traditions and culture in San Diego. While we proudly and successfully represented our country by actively participating in all the annual special events we missed out on exposing the House of Turkey to all other park visitors for the rest of the year.
As our organization became more established, our needs increased and we came to a point where we needed to build our own permanent structure/cottage alongside the existing 21 cottages in Balboa Park. This was our goal from the very beginning. We have been collaborating with eight other countries that share the same desire to build new cottages. Our physical presence in this multicultural environment and displaying our flag throughout the year is our mission.
This is truly an amazing and a unique opportunity to have a PERMANENT HOUSE to promote Turkish culture, traditions and its people. There is no other park in the United States that houses permanent international structures for cultural representation. The Turkish Cottage will be the base where we can display our unique culture and represent our country in an internationally well-recognized and multicultural arena. We want this house to be not only our home away from home but also a gateway to expose many others to the Turkish way of life. We want everyone to enjoy the exquisite arts and crafts, drink our Turkish tea and feel the warmth of our people. We have received nothing but positive feedback and encouragement from many of the park visitors during the various events we participated in throughout the years. Volunteers and Board members of House of Turkey have been diligently working to execute against the many milestones to date, acquire the necessary permits and raise the required funds to build our cottage.
Locations
Primary Office Location
2155 Pan American Rd W San Diego CA 92101
