Turkish Coffee Truck begins US tour to build bridges

The Turkish Coffee Truck started a promotional tour of the U.S. on Monday in New York to introduce Americans to traditional Turkish coffee.

The truck, which "promotes Turkey through engagement and cultural diplomacy" will visit New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia and Washington D.C. and offer its services to coffee lovers. The project's director, Gizem Salgıcıl White, said the idea was launched not only to introduce Turkish coffee in the U.S. but also to build bridges between cultures.

White said 400 million cups of coffee are consumed daily in the U.S. but that many people were not aware of Turkish coffee. "Turkish coffee is regarded as a hard coffee in the U.S., actually it is not," she said. "People do not know that Turkish coffee is not widely available in the U.S." She said the volunteer-based project hopes to create demand for Turkish coffee once people are introduced to it.

Thousands of Americans will be offered free coffee and the truck's crew will promote Turkey's culture while serving in traditional Turkish clothes.

Also featured on the tour will be renowned miniature artist Hasan Kale, an academic in the history department at Nişantaşı University Göknur Akcadağ, gastronomy expert Cenk R. Girginol and author Ahmet Serif İzgören, who will hold presentations on the history of Turkish culture and meet American scholars and community leaders.