Kemal Vural Tarlan

General Coordinator / Chair

Kemal Vural Tarlan is a researcher and a documentary photographer.
Since 2000, Kemal Vural Tarlan has been conducting visual sociology and anthropology research on Dom Gypsy communities living in the Middle East. His studies, articles and photos were featured in numerous international symposia, congresses, exhibitions and other journals. He has written articles on the rights of refugees from the Middle East and worked as an activist.
Since 2011, he has been conducting research on Syrian refugees and studying immigration theories and social cohesion. He lectured on photography and photojournalism and ethics as a visiting lecturer at Gaziantep University Faculty of Communication until 2021.
He is a board member of the Cross-Regional Center for Refugees and Migrants (CCRM) network based in Beirut.

Emine Doğan

Matbakh || Mutfak Workshop Coordinator / Deputy Chair

She has been working as an early childhood educator in Gaziantep for 10 years. Within the organization, she is the founder and one of the coordinators of Matbakh || Mutfak Workshop, which organizes academic events and implements projects. She has a dissertation on the women solidarity built around kitchen programs.

Hala Khankan

Board Member

She is a Syrian refugee who migrated to Turkey after the war in Syria when she was 17 in 2013. She joined Kirkayak Kultur in 2014 as a volunteer where she was introduced to activism and feminist work. She is currently working in an international organization working with migrants.

Sinem İnan

Board Member

Elif Sinem İnan’s Bachelor’s degree in Urban Planning from the Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, where she gained in-depth experience and understanding of the various aspects of urban development, such as urban studies, transportation, and community engagement.

Zerrin Alkan

Board Member

Zerrin Alkan was born in Van in 1988. She graduated from Elazığ University in 2013 as an Environmental Engineer. Her first involvement in civil society activities was through Kırkayak Kültür and has worked in national and international non-governmental organization since 2013. She is currently employed by an international organization working with migrants.

Ayşegül Ateş

Art Center Coordinator

He graduated from Gaziantep University Faculty of Medicine. She completed her specialization in Family Medicine at Ankara Training and Research Hospital.
She completed her master‘s thesis on “Fertility Behaviors of Immigrated Syrian Women” in Women’s Studies at Gaziantep University. She has been involved in various non-governmental organizations for many years. She was one of the founders of Kırkayak Kültür in 2010. She is the coordinator of the Culture and Art Program of Kırkayak Kültür and the International Zeugma Film Festival. She is in the Mutfak II Matbakh team. She continues her studies on migration, gender, coexistence, right to health, culture and arts.

Fatma Çoşkun Caymaz

Migration Program Coordinator

After graduating from Muğla University, Department of Sociology, she completed her master’s degree in Sociology and General Methodology at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University. He gained field study experience by taking part in various research projects during his university years. Since 2018, she has been working at Kırkayak Kültür in various positions, especially on Dom and Abdal Communities, as well as on human rights, temporary protection, the right to education in disadvantaged communities, refugee rights and gender equality.

Zühal Gezicier

Director of Dom Research Centre and Finance Manager

She is also a founding member of Romani Godi Memory Studies Association.

In 2019, she completed her master‘s degree at Gaziantep University Institute of Migration, Department of Women’s Studies. She wrote her master’s thesis on Dom people, to whom she also belongs, on "Transformation of Gender Perception in Dom Society" and worked on gender roles that transformed with the changing livelihood patterns during the transition from nomadic life to settled life. In the period of 2022/23, she took academic English and social-anthropology as an RGPP student in the Roma Studies programme at Central European University (CEU) in Vienna.

She is working on the Dom people living in the Middle East. She works especially on Dom women and precarity in the informal economy, dispossession of the body and women’s poverty. She is interested in feminist movements in the Middle East, Gender and Social Anthropology. Her aim is to utilise these sciences in her studies on Dom communities.

Kinem Hazal Tanyeri

Communication, Culture and Arts Manager

She graduated from Gaziantep University, Department of Journalism. During her university years, she gained experience in field studies by taking part in the school newspaper and various media organizations. Since 2019, she took part in various projects as a volunteer at Kırkayak Kültür. In 2022, as an employee of Kırkayak Kültür, she works in the fields of Communication and Culture and Art.

Merve Tüter

MutfakNa Project Assistant

She graduated from Gaziantep High School in 2015. In 2019, she graduated from İnönü University, Department of Political Science and Public Administration. She is currently studying at Gaziantep University as a graduate student in Political Science and Public Administration.

Betül Alp

MutfakNa Project Coordinator

She graduated from Yeditepe University, Department of Gastronomy and Culinary Arts and Department of Sociology. She completed two professional kitchen internships; worked as a research intern in a non-governmental organization which study migration; and completed another internship about “Media Representations of Syrian Women” at TED University Center for Gender Studies. She works as Project Coordinator of MutfakNa Project.

Hatice Taşdemir

Sosyolog - Saha Çalışanı

Kırklareli Üniversitesi Sosyoloji bölümünden mezun oldu. Üniversite yıllarında ve sonraki dönemlerde bazı projelerde yer alarak saha deneyimi kazandı. 2018 yılında Maraş Geçici Barınma Merkezi‘nde ücretli öğretmenlik yaptı. 2023 yılından beri Kırkayak Kültür’de koruma programı ve Dom ve Abdal Çocukların Eğitime Erişimi Projesinde çalışıyor.

Beyza Güngör

Sosyal Çalışmacı

2000 yılında Adana’da dünyaya gelen Beyza Güngör 2022 yılında Manisa Celal Bayar üniversitesi sosyal hizmet bölümünden mezun oldu. Toplumsal Cinsiyet konulu akademik tezini tamamladı. 1 aylık bir sürede özel eğitim rehabilitasyon merkezinde ve sonrasında 6 subat depremi sonrası yürütülen bir projede 9 ay boyunca sosyal çalışmacı olarak görev aldı. Şu anda Kırkayak Kültür Sanat ve Doğa Derneğinde sosyal çalışmacı olarak görev almakta.

Şule Bozkurt

Sosyal Çalışmacı

2001 yılında Erzurum’da dünyaya gelen Şule Bozkurt, 2023 yılında Hacettepe sosyal hizmet bölümünden mezun oldu. Roman Hakları Derneği Hayal Ev projesinde bir yıl gönüllülük faaliyetleri yürüttü. Heybe Sosyal Hizmet ve Sosyal Politika Dergisi Göç sayısında " "Öteki" Olanı Konuşmak: Sosyal Hizmet Öğrencilerinin Gözünden Suriyeli Mülteciler ve Yerel Toplum Üyeleri Arasındaki İlişkiler" yazısı yayınlandı. Şu anda Kırkayak Kültür Sanat ve Doğa Derneğinde sosyal çalışmacı olarak görev almakta. Aynı zamanda Birlikte Yaşamak İstiyoruz İnsiyatifinde gönüllülük yapmakta.