The Turkish Cultural Foundation (TCF) nominated Limak Foundation and Sabancı University Gender and Women's Studies Center for the UNESCO Prize for Girls' and Women's Education (GWE).

TCF nominated Limak Foundation for its leadership and efforts in raising awareness on gender equality and women empowerment in Turkey through the Foundation's  Engineer Girls of Turkey (Türkiye'nin Mühendis Kızları-TMK) flagship program. TCF nominated Sabancı University Gender and Women's Studies Center of Excellence for its Purple Certificate Program-PCP (Mor Sertifika Programı).

The UNESCO GWE Prize is supported by the Government of the People's Republic of China and consists of two annual awards of 50,000 USD for each laureate to support their work to advance education for girls and women. Awarded for the first time in 2016, it is the first UNESCO Prize of this nature and is unique in showcasing successful projects that improve and promote the educational prospects of girls and women and in turn, the quality of their lives.

TCF provided support to an exhibition by the Vehbi Koc Ankara Studies Research Center (Koç Üniversitesi Vehbi Koç Ankara Araştırmaları Uygulama ve Araştırma Merkezi) that explores the history of the Ankara Sof fabric. “Weaving the History: Mystery of a City” was opened on May 12 at the Rahmi M.Koc Museum in Ankara and remain on view until September 16.

Curated by VEKAM Director Filiz Yenişehirlioğlu and Gözde Çerçioğlu Yücel, the exhibition explores the history and making of sof and will feature sof and mohair textiles from the collections of the Ankara Ethnographical Museum, Sadberk Hanım Museum and Topkapı Palace Museum.

The TCF Cultural Heritage Preservation and Natural Dyes Laboratory (DATU) contributed to the exhibition through its know-how on natural dyes and the mohair dyeing process. DATU provided mohair dyed with 10 different natural dyes to the exhibition and prepared a video presenting the dyeing process. Samples from the DATU Natural Dyes Collection will also be showcased during the exhibition. The exhibition is further supported by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Turkey, the Ankara Chamber of Commerce, the Embassy of the Netherlands, Ströer Kentvizyon, Türk Traktör and UNESCO.

Prof.Recep Karadag, Head of the TCF Cultural Heritage Preservation and Natural Dyes Laboratory, participated in the 4th International Conference on Engineering and Natural Sciences in Kiev, Ukraine on May 2-6 with a presentation on "Antimicrobial Properties and Dyeing of Organic Cotton Products with Natural Dye.” On May 7, he gave two presentations on “Pigment Analysis of the Kanlıtaş Mount Excavation Findings” and “Archaeometric Investigations of Archaeological Textile Works and Storage Conditions” at the 40th International Symposium on Excavations, Surveys and Archaeometry. The symposium was organized by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in Çanakkale, Turkey.

James Thurman (TCF Cultural Exchange Fellows - 2014) attended “I.M.A.G.I.N.E. Peace Now,” a major international traveling exhibition in Denton, TX, USA on April 5 – May 13.

Glass artist Gülfidan Özmen, (TCF Cultural Exchange Fellow-2013 and 2018) is participating in the residency program at the Wheaton Arts and the Creative Glass Center of America in New Jersey, USA from April to July, 2018.

Oud virtuoso Mehmet Polat (TCF Cultural Exchange Fellow-2016) held a concert at De Meevaart in Amsterdam, Netherlands on May 5.

Cellist, composer, improviser, and photographer Anıl Eraslan (TCF Cultural Exchange Fellow-2014) held four concerts in May in Berlin, Germany. His concert series continued in Nakano, Yokohama, Tokyo, Wakayama, Kyoto, Japan.

Poet and playwright Nurduran Duman (TCF Cultural Exchange Fellow-2016) participated in the 2018 İstanbul International Literature Festival (İTEF2018)” as the moderator of the discussion “Crosscultural Poetry – Poets from Germany & Turkey meet at ITEF!” on May 5 and she also participated in the 3rd İzmir International Literature Festival in İzmir, Turkey on May 16 - 18.