With civil war raging just across its border in Syria, Turkey has become the main refuge for Syrians fleeing the conflict as well as a major player in working to end the violence.

Raife Gülru Gezer, the consul general of Turkey to Los Angeles, will address the challenges facing her country when she visits Cal State San Bernardino on Wednesday, Nov. 18. Her presentation, “Turkey and the Middle East Refugee Crisis,” will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the Santos Manuel Student Union, room 106AB.

While the program, one of three during the day focused on the nation during Turkish Culture Day, is free and open to the public, there also will be a dinner beforehand at 5:30 p.m. at a cost of $25 per person. Parking at the university is $6.

Gülru Gezer’s visit is sponsored by the World Affairs Council of Inland Southern California with the CSUSB Gamma Lambda Chapter of Phi Beta Delta.

As of February 2015, Turkey became the world’s biggest refugee hosting country, with 2.1 million Syrian refugees crossing the border between the two countries. Turkey has spent, the equivalent of more than $6 billion dollars on direct assistance to refugees.

Since the refugee crisis began in 2011, more than 4 million Syrians have fled their homes to escape the civil war, mostly its neighboring countries of Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq. Beginning in early 2015, the numbers moving into Europe spiked dramatically, finally drawing the world’s attention to the extreme nature of the refugee issue.

Gülru Gezer will discuss major issues of this humanitarian crisis and its implications for the future.

Nov. 18 is also Turkish Culture Day at CSUSB, which will include the dinner prior to the lecture and also the music and dance of Turkey at the Santos Manuel Student Union Theatre from 3-5 p.m.

Sponsored by the Turkish Cultural Foundation and the World Affairs Councils of America, this part of the Turkish Culture Day program features performers from the American Turkish Association in San Diego, who will demonstrate folk dances from various regions of Turkey and teach members of the audience how to perform them. From 3:30 – 5:30 p.m., the five teachers from the World Affairs Council of Inland Southern California who participated in the summer travel study hosted by the Turkish Cultural Foundation will present poster sessions and narrate a slide show. This program is free and open to students and the public.

Also on Nov. 18 as part of the Turkish Culture Day events, Inland Empire business leaders are encouraged to attend “Lunch & Learn: Turkey's Role in our Global Economy and Trade Opportunities” from 11:30 a.m. -1:30 p.m. at the Victoria Club,  2521 Arroyo Drive, in Riverside.

This event, co-sponsored by the World Affairs Council and the Riverside County Office of Foreign Trade will feature Gülru Gezer and Turkish Commercial Attaché Murat Gören in a discussion of potential business opportunities between the Inland Empire and Turkey. To learn more and to register for this part of the program, register online at the World Affairs Council's event web page.

Gülru Gezer was born in Istanbul, Turkey, in 1979. She graduated from the Department of Political

Science and International Relations of the Boğaziçi University in 2000. She completed her M.A. in European Political and Administrative Studies at the College of Europe in Brugge, Belgium in 2010.

She began her career in 2000 as an editor at the international news department of the NTV news channel. In 2002, she joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey and began working at the European Union Political Affairs Deputy Directorate as a candidate career diplomat.

She worked in the same department as attaché, third secretary and second secretary until 2007, when she was posted to the Turkish Embassy in Damascus, Syria, where she worked for two years. Later on she was sent to the Turkish Permanent Representation to the EU in 2009.

Returning to Ankara, Turkey, in 2010, she was appointed as the chief of cabinet of the under secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. After serving for four years in Ankara, she was appointed as the consul general of Turkey to Los Angeles, assuming her duties on Sept. 15, 2014.

For more information on Gülru Gezer’s program, contact Rajrani Kalra, associate professor of geography and environmental studies, at RKalra@csusb.edu. To attend the dinner, please RSVP to Kalra or Rika Dawson at Rdawson@csusb.edu or register online.

For information on the Turkish Culture Day and the business luncheon, contact Margaret Hill of the World Affairs Council of Inland Southern California at (909) 537-5648.

Set in the foothills of the beautiful San Bernardino Mountains, California State University, San Bernardino is a preeminent center of intellectual and cultural activity in inland Southern California. Celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2015, Cal State San Bernardino serves more than 20,000 students each year and graduates about 4,000 students annually.

For more information on Cal State San Bernardino, contact the universities Office of Strategic Communication and visit news.csusb.edu.