Story of a Turkish-American pioneer; Mr. Tayfun Selen

Yazar Filiz Baeira

Yes, the STAR is born in state of New Jersey, in a lovely town called Chatham where our pride, Mr. Tayfun Selen has risen as a star and it is my promise to share a special interview in the next few weeks as Mr. Selen’s schedule is extremely booked and he has been busy by attending official invitations special events. But I did go and visit the municipal building, spoke with few lovely people who work there and headed the Chatham town center. I will be talking about Chatham in the future, but let’s just concentrate on our STAR and get to know him.

Tayfun Selen

Hundreds of media companies as well as the giant ones have been busy by keep writing about a victory of Mr. Tayfun Selen and I think they will be monitoring him closely covering his future successes yet to come. The unpresented success story of a Turkish-American, Honorable Tayfun Selen holds a special importance, because he is the FIRST ever elected official to hold Mayor’s office, not only in the state of New Jersey, but in entire United States which makes him a PIONEER.

As a Turkish-born American citizen who settled in America more than two decades ago, Mr. Tayfun Selen has been elected member of the Chatham Municipal Committee since 2017. Outgoing Mayor of Chatham Curt Ritter who previously announced that he was not going to be running for the 4th term. In Chatham Township, by law, the public elects the member of the committee members ranging from 3 to 5, Then, this elected committee determines and appoints the mayor. Even though it may seem as Mr. Selen was chosen to be a mayor by the member of the committee, since the committee members are chosen by the public, Mr. Selen was the choice of the public of the Chatham.

This is not Mr. Selen’s first achievement, yet it is the first highest official position among the Turkish American. Mr. Tayfun Selen who was a graduate from Istanbul Technical University, Department of Architecture, has been residing in Chatham for 15 years and holds a master’s degree in business and administration from Montclair State University in New Jersey and serving as the senior advisor of the Lincoln Educational Services.

Mr. Selen’s success is extremely remarkable not only because he became the FIRST Turkish-American Citizen who holds such a powerful office, but also became during the conflicts both countries have been facing for a while. I strongly believe that the people of Chatham trusted Mr. Selen’s fair balance of being impartial and I think he has proved that by being chosen by the People of Chatham mostly populated by Americans. This is actually a very strong message and success. If he was appointed and elected in a district which is heavily populated with the people of his native land would have been interpreted as it was an easy victory. But Mr. Tayfun Selen earned this powerful seat by earning the trust of ALL.

We, as a TOURMAG family, are sending our congratulation to Mr. Selen, his family and his committee for a great achievement and wishing him a continued success. Who knows, we may see him as the First Turkish American President!

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