Whirling Dervishes of Turkey
Serif Yenen was born in Odemis-Izmir in 1963. He graduated from Kuleli Military High School in Istanbul, earned a degree in English Philology at the University of Istanbul in 1985, became an Army Officer, and taught English as a second language for a while.He quit the Army when he was a lieutenant and began as a tour guide in 1989, and has been working as a national tour guide with great enthusiasm ever since. He has held elected positions as chairman of the Istanbul Tourist Guides Guild (IRO), the Federation of Turkish Tourist Guides (TUREB) since 2002, the Tourist Guides Foundation (TUREV) between 2002 and 2009, and was an executive board member of the World Federation of Tourist Guide Associations (WFTGA) for two terms between 2003 and 2007.While actively working as a tour guide, he also writes guide books, articles for travel magazines, and weekly columns on tourism for newspapers and websites. He gives comprehensive lectures about Turkey and Civilizations of Anatolia at schools, universities, museums, cruise ships, tour companies, etc. Among the places where he has lectured successfully several times are the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C., Boston University and Penn Museum in Philadelphia.He is an active licensed professional tour guide and prides himself on his ability to add personal touches to every tour he conducts. It is extremely important to him that his guests return home with experiences to remember.Mr. Yenen has many years experience in guiding tours all over Turkey as well as in Istanbul. As a Turkey Travel Specialist with contacts and years of experience, he is able to help travelers with their plans and itineraries.