ABOUT TUTKU TOURS 20 Years of Experience

Tutku Tours’ main office is in Izmir, ancient Smyrna, located in the heart of the Seven Churches of the Revelation. Tutku offers numerious tour packages for Groups and Individuals in Turkey and Eastern Mediterranean; Israel, Jordan, Italy, Cyprus, Greece, Egypt & Syria. Its excellent service combined with affordable prices make it the agency of choice for colleges, universities, and seminaries. Tutku team is proud to give you fast replies, the best suggestions and quotations. Every year, at the end of May, Tutku organizes the largest Christian gathering in Ephesus, called the Ephesus Meeting. Tutku Tours is a member of the following organization:

Levent Oral President Levent Oral born and raised in Izmir, is a graduate of the St. Joseph French school and 9th September University, where he studied Business Administration. Since 1989, he has held a professional Tour guiding license and since 1992 he has owned his own Tourism agency. He has become an expert at designing tour itineraries for groups from all different interests. He is a strong business man, and at the same time very humble, gracious, warm and hospitable. Those of you that know him might just agree. He is interested in Biblical Archaeology, he enjoys playing tennis with his wife Natali, loves playing with his 2 children Zeynep and Kaan and if he has any free time, he likes to oil paint. Cenk Eronat Vice President Cenk finished in the Tourism Management Department of University in Izmir. After much experience working for 5-star hotels and travel companies, in 1999, he became part of Tutku Tours. Among many things, he is the vice- president of Tutku Tours,  a French-English speaking tour guide and a photographer. He creates and develops tour programs, which include some of the most beautiful and significant places, as well as world famous sites.  He is a specialist in Art and Cultural Tours. Erden Duygu Vice President Erden studied English Literature and Language at Hacettepe University in Ankara and double majored on Tourism Administration at the same University. He has been involved with tourism on different branches for over 36 years. He is a professional tour guide in English and he is acting as Vice President of Tutku Tours for last 4 years.   Sinan Efe Ozsahinler Graphic Designer Sinan has been working in the data processing sector since 1999. He has been following developing technology and after a finishing his education and work experience, he started to work with Tutku Tours. He studies graphic design now and his talents continuously improve. He is very interested in cinema and loves the oldies very much. Fatma Akgun Accounting Manager Fatma finished Trade High school in 1993 and has been working in the tourism sector for 15 years.  She joined the Tutku team 5 years ago. All financial and accounting details are her responsibility. She has a daughter and likes to spend her free time with her and listening to Turkish Folk music.   Macit Saszade Tour Guide Macit studied English Language and Teacher Training in Izmir. He attended 'The London School Of Foreign Trade' in 1989 and studied Business Administration. and Management. He has been guiding for different interest groups such as Biblical sites of Anatolia, Archeology and Art History etc since 1989. He speaks English and Arabic . His interests are History, Theology, Archaeology, Sports. Ercument Ozden Tours Guide Ercüment is a graduate of Boğaziçi University, English Teaching department, in Istanbul. He taught English at Ankara University and Çankaya University for ten years. As manager of Continuous Education Center, SEDAM, at Çankaya University he organized seminars on subjects such as international commerce, e- business and computer programming. Ercüment has been in tourism sector for almost twenty years, in most part as a tour guide. He speaks English, Japanese and Russian other than Turkish, his mother tongue. He likes to study cultures, religions languages and to listen to especially folk music from different parts of the world and to play football. Mustafa Uzel Yalkin Uca They’ve been working at Tutku Tours for 15 years as a driver. We entrust our guests to them with contentment.

Erin Dailey Director of Operations for Ephesus Meeting Erin Dailey originally born in Edmonton, she later moved to San Diego and now lives in Turkey. She studied International Marketing in University and after many years of work experience, now works with North American group leaders preparing biblical tour itineraries, in Turkey and the Eastern Mediterranean. Erin is the director of the Ephesus Meeting, which is organized by Tutku Tours, each year in late May. She is also a mother to Ela and Kaya. She enjoys travelling, horse back riding and hiking, and cooking. Her travel experiences, attention to details, and the fact that she is a Canadian and American Citizen living in Turkey, makes her a unique jewel in the travel business.   Haldun Palanduz Vice President Haldun graduated from Tourism Administration in Izmir and has a masters degree from Anger University in France.  After 30 years in the tourism industry as a French speaking guide, operation manager, and travel agency owner, he joined the Tutku team in 2006 as vice president.  He is a specialist in Anzac Tours and likes to join their ceremony every year. Gokce Yay Yalcin Office Manager Gokce studied Tourism at University and she did her first internship and hotel training at Tutku Tours in 1996.  She worked in the Media sector for a while but couldn’t stay away from tourism and came back to the Tutku Tour team.  She manages the office and its organization, and oversees many group organizations. She enjoys movies and watching soccer matches. Sema Ankarali Operations Sema is a graduate of Tourism-Hotel Administration.  She began her tourism career by working in hotels for 11 years. She has been working for travel agencies for 5 years as a tour operator. Sema joined Tutku team’s operations department in 2009. She enjoys outdoor sports, football, history and literature. Damla Oral Operations Damla Oral was born in Izmir. She is graduated from the Izmir Turkish College and then from 9th September University. She joined Tutku Tours operations team in October 2010. Damla wants to improve herself in tourism sector. She enjoys watching movies, listening different kinds of music, swimming and sports.   Meltem Ciftci Tour Guide Meltem studied both Environmental Engineering and Professional Tour Guiding at Izmir at the College. She's been guiding for many groups from so many countries around the world ,but especially from North America since 1989.She guides for different interest groups such as Archeology, Art History ,Bird Watching and Biblical Sites of Anatolia, etc. Her interests are photography, archeology, movies, music and literature. Ozcan Kacar Tour Guide Born in: Aydin, Turkey Currently resides in: Izmir, Turkey Guiding since: 1997 Languages: Turkish, English, some Polish Education: Degree in English Literature from Selcuk University Hobbies/Special interests: Hiking, traveling   Nazim Uzun Tour Guide Nazim has a Dept of Tourism degree (University of Ankara at 2000) and a professionally qualified licensed  Turkish tour guide. He is personable, flexible, has a good sense of humor, and always updates himself about the current affairs. He takes pride in offering a sensitive and professional service at all times.