Süreyya Ümran Alınak
Turquaz Group
Co-Founder · International Relations & Pilgrimage Coordination
The Project Behind the Gathering
About St Paul Global Week
A project team carrying a faith-tourism vision — gathering pilgrims, partners, and friends of Tarsus in the city that gave the world St. Paul the Apostle.
Who We Are
A team carrying a vision
St Paul Global Week is the work of a project team brought together by a single conviction — that the birthplace of St. Paul the Apostle deserves a gathering worthy of its history. Between us we carry travel and destination-management experience in Turkey reaching back to 2000, and a full decade dedicated to faith-based journeys — organising pilgrimages for churches, clergy and faith communities, with a particular focus on Sub-Saharan Africa.
We are not a faceless agency. We are experienced hands — an established Turkey tour operator, an international-relations group, a creative-production studio and an Africa-focused consultancy — who have chosen to give this gathering our time and our craft, welcoming pilgrims to Tarsus with the care such a journey deserves, in honest coordination with the local authorities.
The People
Who is behind the project
Four founders and a senior advisor, each bringing a distinct strength to the gathering — international coordination, tourism operations, creative direction, financial stewardship, and faith-tourism counsel.
Fatih Tunalı
Funny Tourism
Co-Founder · Destination Management & Pilgrimage Logistics
Yusuf Cihan Süslü
Dots Group
Co-Founder · Event Production & Creative Direction
Yavuz Selim Silay
Afrosum Consultancy
Co-Founder · Chief Financial Officer
Rev. Yakubu Pam
Senior Advisor
Former Executive Secretary, Nigeria Christian Pilgrim Commission
Counsel & Guidance
Advisory Board
Senior figures from the faith, tourism, and international community — from Mersin hospitality and academia to travel and diaspora leadership across Africa — lending their experience and counsel to the gathering.
Yeşim Sancaktar İçgören
Hospitality
Owner — Elif Hatun Konağı · MERTID member
Sahra Çelik
Afrosum Consultancy
Managing Partner
Fethi Kavunoğlu
Hospitality
Hotel General Manager, Mersin
Serdar Küpeli
TUROYD
Mediterranean Regional President — Tourism Hotel Managers’ Association of Turkey
Tunç Gezmez
Hospitality
General Manager — Wyndham St Paul Tarsus Hotel
Ali Kalın
Silifke
President — Silifke Tourism Association · General Manager, Marpessa Blue Beach Resort & SPA
Dr. Efe Kırmızıer
Mersin University
Associate Professor, Department of International Relations
Hon. Ben O. Anyaibe
NIDOE
Chairman, NIDOE Turkey Chapter — Continental Board of Trustees, NIDOE-Europe
Mrs. Angela Ike
NANTA
Vice President, Abuja Zone — National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies
Sir Gabe Onah
Cross River State
Executive Chairman — Cross River State Carnival Commission
Edward Mwaba Ndalama
Africa Region
President — Sustainable Business Development & Innovation
Kaoutar Moudar
Pan African Youth Union
Head of Partnerships & Resources
Hon. Thomas Okyere
Ghana
Honorary Consul of Botswana to Ghana — Helgard Travel & Tours
Our Foundation
What we bring together
St Paul Global Week joins faith, heritage, and international friendship to a professional structure — and offers all of it as a sincere invitation.
Faith & heritage
A gathering rooted in scripture and in the living history of Tarsus — the city of the apostle’s birth — held with dignity and care.
A decade in faith-based travel
Ten years organising pilgrimages and faith-based journeys — accustomed to the needs of pilgrims, clergy and the communities that travel together, with a particular focus on Sub-Saharan Africa, and travel operations in Turkey since 2000.
A professional structure
Destination management, event production, and advisory expertise brought together under one coordinated project.
A sincere invitation
Above all, a genuine welcome — to faith communities, partners, and friends of Tarsus, offered without pretence.
Looking Ahead
The vision
The 2026 gathering — held 28–30 June — is the first edition of a wider vision. Our hope is that St Paul Global Week becomes a gathering the city keeps returning to, growing carefully, season by season.
In time, we hope to see a true faith-heritage corridor take shape — connecting Tarsus with Mersin and Silifke, so that the heritage of Cilicia can be travelled and honoured as one continuous journey. That corridor is a future ambition; the 2026 programme remains firmly anchored in Tarsus and Mersin.
Walk the first edition with us
Every lasting tradition has a first year. We warmly invite you to be part of this one.