Hurriyet Daily News
Date: October 30 2018 

Credit: Kardelen Koldaş

Turkey first heard about Uğur Rıfat Karlova, a Turkish entertainer living in Taiwan, when he won the “Best Host” award in 2012 at Taiwan’s Golden Bell Awards, which is the Taiwanese equivalent to the Emmy Awards. He was the first foreigner to receive an award in that category.

Uğur Rıfat Karlova, 38, is a Turkish entertainer living in Taiwan. He is well-recognized among the Taiwanese by the name “Ufong.” But Turkey first heard about him when he won the “Best Host” award in 2012 at Taiwan’s Golden Bell Awards, which is the Taiwanese equivalent to the Emmy Awards.

Karlova was the first foreigner to receive an award in that category. He was in the spotlight once again when Tom Cruise signed Karlova’s head after an interview for MTV Taiwan. Since then, Karlova has had many other groundbreaking achievements. He became the first foreigner to receive Taiwanese citizenship for his contributions in arts and culture. However, his recent success has gone unnoticed. Eight months ago, Karlova published a Chinese book in which he gives the reader a tour of Turkey. With Karlova, we talked about his journey to fame, his new book and future plans.

After receiving a university degree in tourism, Karlova went back to Tekirdağ and started working at his father’s oil shop. In the winter of 2001, he began to ask himself, “what can I do to change my life?” He found the answer in learning a new language, but his next question was, which language?    [FULL  STORY]