İfayet Şafak Çalıkuşu

In 2019, Çalıkuşu appeared in her first international event, skipping the Turkish team at the 2019 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival. Throwing third rocks on the team with fourth Beytullah Özkan, second Kadir Polat and lead Nisanur Kaya, she led Turkey to a 1–5 round robin record.{{Cite web|url=https://results.worldcurling.org/Championship/Details/675|title=European Youth Olympic Festival 2019|website=World Curling Federation|access-date=March 12, 2024}} Their sole win came in their final game where they defeated Austria 8–2. The same year, Çalıkuşu served as the alternate on the Turkey junior rink led by Mihriban Polat at the 2019 World Junior-B Curling Championships. There, the team just missed the playoffs with a 2–3 record.{{Cite web|url=https://results.worldcurling.org/Championship/Details/657|title=World Junior-B Curling Championships 2019|website=World Curling Federation|access-date=March 12, 2024}}

Çalıkuşu played lead on the Turkish team that represented the nation at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics in Champéry, Switzerland. Her team, with skip Selahattin Eser, fourth Kadir Polat and third Berfin Şengül finished 2–3 through the round robin, not enough to advance to the playoff round.{{Cite news|url=https://worldcurling.org/2020/01/yog-s14/|title=Norway shake-off Great Britain and Slovenia for quarter-final place|publisher=World Curling Federation|date=January 14, 2020|access-date=March 12, 2024}} She then competed with Park Sang-woo of Korea in the mixed doubles event. The pair lost their opening match in the round of forty-eight, eliminating them from contention.{{Cite news|url=https://worldcurling.org/2020/01/yog-md-2/|title=Mixed doubles teams set for round of 24 at Lausanne 2020|publisher=World Curling Federation|date=January 19, 2020|access-date=March 12, 2024}}

After not competing internationally for over two years, Çalıkuşu was added to the Turkish national women's team for the 2022–23 season, replacing Ayşe Gözütok who stepped back after the 2022 World Women's Curling Championship. Playing second on the team skipped by Dilşat Yıldız, they found major success at the 2022 European Curling Championships. After three consecutive losses, the team won five straight games which included wins over higher seeded Germany, Denmark and Norway. In their final game, they lost a narrow 8–7 match to Sweden's Anna Hasselborg, finishing in sixth place and just outside of the playoffs.{{Cite news|url=https://worldcurling.org/2022/11/daysix-ecc/|title=Live Blog: Day six at the ECC|publisher=World Curling Federation|date=November 23, 2022|access-date=March 12, 2024}} As they had finished in the top eight, however, they qualified for the 2023 World Women's Curling Championship, the second consecutive championship for the team and first for Çalıkuşu. There, the team of Yıldız, Öznur Polat, Mihriban Polat, Berfin Şengül and Çalıkuşu had a slow start, going 1–4 in their first five games. They then picked up momentum, winning four of their next five games, which included wins against Japan, Korea, Germany and Denmark. Needing to win their next two games to qualify for the playoffs, they fell 10–4 to Canada, eliminating them from contention.{{Cite news|url=https://globalnews.ca/news/9575877/kerri-einarson-canada-turkey-womens-curling/|title=Canada's Einarson tops Turkey 10-4 at women's world curling championship|publisher=Global News|date=March 24, 2023|access-date=March 12, 2024}} They were able to beat Scotland in their final round robin game to finish in eighth place with an even 6–6 record.{{Cite news|url=https://worldcurling.org/2023/03/dayseven-wwc/|title=Live Blog: Day seven at the WWCC|publisher=World Curling Federation|date=March 24, 2023|access-date=March 12, 2024}}

In preparation for the 2023 European Curling Championships, the Turkish women's team played in two tour events. After a fourth-place finish at the Sundbyberg Open, the team advanced to the final of the WCT Tallinn Ladies Challenger where they lost to Evelīna Barone.{{Cite web|url=https://www.curlingzone.com/event.php?view=Main&eventid=8016#1|title=2023 Tallinn Ladies International Challenger|website=CurlingZone|access-date=April 7, 2024}} At the Europeans in Aberdeen, the team did not replicate their success from 2022, instead finishing tied for last in the group with Czechia and Germany at 2–7. However, because their two victories came against these two teams, they finished eighth overall and earned qualification into the 2024 World Women's Curling Championship for a third straight year.{{Cite news|url=https://worldcurling.org/2023/11/end-round-robin-ecc2023/|title=Semi-final field complete at the Europeans|publisher=World Curling Federation|date=November 23, 2023|access-date=April 7, 2024}} In the new year, the team competed in the 2024 Cortina Curling Cup where they defeated higher ranked teams such as Stefania Constantini, Marianne Rørvik and Xenia Schwaller en route to claiming Turkey's first women's World Curling Tour event title.{{Cite news|url=https://www.curlingzone.com/post.php?postid=8506|title=Yildiz wins Cortina Curling Cup|publisher=CurlingZone|access-date=April 7, 2024}} At the World Championship, the team had a slow start and never recovered, finishing with a 3–9 record and tenth place overall.{{Cite news|url=https://worldcurling.org/2024/03/play-off-teams-2/|title=Saturday's World Women's play-off matchups set|publisher=World Curling Federation|date=March 23, 2024|access-date=April 7, 2024}} Notability, the team gave Canada's Rachel Homan one of their toughest games of the event.{{Cite news|url=https://www.curling.ca/blog/2024/03/20/fired-up/|title=Fired up!|publisher=Curling Canada|date=March 20, 2024|access-date=April 7, 2024}} With Turkey leading by one in the tenth, Homan needed a precise runback for the victory, which she made.{{Cite news|url=https://www.tsn.ca/curling/canada-s-team-homan-survive-turkiye-to-stay-undefeated-clinch-playoff-spot-at-women-s-worlds-1.2092767|title=Canada's Team Homan survive Türkiye to stay undefeated, clinch playoff spot at worlds|publisher=TSN|date=March 20, 2024|access-date=April 7, 2024}}

Çalıkuşu is currently a student athlete.{{Cite news|url=https://worldcurling.org/2024/01/recalling-junior-days/|title="You get beat, but it's what makes you stronger" — Elite curlers reflect on junior days|publisher=World Curling Federation|author=Anna Kubešková|date=January 9, 2024|access-date=March 12, 2024}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{Sports links}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Çalıkuşu, İfayet Şafak}}

Category:Turkish female curlers

Category:Living people

Category:2002 births

Category:Sportspeople from Erzurum

Category:Curlers at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics

Category:21st-century Turkish sportswomen

Category:Turkey women's international curlers