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Cihan News Agency (CNA), Turkey
May 20, 2013 Monday
We make peace with ourselves as we integrate with the world
ISTANBUL (CIHAN)- Los Angeles -- Turkey is quickly developing and
making sure-footed progress toward a more peaceful and more prosperous
future, despite a number of problems and fair criticisms.
The greatest irreversible guarantee for the continuation of this
progress in the right direction is Turkey's ever-increasing
integration with the world and the international community. As it
integrates further with the world's extremely diversified cultures and
civilizations, Turkey is starting to welcome the diverse cultures
inside which were hurt by the past's socio-cultural fault lines
created by the stereotyped approaches maintained until recently.
Indeed, as its integration with the world grows, Turkey realizes the
need for repairing these fault lines. As it mingles with the world, it
benchmarks itself against the criteria valued by the international
community and in the process it tries to understand its true identity.
The more it integrates with the world, the more peaceful it grows
internally and the more respectful it tries to be in its treatment of
different religions, languages and cultures within the country.
There is no doubt that the reforms the ruling Justice and Development
Party (AKP) implemented in the political and legal spheres during the
early years of its power, as well as the activities of civil society
actors, play an important role in this. Some activities spearheaded by
civil society may even produce more successful results than the public
programs conducted with huge budgetary resources. The activities
performed by the Hizmet movement, inspired by Mr. Fethullah Gülen, a
well-respected Turkish-Islamic scholar, in the most unexpected
locations around the world top the list of such successful activities.
One such event was the Anatolian Cultures and Food Festival, held in
Orange County, Los Angeles from May 16 to 19.
With its fourth instance being held this year, the festival has
already evolved into a major opportunity for promoting Turkish and
Anatolian cultures. The festival in Los Angeles not only manages to
bring together Turks living in the western parts of the US, but it
also offers a meeting ground for Turks, other Muslim communities,
Anatolian Armenians and their American friends. The festival may be
unable to secure much coverage from the Turkish media, but each year
the US media networks are showing greater interest in this festival
that seeks to bring Turkish history, culture and cuisine to the
attention of the US public. This is well-evidenced in that the number
of visitors to the festival increases every year. This year, the
festival lasted for four days, ending on Sunday evening and the
organizers were expecting to attract a total of some 70,000 visitors.
The impression they got from the crowds of people who paid $12 to
enter the festival area that extended for some 55,000 square meters
with exact replicas of the works of 14 different Anatolian
civilizations, was that they would reach this target.
The festival had very interesting concepts, choreography and
architecture. Visitors entered the festival area through the
"Civilizations Path," which consists of 14 gates each representing
different civilizations: the Hittite Empire, the Kingdom of Commagene,
Lydia, the Persian Empire, the Urartu State (Armenians), the Phrygia,
the Ionian Civilization, Assyria, Troy, the Roman Empire, the
Byzantine Empire, the Great Seljuk Empire, the Ottoman Empire and the
Turkish Republic. At each gate, actors wearing traditional costumes
from each civilization welcomed and greeted the visitors.
Three dimensional giant-sized replicas of seven different cities of
Anatolia -- Istanbul, Konya, Mardin, Van, Izmir, Gaziantep, Adiyaman
and Kilis -- and the Grand Bazaar of Istanbul were assembled with
panoramic backgrounds. Artisans traveling all the way from Turkey
displayed and demonstrated many traditional handicrafts like
hand-woven carpets, the arts of water marbling, calligraphy,
stone-carving and filigree work during the four-day festival. The
Armenian Church of the Holy Cross on the island of Akhtamar that also
that sat on the festival grounds, amazingly realistic from the inside
and the outside even at two-fifths of its actual size, was one of the
most visited places at the festival.
The replica of the Grand Bazaar of Istanbul housed more than 120
booths with food, handicrafts, souvenirs and art exhibits. Just like
the real Grand Bazaar, visitors could walk through the booths
displaying hand-made jewelry, scarves, lucky charms and hand-woven
carpet displays accompanied by Anatolian hospitality.
Visitors were drawn to 99 different kinds of food, including kebabs
and döner (gyros), various kinds of desserts including baklava,
dumplings, and the world-famous tough and stretchy Maras ice cream.
Visitors were also able to refresh themselves with a cup of Turkish
coffee or several glasses of tea at another busy spot of the festival
area named The Traditional Coffeehouse. The Anatolian Cultures and
Food Festival was a feast for all five senses.
The festival, organized by the Pacifica Institute that conducts its
activities in the western parts of the US, is depicted as the most
gorgeous event of May on the art calendar of Los Angeles. Ahead of the
exhibition, newspapers and TV networks run detailed reports about the
activities planned.
Many media networks attend and cover the festival. Thus, one can
easily stumble upon a reporter and a TV cameraman doing interviews
with the festival attendees. "Discovering Turkey" was the theme for
this year's festival and to make that happen, hundreds of tons of
promotional materials were transported from Turkey to the US in some
30 shipping containers.
With the labors of many well-known professionals, renowned architects
and artisans who worked tirelessly for the festival, Anatolia was
remodeled in Los Angeles. The giant replicas of the Trojan Horse, the
Nimroud Ruins, the Fountain of Ahmet the Third, the Rumi Museum, the
Maiden's Tower, the Akhtamar Church, the Grand Bazaar, the Ephesus
Theater, the House of the Virgin Mary and other landmarks were
constructed in order to better portray the Anatolian civilizations and
history. Topkapi Palace was reconstructed in its full splendor, from
its harem to the Holy Relics. The professional actors who portrayed
sultans sitting on their thrones, grand viziers, viziers, harem aghas,
or janissaries took visitors hundreds of years back in time. Concerts
with different music styles were held simultaneously in different
parts of the festival area, allowing visitors could enjoy concerts by
the mehteran, watch the whirling dervishes and see different folklore
groups perform. They could also attend conferences on a number of
subjects or participate in cooking courses.
Interest in the festival is not restricted to Turks living in the US
or to friends of Turkey. Politicians from virtually every political
party in Turkey and many journalists, artists and cultural figures
from Turkey attended the festival this year. The festival also
attracted many visitors from the US Congress and the California's
State Assembly. The festival, which was run by some 400 volunteers
from a diversity of nations -- including many Turks -- and by a
multitude of professions/occupations, was also attended by many US
Congressmen, including Ed Royce, Loretta Sanchez, Michael Honda, Dana
Rohrabacher and Allen Lowenthal, a member of the House Committee on
Foreign Affairs (HFAC) and this is strong proof of the lobbying
potential of the festival. This is further indicated by the fact that
the local mayor declared May 18 to be Turkey Day.
The best bit was the full harmony achieved among volunteers, visitors
and guests of honor. Even the borders between political parties grew
more indistinct, albeit temporarily. Turks, Kurds, Armenians, Greeks,
Jews, Alevis, Sunnis, leftists and rightists who came from Turkey
shared the same enthusiasm. Americans with different religious,
linguistic and racial backgrounds, as well as thousands of Turks
living in the US and enjoying different lifestyles were solely
occupied with getting their share of the enthusiasm created by the
festival.
The calls to prayer were openly recited and Muslims performed their
ritual prayers in a big congregation in the space allocated to them.
The Armenian Church of the Holy Cross on the island of Akhtamar, the
Church of the Virgin Mary and the Soumela Monastery, built in sizes
close to their originals, were located opposite of the Muslim praying
grounds and to watch Turks and Armenian dance halay together was the
best proof of the unifying power of the festival. There is a reason
that I argue that Turkey makes peace inside as it integrates with the
world. The festival in Los Angeles supports my case in the best way.
BÜLENT KENES (Cihan/Today's Zaman) CIHAN
May 20, 2013 Monday
We make peace with ourselves as we integrate with the world
ISTANBUL (CIHAN)- Los Angeles -- Turkey is quickly developing and
making sure-footed progress toward a more peaceful and more prosperous
future, despite a number of problems and fair criticisms.
The greatest irreversible guarantee for the continuation of this
progress in the right direction is Turkey's ever-increasing
integration with the world and the international community. As it
integrates further with the world's extremely diversified cultures and
civilizations, Turkey is starting to welcome the diverse cultures
inside which were hurt by the past's socio-cultural fault lines
created by the stereotyped approaches maintained until recently.
Indeed, as its integration with the world grows, Turkey realizes the
need for repairing these fault lines. As it mingles with the world, it
benchmarks itself against the criteria valued by the international
community and in the process it tries to understand its true identity.
The more it integrates with the world, the more peaceful it grows
internally and the more respectful it tries to be in its treatment of
different religions, languages and cultures within the country.
There is no doubt that the reforms the ruling Justice and Development
Party (AKP) implemented in the political and legal spheres during the
early years of its power, as well as the activities of civil society
actors, play an important role in this. Some activities spearheaded by
civil society may even produce more successful results than the public
programs conducted with huge budgetary resources. The activities
performed by the Hizmet movement, inspired by Mr. Fethullah Gülen, a
well-respected Turkish-Islamic scholar, in the most unexpected
locations around the world top the list of such successful activities.
One such event was the Anatolian Cultures and Food Festival, held in
Orange County, Los Angeles from May 16 to 19.
With its fourth instance being held this year, the festival has
already evolved into a major opportunity for promoting Turkish and
Anatolian cultures. The festival in Los Angeles not only manages to
bring together Turks living in the western parts of the US, but it
also offers a meeting ground for Turks, other Muslim communities,
Anatolian Armenians and their American friends. The festival may be
unable to secure much coverage from the Turkish media, but each year
the US media networks are showing greater interest in this festival
that seeks to bring Turkish history, culture and cuisine to the
attention of the US public. This is well-evidenced in that the number
of visitors to the festival increases every year. This year, the
festival lasted for four days, ending on Sunday evening and the
organizers were expecting to attract a total of some 70,000 visitors.
The impression they got from the crowds of people who paid $12 to
enter the festival area that extended for some 55,000 square meters
with exact replicas of the works of 14 different Anatolian
civilizations, was that they would reach this target.
The festival had very interesting concepts, choreography and
architecture. Visitors entered the festival area through the
"Civilizations Path," which consists of 14 gates each representing
different civilizations: the Hittite Empire, the Kingdom of Commagene,
Lydia, the Persian Empire, the Urartu State (Armenians), the Phrygia,
the Ionian Civilization, Assyria, Troy, the Roman Empire, the
Byzantine Empire, the Great Seljuk Empire, the Ottoman Empire and the
Turkish Republic. At each gate, actors wearing traditional costumes
from each civilization welcomed and greeted the visitors.
Three dimensional giant-sized replicas of seven different cities of
Anatolia -- Istanbul, Konya, Mardin, Van, Izmir, Gaziantep, Adiyaman
and Kilis -- and the Grand Bazaar of Istanbul were assembled with
panoramic backgrounds. Artisans traveling all the way from Turkey
displayed and demonstrated many traditional handicrafts like
hand-woven carpets, the arts of water marbling, calligraphy,
stone-carving and filigree work during the four-day festival. The
Armenian Church of the Holy Cross on the island of Akhtamar that also
that sat on the festival grounds, amazingly realistic from the inside
and the outside even at two-fifths of its actual size, was one of the
most visited places at the festival.
The replica of the Grand Bazaar of Istanbul housed more than 120
booths with food, handicrafts, souvenirs and art exhibits. Just like
the real Grand Bazaar, visitors could walk through the booths
displaying hand-made jewelry, scarves, lucky charms and hand-woven
carpet displays accompanied by Anatolian hospitality.
Visitors were drawn to 99 different kinds of food, including kebabs
and döner (gyros), various kinds of desserts including baklava,
dumplings, and the world-famous tough and stretchy Maras ice cream.
Visitors were also able to refresh themselves with a cup of Turkish
coffee or several glasses of tea at another busy spot of the festival
area named The Traditional Coffeehouse. The Anatolian Cultures and
Food Festival was a feast for all five senses.
The festival, organized by the Pacifica Institute that conducts its
activities in the western parts of the US, is depicted as the most
gorgeous event of May on the art calendar of Los Angeles. Ahead of the
exhibition, newspapers and TV networks run detailed reports about the
activities planned.
Many media networks attend and cover the festival. Thus, one can
easily stumble upon a reporter and a TV cameraman doing interviews
with the festival attendees. "Discovering Turkey" was the theme for
this year's festival and to make that happen, hundreds of tons of
promotional materials were transported from Turkey to the US in some
30 shipping containers.
With the labors of many well-known professionals, renowned architects
and artisans who worked tirelessly for the festival, Anatolia was
remodeled in Los Angeles. The giant replicas of the Trojan Horse, the
Nimroud Ruins, the Fountain of Ahmet the Third, the Rumi Museum, the
Maiden's Tower, the Akhtamar Church, the Grand Bazaar, the Ephesus
Theater, the House of the Virgin Mary and other landmarks were
constructed in order to better portray the Anatolian civilizations and
history. Topkapi Palace was reconstructed in its full splendor, from
its harem to the Holy Relics. The professional actors who portrayed
sultans sitting on their thrones, grand viziers, viziers, harem aghas,
or janissaries took visitors hundreds of years back in time. Concerts
with different music styles were held simultaneously in different
parts of the festival area, allowing visitors could enjoy concerts by
the mehteran, watch the whirling dervishes and see different folklore
groups perform. They could also attend conferences on a number of
subjects or participate in cooking courses.
Interest in the festival is not restricted to Turks living in the US
or to friends of Turkey. Politicians from virtually every political
party in Turkey and many journalists, artists and cultural figures
from Turkey attended the festival this year. The festival also
attracted many visitors from the US Congress and the California's
State Assembly. The festival, which was run by some 400 volunteers
from a diversity of nations -- including many Turks -- and by a
multitude of professions/occupations, was also attended by many US
Congressmen, including Ed Royce, Loretta Sanchez, Michael Honda, Dana
Rohrabacher and Allen Lowenthal, a member of the House Committee on
Foreign Affairs (HFAC) and this is strong proof of the lobbying
potential of the festival. This is further indicated by the fact that
the local mayor declared May 18 to be Turkey Day.
The best bit was the full harmony achieved among volunteers, visitors
and guests of honor. Even the borders between political parties grew
more indistinct, albeit temporarily. Turks, Kurds, Armenians, Greeks,
Jews, Alevis, Sunnis, leftists and rightists who came from Turkey
shared the same enthusiasm. Americans with different religious,
linguistic and racial backgrounds, as well as thousands of Turks
living in the US and enjoying different lifestyles were solely
occupied with getting their share of the enthusiasm created by the
festival.
The calls to prayer were openly recited and Muslims performed their
ritual prayers in a big congregation in the space allocated to them.
The Armenian Church of the Holy Cross on the island of Akhtamar, the
Church of the Virgin Mary and the Soumela Monastery, built in sizes
close to their originals, were located opposite of the Muslim praying
grounds and to watch Turks and Armenian dance halay together was the
best proof of the unifying power of the festival. There is a reason
that I argue that Turkey makes peace inside as it integrates with the
world. The festival in Los Angeles supports my case in the best way.
BÜLENT KENES (Cihan/Today's Zaman) CIHAN