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Largest Turkish festival in US begins second edition
The seven-day event, which started on Sunday, is being held at several New York landmarks, including Times Square and Grand Central Terminal. Each event in the festival has a different theme. Sunday's event at Prospect Park resembled last year's festival at Central Park.
“The theme has been altered to a Turkic, Turkish and Balkans festival that will include not just Turkish culture, but those of the Balkans and Central Asia,” said TCC head Mehmet Kılıç in an interview with Today's Zaman.
Monday's event, the “Parade of Anatolian Civilizations” in Times Square, brought over 10,000 years of history to the focal point of our civilization today, Times Square. For the first time in history, the oldest military band, the Ottoman Janissary band, with its colorful costumes and musical instruments, walked through the streets of Times Square.
The “Contemporary Turkish Movies” festival was to feature the Turkish films “The Dance of Love,” “Butterfly” and “Revolution Cars” on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. After each movie there will be a discussion session with the directors and actors. “The film week at the New York Film Academy will display the latest works from Turkish directors and once again demonstrate the resurgence in Turkish cinema that has been taking place in the last two decades,” Kılıç emphasized.
 An actor dressed as an Ottoman sultan poses for a photograph at the Turkish Days in New York festival. |
On Friday, Grand Central Terminal will be made to resemble İstanbul's Sultanahmet neighborhood and will feature dervishes, artists and craftsmen from Turkey. A street festival that will take place on Sunday on 41st Street between Broadway and 6th Avenue will have a theme that focuses on İstanbul, particularly the Grand Bazaar. “The food will be specially prepared, and the experience for the guests will resemble a typical bazaar in the 1800s,” Kılıç noted, adding that they had to extend the festival to a week-long event because they discovered last year that it is just too hard to fit Turkish culture into one day. “We needed an entire week to showcase everything Turkey has to offer. We needed to raise the bar from last year, and a week-long festival will allow us to reach more people and give more visitors a chance to experience Turkish culture,” he stressed.
The TCC was founded in September 2006 by a small group of Turkish-Americans. “Wherever you go in the world and run into someone Turkish, the one thing you will see over and over again is how tied Turks are to their culture and heritage. Thus, one of the main reasons to establish such a center was to establish a platform whereby we could share Turkish culture with the diverse community in New York City,” Kılıç explained. “We also wanted the center to be very active in the community, as well, engaging in political issues that are important for our times. Our main event each year has been the Annual Friendship Dinner, which brings together over 600 guests from many diverse backgrounds. Past speakers at the event have been Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Turkish President Abdullah Gül,” he added.
The center also has an event series titled “Abraham's Table,” where leaders from the three Abrahamic religions come together to discuss issues that are central to all human beings regardless of their religious background, such as mercy, forgiveness, repentance, reconciliation and neighborliness. In addition, the TCC has hosted concerts, both at the center and in venues such as the Lincoln Center, book signings, reading groups, art exhibits and several conferences.
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