“Ondokuz Mayıs University Traditional Turkish Festival” organized for the fourth time this year presented colourful spectacles.

International students of OMU, academicians, and Turkish students have participated in the festival which was held at Ondokuz Mayıs University Atatürk Congress and Culture Centre.

During the programme, which is organized for the purpose of commemorating the anniversary of Mehmet I of Karaman’s (Karamanoğlu Mehmet Bey) declaration of Turkish as the official language in Konya on 13 May 1277, an African student read the edict of Mehmet I of Karaman while his friend accompanied him with a drum and the audience responded with a very big applause.

“World Language Turkish“

Director of OMU-TÜRKÇE (Turkish Teaching, Implementation, and Research Centre) Assoc. Prof. Yakup Poyraz made a speech at the festival and congratulated the international students for organizing such a lovely event, and said the following: “The OMU-TÜRKÇE family contributes to world peace by providing a fraternal environment to everyone without discrimination of language, religion, race, colour, culture, geography. Various excursions within Samsun or to nearby cities where students can make observations enhances our students’ togetherness and enforces their culture of living as a whole. In addition to this, our students are learning Turkish while they are having fun through the gamification of learning, competitions, movie screenings, going to plays, and various celebrations. I would like to congratulate the entire OMU-TÜRKÇE family. They never forgot the fact that this is a team work.”

International students learning Turkish at OMU-TÜRKÇE waved the flags of all countries together with a giant Turkish flag to emphasize the “World Language Turkish” theme which filled the audience with admiration. Our Tanzanian student Abdulrashid Kassım Mfinanga, whom we lost in a tragic accident last year, was also remembered during the event.

Bard Obalı (Mustafa Bilir) of Samsun, who is one of the most significant members of the Ashık (Turkish wandering bard) tradition, performed his poem entitled “Türkçem” (My Turkish). Francisco Nomanjary from Madagascar performed the song “Bulutlara Esir Olduk” and received a big round of applause from the audience. Following the poems read by international students, a Turkish Folk Dances Team entirely consisting of international students performed the “Zeybek Dance”. The programme continued with folk songs and ballads; followed by a stand-up act of Noureddin of Cameroon, Tolo of Guinea, and Bangali of Togo which made the audience burst into laughter.

Folk songs of different regions were song at the last parts of the programme. The choreography of the international students sitting in the stands during the song “Senden Daha Güzel” which was adapted to OMU-TÜRKÇE was worth seeing.

Story: Nehir GÜLER

Photography: Gökhan ÇETİN