Thousands descend on Clissold Park for eighth annual celebration of Anatolia’s riches
Nick de Bois briefly donned a Nasreddin Hodja hat for the event
The eighth annual Anatolian Culture Festival was held over the Bank Holiday weekend in North London’s Clissold Park.
The event was opened by a host of local politicians and diplomats that included Enfield North MP Nick de Bois; Turkish Cypriot London representative Oya Tuncalı; Turkish embassy attaché Fatih Ulusoy; Zafer Tekin from the Turkish Promotional Fund; councillors Peray Ahmet and Emine İbrahim with former councillor Nilgün Canver; and Süleymaniye Cultural Foundation president Erdoğan Çelik.
Islington MP Jeremy Corby was also present at the opening, which saw a concert performance by the Bursa Mehter group.
Children were entranced by some of the performances
Akif Çulhaoğlu, who spoke on behalf of the festival organisation committee, said their fundamental objective was to create an environment where basic values could be taught to younger generations. He said the festival had been held for eight consecutive years with this in mind and thanks all private and official organisations for their support.
In a speech of his own, attaché Fatih Ulusoy said events such as these made an important contribution to promoting Turkish culture and traditions.
Mr de Bois, for his part, greeted the crowd by saying “Merhaba”, the Turkish word for hello. He said many Turks and Cypriots lived in his constituency and that the festival provided an opportunity for different cultures and communities to get to know each other.
Mr Corbyn, meanwhile, expressed his sorrow at the Soma mining tragedy in Turkey a fortnight ago.
The organising committee for the Anatolian festival
35 TENTS ACROSS THE PARK
The festival was widely attended, with interest particularly noticeable from student groups visiting from local schools. Sunday, when the weather was sunny all day, was particularly popular.
The 35 tents put up around the festival ground contained different samples of Anatolian culture, many of which were popular with families. The food on offer was wide and varied, including lamb shish, doner and tantuni kebabs, alongside more traditional Anatolian home cooking.
Also on display were some fine examples of handiwork, painting and calligraphy.
Politicians and community leaders simultaneously opened the festival
Alongside the Bursa Mehter performance, the visiting children were particularly drawn to Nasreddin Hodja and Ibish sketches, as well as a shadow puppet Karagöz-Hacivatshow.
Perhaps the most interest of all was generated by the olive oil wrestling tournament, in which professional wrestlers from the Turkish Wrestling Federation competed.
Kırkpınar wrestlers Fatih Sultan Mehmet Alabacak, Hakkı Ceylan, İsmet Karabulut and Kemal Kurt were all there, with Fatih Sultan Mehmet Alabacak becoming London victor.
Meanwhile, lawyer Şevki Yüksekkaya was the victor of an open auction for the title of London’s Wrestling Agha (Chief).
Many kids were there despite clouds showing warning signs
