Istanbul marks Nevruz with colorful festivities

By Nilay Kar Onum

ISTANBUL (AA) - Hundreds of people in Istanbul, including Turkic people living in the city, celebrated the spring festival of Nevruz on Thursday, with many gracing the event with their own local traditions.

Celebrations saw people leaping over open flames, blacksmiths beating metal and revelers offering traditional food to one other.

Festivities in Istanbul centered on the Topkapi Culture Park and were attended by Coskun Yilmaz, provincial director of culture and tourism.

The event was started with Ottoman janissary band show, which was organized by Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality.

As part of the festival, which signifies the joy of spring, a fire was lit, iron and stone were beaten and traditional Kyrghyz and Turkmen dances were performed at the event.

Underlining the importance of preserving cultural values, Yilmaz said: “It [Nevruz] is a feast celebrated with the same feeling and excitement at the same time not only in our country and the city but also in a wide geographic region, from the Balkans to Turkestan.”

Before performing a Kyrgyz traditional dance called “Ak Kuu” with her 11-people group, Funda Kilincarslan, head of the youth branch of Turkic World Research Foundation said: “Our aim with this event is to strengthen the ties among Turkic world and make people remember their historic ties.”

“Nevruz means unity and togetherness,” Kilincarslan stressed. “We along with all the brothers and sisters celebrate the arrival of spring and wish a fruitful year,” she said.

Maya Cagriyiva, 20 -- one of the violinists from Turkmenistan, who performed at the event -- said Nevruz means “joy” and “happiness” for her.

Attending the festivities in Istanbul for the first time, Cagriyiva, a fine arts student in the city, said she used to take part in the festivities in her country by playing violin almost every year.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Atilla Boyacilar, 73, who attends the festivities in the city almost every year and beats metal in the event, said: “It also marks the anniversary of Turks’ leaving of Ergenekon [a mythical Central Asian valley], 4656 years ago.”

When asked as to what iron beating at the event signifies, Boyacilar said: “At that time, iron was beaten and swords were made from that iron which were then used in wars.”

The Nevruz festival, which also symbolizes brotherhood and peace, is celebrated mainly in Iran, Afghanistan, India, Turkic republics such as Azerbaijan, across the Caucasus and in Albania and Macedonia.

Also accepted as a UN-recognized international cultural day, Nevruz marks the start of a New Year and is considered as a forerunner of spring.