In Skopje, the 9th International Yahya Kemal Beyatlı Turkish Poetry Festival was held

Balkans
Mon, 4 Dec 2023 7:35 GMT
The traditional "International Yahya Kemal Beyatlı Turkish Poetry Festival," held annually in the capital of North Macedonia, Skopje, took place for the 9th time.
In Skopje, the 9th International Yahya Kemal Beyatlı Turkish Poetry Festival was held

Organized by the Macedonia Turkish Civil Society Organizations Union (MATÜSİTEB) with the support of the Ministry of Culture of North Macedonia, the "9th International Yahya Kemal Beyatlı Poetry Festival" saw the participation of MATÜSİTEB President Tahsin İbrahim, Deputy Chairman of the Turkish Democratic Party (TDP) Şeval Nuredin, Education Counsellor Prof. Dr. Orhan Kurtoğlu from the Turkish Embassy in Skopje, Deputy Chairman of the Bridge Association Mehmed Arif, Deputy Rector and Assistant Professor Seyhan Murtezan İbrahimi from IBU, and Representative of the North Macedonia Maarif Foundation Mehmet Baran, along with poets from North Macedonia, Kosovo, and Western Thrace.

Tahsin İbrahim, the President of MATÜSİTEB, expressed gratitude to the participants of the Yahya Kemal Beyatlı Poetry Festival, organized for the 9th time under the auspices of MATÜSİTEB, with the support of the Ministry of Culture of North Macedonia and the organization of the Bridge Association.

Highlighting that Yahya Kemal Beyatlı was not just someone to be briefly described, İbrahim stated, "However, I would like to say a few words in memory of the day. The late Yahya Kemal Beyatlı, the true son of these lands, constitutes the cornerstone of Turkish literature. The aesthetic beauty in his poems, the delicacies of our language, and the deep thought structure are read with great admiration by literature enthusiasts. Üsküp-native Yahya Kemal Beyatlı was not just a poet but also a cultural figure, a national figure, and a diplomat."

Prof. Dr. Orhan Kurtoğlu, the Education Counsellor of the Turkish Embassy in Skopje, expressed his pleasure at being present at a meeting related to poetry.

Stating that there are very positive findings about both Yahya Kemal Beyatlı and artists from the Balkans in biographical sources in Turkey, Kurtoğlu said, "Even the pen names of children who are not even named here are determined with the thought that they will become poets in the future. Some children are said to be born with a pen at their waist. In other words, we are in lands where poetry, literature, is inherently, creatively present."

Mehmed Arif, Deputy Chairman of MATÜSİTEB and Acting Chairman of the Bridge Association, expressed in a statement to the press that they commemorated the great poet, our famous poet Yahya Kemal Beyatlı, on the anniversary of his birth tonight in Skopje.

Stating that this organization, organized by MATÜSİTEB, has now become traditional for the 9th time, Arif said, "Our biggest motivation in carrying out this activity is to keep alive the civilization horizon and understanding of civilization of our poet in these lands, to pass it on to future generations. We believe that we will do this best through poetry. Tonight, a total of 15 of our poets will read their poems."

Leyla Şerif Emin, General Editor of the Bridge Magazine published in North Macedonia, poet, and author, reminded that Yahya Kemal Beyatlı was born exactly 139 years ago in Skopje.

Emphasizing the importance of hosting the Yahya Kemal Beyatlı Poetry Festival in Skopje, Emin said, "It is very important for us to host the Yahya Kemal Beyatlı Poetry Festival in this disappearing city because our real goal is to meet with poets in this lost city as an excuse for poetry. We want to prove that poets still grow in Skopje, where Yahya Kemal Beyatlı was born, and that poets still gather here, following his line, even after 65 years since his death, by reading the poems we read."

Müberra Karadayı, who came from the city of İskeçe in Western Thrace, participated in the Poetry Festival for the second time and stated that it is a great happiness for her to be in Skopje, where the great poet Yahya Kemal Beyatlı was born, on the occasion of his birth anniversary, to be with poets from different Balkan countries and poetry lovers, and to feel the intense spirituality of being in Skopje, where the high legacy left by our ancestors is strongly felt.

Karadayı, wishing for the continuation of the cultural bridges formed by the unifying power of poetry, said, "To see that Turkish, poetry, and our literature are still alive and vibrant in these lands where our Turkish has lived for 600 years really makes us happy. Because I think this is the biggest proof that we exist in these lands, that we are still standing strong."

Taner Güçlütürk, a poet and writer from Prizren, stated that tonight, in terms of our literary history, it is a great honor and pride for Rumelian poets to commemorate Yahya Kemal in the homeland of Üsküp, one of the three important centers in the triangle of Pristina, Prizren, and Üsküp.

As a participant in the poetry festival from different parts of the Balkans, Güçlütürk noted that as poets and writers, they will both remember the sacred memory of Yahya Kemal and read their poems dedicated to him in the poetry festival. Güçlütürk said, "I will read a poem dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Turkey tonight with the distinguished actor of the Üsküp Turkish Theatre, Selpin Kerim. In addition, other poets will perform their own poems."

In the program, Seyhan Murtezan İbrahimi, Deputy Rector and Assistant Professor at the International Balkan University (IBU), gave a speech on "The Delusion of Yahya Kemal Beyatlı."

Following this, poets from North Macedonia, Kosovo, and Western Thrace read their poems.

In the continuation of the program, Hatice Saliova, a young violinist from Tefeyyüz Primary School, performed music.

The program ended with the presentation of certificates of appreciation and a group photo.

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