Iftar organized by Komotini Mufti Office and GTGB held with great participation
Before the iftar programme, hymns and the Holy Qur'an were recited by the religious officials of the Komotini Mufti's Office. After the call to prayer, the kinsmen broke their fast together. Mufti of Komotini İbrahim Şerif made the prayer for iftar.
Afterwards, Sedat Hasan, President of Komotini Turkish Youth Union, İbrahim Şerif, President of the Advisory Board of the Turkish Minority of Western Thrace and Mufti of Komotini, Ömer Sevgili, District Governor of Ipsala who travelled from Turkey to Komotini for iftar and Aykut Ünal, Consul General of Turkey in Komotini made speeches.
GTGB PRESIDENT SEDAT HASAN
Sedat Hasan, President of GTGB, started his speech by greeting all the participants and said, "Unfortunately, this year we are spending the month of Ramadan, which we plan to celebrate with greater enthusiasm every year, with bitterness due to the earthquake disaster in our motherland and the train accident in our country Greece. I wish condolences and patience to the relatives of those who lost their lives in these disasters. This great plane tree, under whose shadow we are honoured to welcome you today, is exactly 95 years old. Thousands of young people have passed through here and each one of them has become a conscious soldier striving for the survival of our minority. Our aim is to increase the number of these young people as much as possible. Although they wanted to silence us through the judiciary in 1983, we continue on our way without giving up by using the freedom of assembly arising from the constitution and feeling the support of our motherland."
MUFTI OF KOMOTINI İBRAHİM ŞERİF
Mufti of Komotini İbrahim Şerif thanked the kinsmen who attended the iftar. Mufti Şerif touched upon the importance of the month of Ramadan in his speech, reminding that the last days of the month of Ramadan are approaching, "We are now entering the days of salvation, God willing, we will make this feast free from sins and forgiven. May Allah grant us to meet once again."
IPSALA DISTRICT GOVERNOR ÖMER SEVGILI
Ömer Sevgili, District Governor of İpsala, who attended the iftar in Komotini, referred to the earthquake disaster in Türkiye in February and thanked the Turkish Minority of Western Thrace for extending a helping hand in this process.
Ömer Sevgili, District Governor of İpsala, said: "In February, the Republic of Türkiye suffered a great disaster. We have suffered great wounds, and you, our precious kinsmen, have helped as much as you can to heal these wounds. We were in constant communication with our Consul General, we could not keep up with you in terms of downloading the aids from our kinsmen to our warehouses in Ipsala. I was thinking where this speed of yours comes from. Today, I saw in this environment that the unity and solidarity among you; let alone the earthquake, you have a faithful stance to face all kinds of disasters; I thank you all very much. You are very valuable to us."
CONSUL GENERAL AYKUT ÜNAL
In his speech, Consul General of Türkiye in Komotini Aykut Ünal thanked everyone who contributed to the iftar organisation.
Stating that he personally witnessed the support of the Turkish Minority to Türkiye after the earthquake, Ünal said: "We took part in this process both as staff and as families in the garden of the Komotini Turkish Youth Union where we had iftar and in other aid collection centres. At the same time, aid collection centres were established in different places in Xanthi. We visited these centres whenever we had the opportunity. Everywhere we went, I saw a great spirit of solidarity and the aid collected was delivered to our country. I would also like to thank our young friends who are working here this evening with great devotion. I would like to say that you young people deserve the best. I know and see that our students in Western Thrace, whether in Komotini or Xanthi, deserve the best. I wish you success in the life ahead."
