Western Thrace Turks met at the Hıdrellez festival
Hıdrellez, which is one of the thousands of years old traditions of the Turks and also known as the spring festival, is also kept alive in Western Thrace, where 150 thousand Turks live.
Hıdrellez ‘Spring’ Festival which was organized by Xanthi Turkish Union (ITB) and Miki (Mustafçova) Municipality in Thermes (Ilıca) village, was held on Friday, May 6.
Participants of the Hıdrellez festival in Thermes were greeted by Xanthi Turkish Union President Ozan Ahmetoğlu, the board members of the association, the Mayor of Miki (Mustafçova) Rıdvan Delihüseyin as well as the council members.
Among the attendees of the event, Turkey's Consul General to Komotini Murat Ömeroğlu, Chairman of the Western Thrace Turkish Minority Advisory Board and Mufti of Komotini İbrahim Şerif, Xanthi Deputy Mufti Ahmet Hraloğlu, Xanthi SIRIZA Deputy Hüseyin Zeybek, Xanthi Deputy Mayor Süha Bekiroğlu, President of Western Thrace Minority Graduates Association. Hüseyin Baltacı, Chairman of the Western Thrace Minority Schools Councilors Union Ahmet Kara, FEP Party Deputy Chairman Bahri Belço, Western Thrace Mosques Religious Officials Association President Sadık Sadık, Miki (Mustafçova) Municipality Main Opposition List President, former Mayor Cemil Kabza, Mustafçova Municipality Opposition List Chairman, former ITB President Ahmet Kurt and former mayor Mücahit Dukkanci and many other guests.
SPRING FESTIVAL WITH HISTORY DEPENDING ON CENTRAL ASIAN
İbrahim Şerif, Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Western Thrace Turkish Minority and Mufti of Komotini, expressed the following on his social media account regarding the Hıdrellez festivities, which are traditionally organized every year at the same place.
"Today, we participated in the Hıdırellez festival in Ilıca, one of the Xanthi mountain villages. I would like to thank the Xanthi Turkish Union and Miki (Mustafçova) Municipality for their invitation, which organized the Spring Festival, whose history dates back to Central Asia."
AWESOME EVENT IN THE BALKANS
Xanthi Turkish Union Folk Dance and Music Teams, Xanthi Turkish Union Youth Branch and Xanthi Turkish Union Balkan Youth School students also attended the event.
Xanthi Turkish Union teams, who participated in the Hıdrellez, got full points from the compatriots who met in Ilıca with the shows they presented there. Under the direction of music teachers Süleyman Kara and Merve Kara, the students of the Xanthi Turkish Union center, Şahin and Gökçeler music courses gave a folk songs concert.
The show of the folk dance teams of the Xanthi Turkish Union, under the supervision of the trainers Tülin Hacıhalil and Gökhan Mustafa, were also impressive with their performances. Meanwhile, Murat Sebahattinoğlu, from the ITB adults folk dance team, received great applause from the people gathered in the Hıdrellez area for his one-man play dressed as an efe.
Meanwhile, the traditional Hıdrellez meal was distributed to the public by the Xanthi Turkish Union.
ITB Youth Branch members offered Turkish coffee to the guests. Zeynur Bargan, one of the ITB executives, presented the Spring Festival.
