― 18 сентября 2018 г.

Sixth International Koroghlu Festival

The Sixth International Koroghlu Festival and the Trademark City of Bolu gathered a large audience.

The opening event of the  festival hosted by the municipality of Bolu and organized with the contribution of the International Organization of Turkic Culture  TURKSOY took place on September 14th-17th, 2018 and gathered  the Governor of Bolu Aydın Baruş, the Mayor of BoluAlaaddin Yılmaz,  the Ambassador of Turkmenistan to  Ankara  Ishankuly Amanliyev, the Ambassador of the Kyrgyz Republic to Ankara  Prof. Ibrahim Junusov, the Counsellor of the Embassy of the Republic of Macedonia  in Ankara Mr. Ramazan Serpetova, the Cultural Attaché of Uzbekistan  Babur Tagaev and the Project Coordinatof TURKSOY for the Balkans Mr. Fatih Aliyi along with many amateurs of art.

The opening of the festival featured a parade with the Janissary Band of the Municipality of Sakarya  at the Democracy Square Memorial Park  and gathered a large number of citizens of  Bolu. The parade took place with the contribution of 8 folk dance ensembles from the Turkic World and the Balkans along with hundreds of people.

The opening event featured a minute of silence at the Ataturk Memorial of Bolu followed by the national anthem of Turkey, a garland ceremony gathering the Governor of  Bolu Aydın Baruş and the Mayor of Bolu  Alaaddin Yılmaz at the afore-mentioned memorial and opening speeches delivered at the stage on the central square of the city.

Bolu  Embraces the Turkic World

In the opening speech he delivered, the Mayor of Bolu Mr.  Alaaddin Yılmaz stressed the fact that the figure of Koroghlu which is the common hero of the Turkic World and stands for  bravery and courage is the symbole of Bolu  and said: “Bolu is a special city. 65% of its territory is covered with forests and it has approximately lakes and ponds. It is a very special place where one can experience four seasons at once. We call it the heart of nature. In the future, Bolu will be a city of tourism and sports with camps for all sport disciplines. It will be a destination of health tourism  and a city of universities. Through Koroghlu, this city will embrace the Turkic World. In fact, as a figure of bravery and courage, Koroghlu  stands as a symbol of the Turkish nation. Indeed, it is a hero who stands in solidarity with the oppressed  and symbolizes justice. From the Adriatic to the Balkans, it is the common hero of the Turkic World. Thanks to this hero we will embrace the Turkic World. We stand in a close relation to every country of the Turkic World and our ties of brotherhood further develop with every country and city related to this heroic figure. As matter of fact, we have recently initiated ties with Uzbekistan. We extend our gratitude to the Ambassador of Uzbekistan” .

The Mayor  Yılmaz who also stressed that the construction of the Koroghlu Park in Bolu is about to be finalized  further said: “We are currently building a park in Bolu which will be another initiative regarding our rapprochement with the Turkic World. It is a common initiative as we are building this park together with  TURKSOY. We are building it in consultation with the Permanent Representation of UNESCO in Turkey. This park will gather 16 entities in total including eight states and eight autonomous republics of the Turkic World. With this  park, we will be embracing the Turkic World.”