The amazing folk dancer Zeki Maviyildiz, pictured here along with his troupe, was among the performers at Turkish Fest_ a first of its kind event in North Carolina, yesterday.
(Note: this image is not from Turkish Fest itself)
I don't know exactly how many people attended, but I would guess that it was somewhere in the 2,000 range, which is the all the more remarkable because the Turkish population in North Carolina, while relatively high in Raleigh, is considerably lower than those of larger states in the northeast like New Jersey.
In fact, I'm fairly certain that there are no (or very, very few) Turkish people in small cities like Mount Airy, Roanoke Rapids or Lumberton.....!
So, for that reason alone (not to mention the time and effort to organize and promote an event as grand as this), one has to praise the event's primary sponsor the Divan Cultural Center in Cary, NC, and my good friends Volkan Ozdemir and Onur Kabul who are active in that organization.
It was also great to see my friends Jonathan the photographer, Erol and Nida at the event along with Numan bey and his family.
And, of course, it was 'fevkalade' (wonderful) to eat some fine doner (gyro meat) with yogurt, a Turkish specialty.
Insallah (hopefully), we will get to do this again next year!
Useful Links:
http://www.bluestardance.org (Zeki Maviyildiz's web site. Mavi Yildiz means 'blue star' in Turkish.)
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