Kurdish culture is being promoted in its numerous elements in a new event currently under way in Istanbul, a metropolis that is home to at least 3 million Kurds and is hosting the first ever Kurdish art and Culture Days festival, from May 10-17.

The festival, put together by the Beyoğlu-based Mesopotamia Cultural Center (MKM) with support from 16 institutions from Turkey's Eastern and Southeast Anatolian regions and presented to the media in a press conference last Thursday, features 33 events in such fields as dance, theater, music, photography, cinema and literature.

Dancer Serhat Kural, one of the event's organizers, says that although it is now possible to hold such a festival in İstanbul, it is still difficult to say that there has been a “mental revolution” in Turkey. “I wish we could say that … [Turkey] has by now understood that no matter what, no artistic or cultural [notion] can become a source of hostility between [our] peoples,” Kural told Today's Zaman during last week's news conference.

“It's just that the world in our present day offers better opportunities for alternative [events] and with the 24-year history of the MKM, Kurds are now capable of organizing [such festivals],” he added.

Concerts and theater performances make up the majority of the events in the lineup, which also includes talks about cinema and literature. The festival is hosted in various venues in the Kadıköy, Şişli, Beyoğlu and Bostancı districts.

Today's Zaman