Friends come together for iftar meal in Edirne

Alongside the General Director of the General Directorate of Foundations Adnan Ertem, the governor of Edirne Dursun Ali Sahin, the mayor of Edirne Recep Gurkan, the mufti of the country of Edirne Emrullah Uzum, the mufti of İskece Ahmet Mete, the mufti of Gümülcine İbrahim Serif, the consul generals of Greece, Hungary and Israel and the country protocol were present at the iftar meal on the 22^nd of June.

The opening of the exhibition on “Jewish Clothing during the Ottoman Period” which was curated by Silvyo Ovadya – a former President of the Congregation– was held before the iftar meal. As Ovadya was guiding the guests through the exhibition, the governor of Edirne Dursun Şahin and the mayor of Edirne Recep Gurkan expressed their joy at this meeting that had finally occurred after 113 years.

IFTAR MEAL 

The iftar meal that was held at the Ekmekçizade Kervansaray began with a concert by the Edirne State Turkish Music Group.   

Before the opening speeches, the statements sent by President Tayyip Erdoğan, Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç, Minister of Culture and Tourism Ömer Çelik – all of whom were unable to attend the meal – were read out by Albert Ender, who had assumed the role of presenter for the evening.

CHIEF RABBI HALEVA: “EDIRNE HAS PROVIDED EXAMPLES OF COEXISTING IN PEACE FOR CENTURIES”

Chief Rabbi Haleva, who began his speech by stating how happy he was to be in Edirne, expressed that “Ever since it had been the capital of the Ottoman Empire, Edirne had been one of the finest examples of multiculturalism and had formed the basis of peaceful coexistence, both for the past and the present.”

He went on to state that, “The greatest historic evidence of this coexistence is the cultural treasures of great value within this beautiful county belonging to different beliefs and cultures and the greatest evidence is our togetherness as we gather tonight for this Ramadan night to share our food.”    

PRESIDENT OF THE CONGREGATION İBRAHİMZADEH: “WE MUST STRUGGLE AGAINST AND DO STRUGGLE AGAINST DISCRIMINATION IN TURKEY”

In his speech, President of the Congregation İbrahimzadeh stated that the restoration of the Edirne Synagogue that was undertaken by the General Directorate of Foundations had been a turning points and that it had been rebuilt even better and more glorious than the previous version. İbrahimzadeh stated that since it had reopened, the synagogue had been visited by the members of the congregation and many people, both nationally and internationally, and that many exhibitions had been organised.  

İbrahimzadeh continued his speech by saying: “Our society that is decreasing demographically is still feeling the threats and anxiety of the worryingly increasing anti-Semitic states, conspiracy theories and provocations. These occurrences have also risen to the level that we question the lives of our tomorrow. However, the solution to this is not to move beyond Edirne. The solution is to spread to the rest of Turkey, this understanding that we started in Edirne and developed with the participation of all of its institutions.

We must struggle against all hate speech and discrimination in Turkey, not only the anti-Semitism aspect of this destruction caused by hate speech and similar expressions, and we will continue to struggle against such issues.”

MAYOR OF EDIRNE GURKAN: “IT SEEMES THAT AFTER YOU LEFT A PART OF US WAS LEFT EMPTY”

Before starting his speech, the mayor of Edirne Recep Gurkan stated his thanks, as both a person from Edirne and the representative of the people of Edirne, to the General Directorate of Associations for restoring the historic synagogue. Stating that the Thrace Incidents that were emphasized by the President of the Congregation İbrahimzadeh in his own speech had caused him to think and had influenced him, Gurkan stated: “During the speech I felt this; it seems that after you left, a part of us was left empty. Now our left side is strong, welcome back to your home.”    

GENERAL DIRECTOR OF THE GENERAL DIRECTORATE OF ASSOCIATIONS ERTEM:  “THESE LANDS BELONG TO ALL OF US. WE GREW UP HERE, WE BECAME BROTHERS HERE AND WE WILL LIVE HERE”

Ertem, who began his speech by expressing his happiness of being together with the members of the Jewish congregation in Edirne, said: “Our district manager told me that 25 thousand people have visited since the re-opening. The President of the Congregation stated that travels were made for various reasons, that the old were also brought here and told us of those who had shed tears when they arrived here. I was very touched. Is it really that hard to establish this embrace of brotherhood? It is not… You see, you restore a building; you plant a flower at the root of this brotherhood. I believe that these flowers, these trees will blossom. These lands belong to all of us. We grew up here, we became brothers here and we will live here. You have shared your meal, so that it has now become our meal together, and I thank all of you.”

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