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We remember Okan Bayülgen on his show TV Makinası (TV Machine), taking in his hand your newly published book “101 Things to Do in Turkey Before You Die” and saying “Enough now, get yourself out! Look, here is a book, buy it and hit the road!” You are one of those who know about setting off on journeys. Was it the “Fraternal Holidays” which convinced you this time? AKDOĞAN ÖZKAN: Thankfully, we still have many reasons to set off on a journey in Turkey. It was the holidays celebrated on this land which contributed this time. The experts, looking at the differing climate, flora and fauna say that Anatolia has continental features. When looking at the holidays as well it can be seen that this land possesses a cultural wealth demonstrative of the features of a continent. However, because of the blinding razzle-dazzle of modern life on one hand and the boorish attitudes we assume sometimes on the other, these holidays and their cultural reflections have grown pale over time. Setting off this time behooved for a little contribution to their revitalization. How was the idea born? AKDOĞAN ÖZKAN: In Turkey, different communities of all sizes, different faith groups have holidays which at first glance seem to be wholly different from one another. Unfortunately, however, the dominant fraction in the society is alien to the holidays celebrated by their brothers and sisters on this land, as if they are being celebrated at the far end of the ocean. Yet we don’t have a past of only three days; a thousand years of companionship is in question. I was very astonished when I saw that the holidays of communities with different faiths living all together for centuries in this geography have not yet been documented within the pages of one book. I thought, in order for these communities to be able to strengthen their relationships, enrich their interactions, works such as this must increase, and we must get to know and understand each other better. If we want to leave for tomorrow a shared trace, a shared breath, of course… With such questions and inducements I embarked on the process of writing this book.
What were you aiming for with the book? A.Ö.: I wanted to convey under what sort of “pretexts” the communities who define themselves in terms of different faiths stood when they are opening the windows in their hearts in the holidays. I collected these holidays and special days in chronological order and supported them with photographs, some of which belonged to me. I wanted to show what such communities did in these holidays yesterday and today – and equally important – do not do anymore… I thought we could celebrate each other’s holidays. I wrote with the dream of the day in which brothers and sisters on this land can entrust their holidays –with trust-to their brothers and sisters. In our country, which is located at the junction of civilizations, are there commonalities and similarities between the different holidays of the different religious communities? A.Ö.: No doubt it can’t be otherwise. When you read the book, you can see how similar characteristics bear most of the holidays which appear different. In Anatolia, with its interactive geography, a great many holidays look alike. That is why these are “fraternal” holidays. The Muslim’s Hıdırellez (Spring Festival) and the Greek’s Ayios Yeorgios Festival--of which even the days are the same on the Julian calendar--match up almost one-to-one. St. Sarkis of the Armenians is almost the same with Hızır A.S. of the Dersim Alevis. Of these communities one is depositing the flaky pastry which they call “pokhint” and the other Hızır’s “kavut” (wheat puree) in the yards of their homes with the same purpose. The Pesach of the Jews is fraternal with the Easter of the Christians, the Sacrifice Holiday of the Muslims and the Sere Sal of the Yezidis. What the Armenians do in their Gağant (New Year) festival, the other faith groups would do in January, which they call “Asma Gağane.” In Nusayris, you see all this fraternity expressed in a great variety of forms; for this reason they celebrate more than one hundred different holidays and special days. Does regionalism play an important role in the similarities and commonalities which transcend these religious and ethnic identities? A.Ö.: Yes, no doubt! But sometimes you see that the communities which are located far apart also have common customs and traditions. For instance, the Istanbulite Orthodox Greeks (Rums) prepare in their Prothoronia festival on January 1 a scone (vasilopita) which is named after the Saint Vasilios of Anatolia. It is a gummy, round scone resembling Easter bread, into which a metal coin is placed inside. It is believed that the fortune of the one which gets the scone slice with the metal coin will be good that year. The Dersim Alevis who are hundreds, even thousands of kilometers away from them are preparing a syrupy fried cake called “zırefet” on almost the same date with the Rums. They are placing pieces of tiny sticks which they pick from the branches of apple, apricot and almond trees inside the dough. They believe that whoever gets the fortune stick in their share of the fried cake will have good fortune that year. Despite so much distance and different ethnic and religious identities, such remarkable similarities and commonalities can appear among the peoples. Such works would ensure escalation of the future oriented hopes in conveying the cultural riches of Turkey to the future centuries; what would you say? A.Ö.: Yes, if we can, as the ones who are left behind, wholly comprehend what we have lost in the time past, I suppose this optimistic perspective will win ultimately. Otherwise, it means cultural impoverishment! Just think about it, if those tribes which came to Anatolia did not encounter any community in here, had not been in interaction with any community; that is to say, if they have lived in an isolated homogeneity, don’t you wonder what sort of riches could they transmit to our day that envelops our daily lives? What would we eat and drink? How many of the meals that are being cooked in our saucepans today would we be cooking? How would we celebrate our holidays? Then we can comprehend how we can transmit the cultural riches from today to tomorrow even by looking at the lessons of history.
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Index
 ETIKETLER:
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ozkan-akdogan | anatolia |