Turkish Cultural Center Maine Turkish Cultural Center Maine
State Senators and Representatives Show Great Interest in the Maine Turkish Cultural Center’s Second Annual Turkic Cultural Day Celebration – June 6, 2013
The Second Annual Turkic Cultural Day celebration, which was organized by The Turkish Cultural Center Maine (TCCME) and the Council of Turkic American Associations, was held at the Maine State Legislature, and hosted by four senators and thirteen representatives.
Speaker of the House, the Hon. Mark Eves called the Maine House of Representatives to order and took a moment to welcome the Turkish and Azerbaijani community members to the session while introducing them to the legislators in attendance.
TCCME President Eyup Sener kicked off the celebration with a speech. Guests at the celebration, including eighty senators and representatives, were then treated to unique aspects of Turkic culture, such as folk dancing, a Whirling Dervish performance, and various Turkish culinary delights.
The Azerbaijani cultural booth in particular saw great interest, both for the traditional handicrafts on display, as well as for the beautiful, eye-catching sight of children wearing regional costumes.
Representative Dennis Keschl, who recently traveled to Turkey with Turkish Cultural Center Maine, reported that each chance he gets it gives him great joy to share Turkey with others, and that he’s even put together another group to travel to Turkey in the coming months.
One of the distinguished guests of the celebration, Maine Attorney General Janet Mills shared that since she’d just returned from Turkey the previous week, it gave her great pleasure to be part of this day. She went on to describe for the guests what she’d learned of the significant advancements Turkey’s made over the last few years.
Senator Roger Katz followed Attorney General Mills’ saying he was excited about his upcoming summer trip to Turkey, and how all the information that had been shared with him by Turkish Cultural Center representatives had given him reason to look forward to it all the more.
The keynote speaker, Maine Senate President, Justin Alfond noted that the Turkic Cultural Day event that the TCCME started organizing last year, goes a long way toward helping different communities build a better understanding of one another, and that this is an important step in the promotion of intercultural dialogue.
The Second Annual Turkic Cultural Day celebration’s most popular attractions were Mr. Adem Baskaya’s Mevlevi Whirling Dervish performance and Ms. Roghiya’s regional Azerbaijani folk dance presentation.
