- Gokceada: island of peace -
08.08.2003 20:41:14
Two societies with different faiths can live side by side,
Gokceada’s mayor said.
August 8— Over the years Turkey and Greece have had their differences, no more so that in the Aegean region, but the island of Gokceada is celebrating peace and new found harmony between the two neighbours.
Gokceada, Turkey’s largest island and lying off the coast off the Gallipoli Peninsula, is staging its annual summer festival between August 10 and 13. This year, the focus of activities is friendship between the Turkish and Greek peoples.
According to Halil Rüstü Akgün, the mayor of Gokceada, Turkish and Greek singers would take stage together during the summer festival. Also taking part in the festivities would be a folk dance group from Thessaloniki and Glikeria Fotiadu, a Greek singer, the mayor said.
“Our singers will once again prove that two societies having different religions live in harmony on Gokceada,” Akgün said. “We believe that this friendship will be further strengthen by such activities.”
Gokceada has a long history of multiculturalism, with the island changing hands between Turkish and Greek control many times over the centuries. Though now part of modern Turkey, Gokceada still has a small population of Greek residents of Turkish nationality and the Greek Orthodox patriarch Bartholomew was born on the island.
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by ntvmsnbc
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