OPENING WORKSHOP PHOTOS
The Opening Workshop for “Call to mind: Cultural diversity in Kadikoy” was held on 7 February at the Moda Culture Society. The workshop held with the participation of Mustafa Ozarslan, Kadikoy District Governor; Bahar Yalcin, Member of Kadikoy City Council and Deputy Mayor; and Moris Levi, Representatives of the Council of Foundations, Other Community Foundations was also joined by Yorgo Istefanopulos, the Chairman of Board of Kadikoy Greek Orthodox Community Churches, Schools and Cemetery Foundation; Arman Bukucuyan, the Chairman of Board of Surp Takavor Armenian Orthodox Church Foundation and Eli Arditi, the Chairman of the Board of Hemdat Israel Synagogue Foundation as well as Ayse Deniz Arican, EU Expert from the Istanbul Representative of the EU Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
During the workshop, the representatives of the relevant institutions and the participants consisting mainly of Armenian, Greek and Jewish academicians, researchers, journalists and authors living in Kadikoy discussed the process of project implementation.
SHORT VIDEOS
Tanay Sıdkı Uyar
“The cultural background in Kadikoy is important to us. We want to contribute, as much as we can with our own knowledge, to determine the cultural heritage produced so far by the Greek, Armenian, Jewish communities, and wish to pass them on to the future generations.”
AYŞE DENİZ ARICAN
“KADOS project is one of the 38 projects under the Local NGO Grant Scheme and is called Call to Mind: Cultural Diversity in Kadikoy. They will achieve decent works.”
Mustafa Özarslan
“We see that people are scared of and stay away from each other when they do not know each other. But, as they get together and get to know each other better and increase the level of this type of gathering, then the sense of amazement gets higher.”
Bahar Yalçın
“Kadikoy involves so many diversities and cultural diversity within the community. This is a great richness. Indeed, this is what makes Kadikoy so diverse and rich.”
MORİS LEVİ
“In fact, nothing much changed in Kadikoy. Because, the spirit of the location reflected on the residents of Kadıkoy, who came over here afterwards.”
Yorgo Istefanopulos
“Kadikoy was probably a society comprising the minority or different church communities until the 60s, and of course they spread out over time; they abandon and now nobody recognizes the cultural values they have left behind. The purpose of this project is to advertise these cultural values. I believe it is very important that a non-governmental organisation in Turkey is proposing that.”
ELİ ARDİTİ
“There is unfortunately a decline in the number of societies. Therefore, I would like to thank everyone for bringing such a project together and reuniting us and giving us the opportunity to build warm relationships with each other again.”
Arman Bükücüyan
“I can’t describe enough how happy I am about such a project of Kadikoy and I wish this activity was maintained.”
SİLVYO OVADYA
“Although there is a certain cultural diversity in Istanbul, Kadikoy is probably a bit more special. It’s a place where all sorts of culture live. I think Kadikoy has a more contemporary way of communication.”
LAKİ VİNGAS
“If it is a non-multicultural city, it will not be the city of Istanbul we wish to see, it will be something very different; we cannot call it Istanbul. In that respect, we must also consider the present and the future while we remember the past. Today, the people from different ethnicities and religions live here. The city welcomes the newcomers, new civilisations and new migrations. Therefore, we need to learn today’s cultural diversity well. If we don’t know them, we won’t be able to integrate with each other. So, the integration can only be possible if we get to know each other better.”
MAYİR SARANGA
“Here, we will be talking about the past again, with so many different groups. Some memories of the past will be recalled here. Maybe, we will try to work out something very different, starting with a single word like, just like at our school. That’s why I am here”
İRİNİ DİMİTRİYADİS
“I believe that the old experiences of the people can be passed on to the next generations, and if you reach even a single person in these processes, then I am a person who believes that there will be many other people over time. I think that people find the opportunity to get to know each other and in this way, a new belief of common life can be created.”
EVANGELİA ŞARLAK
“Let’s think about how we can pass these on to our future by remembering them, not by just being or feeling nostalgic, without forgetting that we are in the present day, namely in the 2019s.”
İzel Rozental
“There are so many, so different cultures that people can feel confused. This is a value. This is truly a great richness. We need to know that. We need to know its value and we need to preserve it.”
Murat Güvenç
“What have we lost; what was Kadikoy like in the past; it’s very important in revealing it with tangible and testable indicators, without being emotional, without being carried away with the nostalgia. I think this project can be important in terms of creating a cultural, social map of the past.”