Announcement of two Outstanding Community Service Awards 2023
October 5, 2022
Of Books and Buddhas: Turkish Writers and the Religions of the Other Asia
October 17, 2022
2nd Annual Cultural Event of the Turkish and Middle Eastern Studies Department
Praising Aphrodite 2022
“More than people, I loved their songs…no one, and nothing made me happy, like songs…”
Nazim Hikmet, The traditional songs.
The second Annual Cultural Event “Praising Aphrodite 2022” took place on October 5, 2022 in the crowded and filled with beautiful emotions hall of the Nicosia Multipurpose Center. Through this institution, the Department of Turkish and Middle Eastern Studies functions as one of the most important centers for highlighting the common path of the two communities of Cyprus. The presence of the Rector and the Vice-Rector and the Rector’s greeting were a clear indication of the support and appreciation with which the Rectorate surrounds Humanities Studies. The theme of the event was the traditional music of Cyprus, which was represented by two well-known groups: the Greek Cypriot SY.KA.LY and the Turkish Cypriot HASDER, which count several decades of rich activity and contribution to Cypriot traditional music, the songs and dances of our country, as the pure expression of the Cypriot soul, as the chairman of the Department of Turkish and Middle Eastern Studies, Associate Professor Theocharis Stavridis, said in his greeting. In today’s era, when we are overwhelmed by images and sounds from everywhere, usually coming from “blaring cymbals”, humble and essential figures like Kostis Kosteas, who gave so much without expecting material recompense, are becoming increasingly rare. That is why we must remember them, emphasized Mr. Stavridis, dedicating the evening to the late founder of the Lysis Artists Group.
“Love is the foundation of the world, you build castles that don’t fall apart, whether you are a Turk or a Greek.” With these verses by Pavlos Liasidis, the Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, Associate Professor Michalis N. Michael, conveyed in his greeting the importance of social consciousness as reflected in the effort of the two musical links not only to save, but also to develop and enrich with their works, this beautiful and complex Cypriot culture. A common Cypriot culture that describes sometimes with its song and sometimes with its music, its dance, the arts, an existing reality of the past that is handed down to the present and the future. A Cypriot culture that is not part of the ‘invented tradition’ but is the living habit that reflects the common past of the communities of Cyprus and their inevitably common future.
In his speech, the chairman of the HASDER Board of Directors, Mr. Kâni Kanol described the research and activities that HASDER (Traditional Arts Association) has been conducting, for almost half a century, as the cornerstone of the study of folklore and identity of Turkish Cypriot culture which focuses more on similarities than differences between ethnic groups. Mr. Kanol also mentioned the thirty or so Cypriot dances and rhythms identified by HASDER’s research activities which they managed to save by teaching them to the youth. The karsilamas, syrtos, zeybekiko, ciftetelli, hasapiko dramatized play are the genres that have been categorized as common values of the two communities. In his own speech, on behalf of SY.KA.LY, Mr. Kyriakos Kosteas referred to the musical tradition of Cyprus and explained how this tradition created a rich Cypriot musical culture. This very culture, he pointed out, has been developed by SY.KA.LY for sixty years.
Hasan Abohorlu and Maria Kouloumi Papetta on song, Savvas Savva, Çağatay Darbaz and Giannakis Souroullas on violin and lute, and Tarık Güven Emiroğlu on taboucia, made it through favorite Cypriot rhythms such as “Klaio Grousi mou” and “Leymosun türküsü” to give the audience a beautiful evening of Cypriot music.
