Controversy over festival continues
FRESH controversy surrounds Büyükkonuk’s 21st Eco-Day Festival tomorrow, with demands for a boycott of the event due to mayor Ahmet Sennaroğlu’s support for violent January demonstrations against Afrika newspaper.
While Rebirth Party head Erhan Arıklı declared it “our national duty to attend”, Afrika editor-in-chief Şener Levent labelled Turkcell sponsorship of the event “support for fascists” in a front-page headline.
His newspaper’s office in the capital was overwhelmed by an angry mob on January 21 after criticising Turkey’s military action in Syria which he likened to the 1974 Peace Operation in Cyprus.
A request from Mr Sennaroğlu to the Press Workers’ Union to support the eco-day was refused on the grounds that he had sent council workers to the protest.
Mr Sennaroğlu said in a statement: “October 14 is a day of peace. I invite all citizens who love Cyprus and value people to stand with working villagers not politics, because we need a peaceful society.”
Many people took to social media, in a debate echoing that surrounding the village’s May Rural Development Day, to announce that they would not attend or to call for a general boycott to punish villagers for their choice of mayor.
Others questioned the targeting of the village women’s Büyükkonuk Eco-tourism Association which started the festival almost 20 years ago with EU funding.
Founder organiser Lois Cemal, said: “It was always our aim to spread the eco-tourism concept for sustainable local tourism islandwide and I think we achieved that.
“An unbelievable amount of local culture, recipes and village crafts have been revived, more are being saved every year and village women are now rightfully proud of their role.”
Yenierenköy mayor Emrah Yeşilırmak said: “If you boycott Büyükkonuk, you are not boycotting the mayor but your own culture. We support the festival and will have a stall there to support the working village people.”
The festival opens at 10.30am with the Karpaz Girls dance group of stallholders, speeches and an 11.45am performance by the village folk dance masters group, before exhibitions and traditional crafts and food stalls open at midday.
Performances from 12.30pm include Ferdi Usbahalı, the Koliband group, folk dance from the Black Sea Cultural Association girls and Büykkonuk Municipality folk dance teams and a closing recital by Salih Çiçek.