Binnur Kaya: "Our country is on fire, but we can only support from afar"

Binnur Kaya, Turkish artist, spoke before the 22nd International Istanbul Büyükçekmece Culture and Art Festival award ceremony and said: “Our country is on fire, but we can only support from afar and we pray. I have nothing to say. I wish a lot of rain wherever there is fire.”

The International Istanbul Büyükçekmece Culture and Art Festival, which was awarded the “World’s best culture and art festival” 7 times by FIDAF (International Dance Festivals Federation) and CIOFF (International Council of Organizations of Folklore Festivals and Folk Arts), was held this year with limited activities due to the pandemic and fires.

The world’s best festival was crowned with the "Honor Festival" award

The 22nd Istanbul Büyükçekmece Culture and Art Festival, which was held with the participation of 367 culture and art ambassadors from 65 countries, was sad because of the forest fires that took place in the last days. On the final night of the festival, the successful artist awards of the year were given to Mr. Erdal Özyağcılar and Ms. Binnur Kaya. The International Istanbul Büyükçekmece Culture and Art Festival, which was awarded the "World’s best culture and art festival" 7 times by FIDAF and CIOFF, was given the "Honor Festival" award this time unanimously by 86 countries.

The international dance competition has concluded.

The countries and artists who ranked in the International Goldenbridge Folk Dance Competition and International Contemporary Dance Competition, which was held online this year due to the pandemic, were also announced. In the International Goldenbridge Folk Dance Competition, attended by 22 countries, Portugal and Russia won the first place this year, while the folk jury award was given to Bulgaria. On the other hand, İlayda İpekçi from Turkey and Park Jin Ho from South Korea won the International Contemporary Dance Competition.
 

“I wish a lot of rain”

At the 22nd International Istanbul Büyükçekmece Culture and Art Festival, the “Successful Artist of the Year” awards were given to Erdal Özyağcılar and Binnur Kaya. Binnur Kaya made a statement before the award ceremony and said: “I am here for the 22nd International Büyükçekmece Culture and Art Festival. I am given a very important award and I have come to receive it. Büyükçekmece International Culture and Art Festival has been selected as one of the best festivals in the world 7 times. It is such a precious festival and Büyükçekmece Municipality has a great effort in this festival. So thank you very much. I want to say a lot about this festival but these days we do not feel very well. Our country is on fire and we can only support and pray from afar. I have nothing to say. I just wish a lot of rain wherever there is fire. And I’m so sorry for that. I can only say these.”

“I hope that next year there will be a festival without pandemic and fire”

Mr. Erdal Özyağcılar emphasized that it is a pleasure to receive this award and said: “I am so happy. I will tell you a little about this festival. This festival has been held for 22 years. And it has been chosen as the best festival in the world 7 times by FIDAF and CIOFF. In this festival, there is contemporary dance, children’s crafts, international sculpture symposium, puppetry and handcrafts, folk dances. They choose the most successful man and woman artist of the year by public vote. That’s why I’m in this organization in Büyükçekmece. I am very happy about it. By the way, I am very happy that the best actress award was given to Binnur Kaya. Because she is an artist friend of mine that I love. She is one of the rare female artists raised by Turkey. I am very happy to see her with me. It’s a beautiful night in Büyükçekmece. I hope that next year there will be a festival without pandemic and fire. But the life goes on.
 

“The lungs of our country began to burn”

Dr. Hasan Akgün, the mayor of Büyükçekmece, stated that they held the most difficult festival in the 22-year festival history this year and said: While the festival was going very well, the lungs of our country started to burn. We had to cancel the entertaining parts of the festival. We had to cancel because we were all demoralized. This situation completely overshadowed the festival. All of our lungs burned. Our country’s great assets are gone, people died. My condolences to all those who died. I wish the injured people a speedy recovery. This festival is a festival that makes an important service to world culture and art. It has continued uninterruptedly for 22 years. This situation was appreciated by FIDAF and CIOFF and the 21st International Istanbul Büyükçekmece Culture and Art Festival, which we held in 2020, was awarded the “Festival Honor Award”. Tonight they presented us this award. On behalf of our people, our country and those who contributed to the festival, I can say that this honor award made us happy.

“The award was given unanimously by 86 countries”

Mr. Gürhan Ozanoğlu, Co-Chairman of FIDAF, said the following about the "Honorary Award" given to the festival: “They did not want to give the best festival award to this great festival again, which was chosen as the best festival in the world 7 times in a row. Because this situation kept repeating. At the last meeting held in Seoul, we were unanimously awarded by 86 countries with the "Honor Festival" award, which will set an example for all festivals in the world. This evening, we handed over our award to our esteemed mayor. We are very happy. Unfortunately, we had a very sad festival. We would like to express our endless sorrow for all the living beings who lost their lives in the forest fires in our country. I hope that next year we will get rid of this pandemic.