June 26, 2009 - 01:53 AMT
Arto Tuncboyaciyan to share stage with Turkish musicians in Istanbul
A Turkish music band will share the same stage with Armenian and Palestinian musicians in the following week, one of soloists of the band said.
Turkish "Kardes Turkuler" (Bogazici Performing Arts Ensemble) will perform together with Armenian musician Arto Tuncboyaciyan and Palestinian musician Reem Kelani at Istanbul's Turkcell Kurucesme Arena on June 30, soloist Fehmiye Celik told a press conference, Anadolu Agency reports.
"We are expressing our demands that nations should live equally on these soils with these shows," Celik also said.
Celik said the Middle East needed urgent peace, and defined both Arab enmity and Anti-Semitism as bad.
"Therefore, we will altogether voice Arab and Jewish songs," Celik said.
Also, Tuncboyaciyan said that races and religions were the spices of life.
"What is important is humanity. As an Armenian, I have no hatred against Turks," Tuncboyaciyan said.
Kardes Turkuler came into being in 1993, as a concert project by the Bogazici University Folklore Club. The concert, which aimed to interpret Anatolian folksongs based on their own cultural structure and in their original languages, was comprised of different sections: Turkish, Kurdish and Armenian.