Ninth annual Turkish heritage month kicks off in Washington

Washington DC’s Turkish community is getting ready for Turkish Heritage Month. A small gathering, hosted by the Turkish American Professionals, took place on Thursday evening to launch the month of festivities, which will start on 3 October .

Turkish Heritage Month, hosted by the American Turkish Association of Washington, DC, will feature Turkish food, coffee fortune telling, dancing and films. Unlike last year, when the event was entirely virtual amid the country’s surging pandemic, this will be in person, though it will be much smaller in size than in previous years. It will take place at the Wharf under the theme of the Aegean Sea.

Organisers hope the festivities will give Americans more exposure to Turkey, which is often overlooked for other Mediterranean travel destinations.  

“Turkey is a hidden gem,” Gizem Salcigil White, known as the Turkish coffee lady, a co-chair of the festival (which predates the heritage month by about a decade), told The New Arab. She is hoping the festivities can help highlight Turkey’s diversity and bridge divides, noting that in past years Greeks and Armenians have taken part in their dance performances.

Can Suer, a board member of the American Turkish Association of Washington, DC and a co-supervisor of Turkish coffee for the heritage month and festival, told TNA that after last year's online festivities he is looking forward to experiencing this year’s live events.