KARACHI: The first-ever Turkish festival was inaugurated on Friday at the Port Grand and saw a huge turnout eager to witness first-hand the cultural diversity Turkey has to offer.

Titled “A Magical Journey to Turkey”, the festival lured with the promise of authentic Turkish cuisine.

On the promenade of the venue, arrangements had been made for street performers or buskers with different Pakistani and Turkish musical acts. A small parade was also organised with actors decked out as the major characters from the popular Turkish drama Mera Sultan.

Consul General of Turkey Murat Mustafa Onart first paid tribute to all those who had lost their lives in the blast in Ankara on Feb 17.

He then went on to share his excitement in laying down the foundation of the festival in Karachi, which he considered a close friend of Turkey, and called the festival a celebration of these close ties.

The only place to offer Turkish cuisine was the Lale-i Rumi restaurant. Though a pop-up arrangement, it was a welcome addition to the usual suspects of Chinese, desi food, fish and chips, and burgers and fries.

According to Rizwan Ahmad, co-owner of Lale-i Rumi located in Clifton, “the food we serve is not a mixture of Turkish-Pakistani, or even Lebanese; it is extremely authentic Turkish food and at times people don’t like it”.

The festival had a dedicated stage for a range of classical Turkish musical acts, as well as performers dancing to mix genre music. The Pakistani band Fuzon also performed their hits as well as collaborated with Turkish performers to provide an eclectic fusion performance.

A Hürrem Sultan lounge, a grand bazaar set-up, as well as a photo booth were present where people could dress up as their favourite characters from different Turkish dramas.

At display were also the different cars that took part in the historic ‘Drive To Turkey’ road excursion, a rally of around 12,500km from Pakistan to Turkey, organised by the Motor Club of Pakistan.

Abdul Basit Khan, director marketing, spoke about how the drive was an experience of a lifetime despite the tough weather they had to encounter on the way. Passing through Iran, the rally ended in Istanbul and the main purpose, according to him, was to “project a safe and positive image of Pakistan as well as convey a message of peace”.

“A Magical Journey to Turkey” will be open to public on Feb 20 and 21, with an entrance fee of Rs500.

Published in Dawn, February 20th, 2016