Mevlana's Baklava

Today's Zaman - Istanbul, Turkey
Wenesday, June 7, 2007

The revered Turkish Sufi figure Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi was commemorated in the Italian capital, Rome, on Tuesday night as a part of the events held in honor of the great Sufi by the Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry, since 2007 was declared by the UNESCO as the Year of Mevlana to celebrate the 800th anniversary of his birth.

A whirling dervish ceremony (sema) also took place in the Palazzo della Cancelleria, which belongs to the Vatican.

The whirling dervishes of the Konya Turkish Sufi Music Ensemble captivated the audience and were received with great enthusiasm particularly by the cardinals, bishops and the Vatican’s diplomatic representatives in the audience.

The event, organized by the Culture and Tourism Ministry, was held in cooperation with the Turkish Embassy to the Vatican, based in Rome, and the Cultural Council of the Papacy. The Riario Hall, the biggest hall of Palazzo della Cancelleria, one of the historical buildings that belong to the Vatican, was allotted for the whirling rite. The hosts of the night were Turkish Ambassador to the Vatican Muammer Doğan Akdur and his wife, Rüya Akdur, and, as the representative of the Vatican, Chairman of the Cultural Council of the Papacy Cardinal Paul Poupard.

The event, which was attended by almost 40 ambassadors to the Vatican, most of who were from EU-member countries, received wide coverage in the Italian press.

Following the cocktail gathering, the guests took their places in the Riario Hall and Ambassador Akdur and Cardinal Poupard made short addresses to the audience.
In his short speech, Ambassador Akdur said that the whirling rite being held in a palace that belongs to the Vatican could well be taken as an event held to promote dialogue among cultures and religions, and noted: “We are here to commemorate Mevlana six months after the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Istanbul. His visit to the Blue Mosque in particular is still fresh in our memories. That visit continues being an inspiration to further promote the inter-religious dialogue.”

“The intercultural dialogue contains within its constitution the inter-religious dialogue most of the time. We deemed it very appropriate to host this meaningful event in the Year of Mevlana, declared to mark the 800th anniversary of Mevlana’s birth,” Cardinal Poupard said in his speech.

After the opening speeches, Dr. İsmail Taşpınar from the School of Divinity of Marmara University briefed the audience on Mevlana and the sema. At the end of the rite, the whirling dervishes and the ensemble were applauded enthusiastically for several minutes by the audience.

Each one of the attendees was presented by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism with a gift bag that contained a rosette, necklace, stamp, CD and brochures about the great Turkish Sufi saint.
Apart from the gift bag, high-ranking guests, such as cardinals and bishops, were also presented with the Italian translation of Mevlana’s masterpiece -- the six-volume “Mesnevi” -- and the famous Turkish dessert, baklava. A special copy of the six-volume set and baklava in a very elegant box were given to Cardinal Poupard to be delivered to Pope Benedict XVI.



[picture: The audience in the palace was fascinated by a sema show performed by the Mevlevi order of dervishes from Konya. / Cardinal Paul Poupard - (R) ]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baklava