Selçuk met with the theater.

The 17th International Turkey Theatre Meeting, organized with the support of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality and Selcuk Municipality, has started in Efes Selcuk. The meeting, which was opened with a colorful parade, awarded those who contributed to the theater on the first day of the event. Selcuk Mayor Filiz Ceritoglu Sengel, Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Deputy Secretary General Prof. Dr. Pinar Okyay, Consul General of Greece in Izmir Alexandros Konstas, CHP Selcuk District President Ipek Onbasioglu, deputy mayors, Selcuk Municipal Council Members, CHP District Women’s Branch President Nihal Atay, actors Tamer Levent, Orhan Aydin, Intercultural Theatre Platform President Orcun Masatci, and many theater enthusiasts attended the award ceremony following the parade that ended at the Station Square.
Speaking at the award ceremony of the 17th International Turkey Theatre Meeting, Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Deputy Secretary General Prof. Dr. Pinar Okyay stated that it is meaningful for the 17th International Turkey Theatre Meeting to be held in Selcuk due to the presence of one of the 100 ancient theaters in Anatolia. Okyay said, ‘I congratulate everyone who contributed. From now on, Izmir will be more associated with theater, culture, and art. As Izmir Metropolitan Municipality, we promise this.’
Expressing that Selcuk is a city that witnessed the birth of theater in its 8600-year history, Mayor Filiz Ceritoglu Sengel, in her speech before the award ceremony, emphasized that Selcuk is a city where thousands of theater plays were performed, and assemblies were held in the theater hall from the first poet Kallinos to the first thinker Heraclitus. Mayor Sengel said, ‘That’s why we derive our inspiration from our past, our nature, and our people. Therefore, every child raised in Efes Selcuk grows up as the children of a city that inspires with art, culture, music, and above all, with the inspiration taken from these lands. That’s why we call Efes Selcuk the Inspiring City. Our inspiration is great. It is our greatest wish to inspire everyone who comes here and all the young people attending the camp.’
Emphasizing the international nature of the Turkey Theatre Meeting this year, Mayor Filiz stated, ‘Art is friendship. Art is brotherhood. While we always defend peace while looking at the same sea under the same sky, we will continue to move towards the future with art, peace, brotherhood, and friendship.’
At the indispensable award ceremony of the Turkey Theatre Meeting, founded by Izmir Metropolitan Municipality, Selcuk Municipality, and Intercultural Theatre Platform, 14 artists met with their awards this year. At the ceremony, actor Tamer Levent received the Labor Award, actor Tomris Cetinel received the Labor Award, Sencer Sagdic received the Labor Award, Izmir Ataturk High School Theatre Group and Mevzu Theatre Group received the Contemporary Aydin Direnc Award, Theatre Newspaper received the Polen Unlu Solidarity Award, Turkey Journalists’ Union and METU Turkish Folklore Association received the Nartan Kilic Photography Award, Diego D’Attilio International Success Award, Filiz Ceritoglu Sengel, Mayor of Selcuk, received the Izmir Award on behalf of Johannes Schaffer from Germany and Sofia Kapsourou from Greece, Eylem Safak Aydin Award was given in the name of journalists Kazim Kizil, Murat Agirel, and Ismail Saymaz.
The activities organized within the scope of the first day of the meeting ended with the Cosmonaut concert. The 17th International Turkey Theatre Meeting will continue until July 14 with discussions, workshops, and theater plays.