On his Twitter account, Director of Communications Fahrettin Altun shared a video about the culture of coexistence between members of the Jewish, Greek, Armenian, and Assyrian communities and the Turkish citizens of the Islamic faith in Istanbul.
In the video he shared on his Twitter account, Altun said in Greek: “Under the leadership of our President, with the awareness that ‘we are Turkey together’, we have taken unprecedented steps to put the principle of equal citizenship into practice and to protect our nation's cultural and religious diversity.”
The video included interviews about the culture of coexistence and personal experiences of Turkish citizens of Islamic religion in Istanbul, and the citizens from Jewish, Greek, Armenian and Assyrian communities, which are among the historical ethnic elements of the country.
Alpine Kızmazoğlu, who was born in Istanbul in 1935 and grew up in Samatya, also stressed that there was no racial discrimination in Istanbul and that neighbors in the city always got along well and celebrated each other’s holidays.
“He loved me like his son”
Doğan Gündoğdu, who was born in 1947 in Karaçan village of Karakoçan district of Elazığ, stated that after completing primary school, they came to Istanbul at the age of 13 and started working with a Greek butcher in Tarlabaşı.
Explaining that his fate changed when a famous Greek butcher named “Niko” from Kınalıada took over the shop of Tanaş, his first boss, Gündoğdu said: "We worked with Niko and Niko let me sleep in his place, he always took care of me whenever got sick, he raised me as if I were his son.”
Noting that in Kınalıada, we, 'Greeks, Armenians, Assyrians, and Muslims get along very well with each other. We are friends, we spend time in the same coffee, we have the same friends, there are Greeks, there are Armenians, there are Assyrians, so there is no such distinction, Gündoğdu added: “This diversity makes Istanbul an invaluable city”.
Orhan Türker, whose wife is of Greek origin, also said that he met his wife while he was guiding in Greek.
Stating that he was very pleased with the policies pursued toward non-Muslims in the last 15 years, Türker said that they were very pleased since President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan “celebrated Christmas and Easter.”
“Curiosity is something we should all be willing to have”
Nick Merdenyan, a Turkish citizen of Armenian origin, indicated that he had been a shop owner in İçbedesten in the Covered Bazaar since 1968 and that they lived in a magnificent mosaic in the Covered Bazaar and the district Kumkapı where he grew up.
Alexia Kotam, who was born to a Greek family, also noted that her best friend was a Turk from Izmir, and said: “Curiosity is something we should all be willing to have. Both sides should wonder each other.”
Kotam emphasized that the increasing efforts which were exerted to keep alive the multicultural, multilingual, and multi-religious structure during the last 15-20 years in Turkey were very pleasing.
The Archimandrite Agathangelos Siskos from Kastoria, who worked as an archivist of the Fener Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Istanbul, likened Kastoria's structure to Istanbul.
Stating that Kastoria was a very multi-religious and multicultural city, Siskos pointed out that in Istanbul he did not feel away from his home.