Fairy Tales from Around the World Met in Ankara

Tales of "Love and Affection" parts of national cultures of countries as the Philippines and South Korea, Nigeria and Turkey met in Ankara. "Fairy Tales for All Festival" organized by the Global Public Diplomacy Network (GPDNet) Yunus Emre Enstitüsü (YEE) is the term president of, aimed to strengthen the intercultural ties.

"Fairy Tales for All Festival" organized by the Global Public Diplomacy Network (GPDNet) Yunus Emre Enstitüsü (YEE) is the term president of, commenced at Ankara Kabakçı Mansion Culture and Arts House. Opening ceremony of the festival that took place in Ankara between April 20-22, was hosted by Enstitü President Prof. Dr. Şeref Ateş, and President of the UNESCO Turkish National Commission Prof. Dr. Öcal Oğuz.

Prof. Dr. Ateş: The Foremost Element of all Societies

Yunus Emre Enstitüsü President Prof. Dr. Şeref Ateş reminded that the Global Public Diplomacy Network (GPDNet) was established in Seoul in 2013 and that the Enstitü has been the term president of the organization since 2016.

Prof. Dr. Şeref Ateş stated that in order to promote their term presidency of Global Public Diplomacy Network, they carry out activities in various country and cities, and this is the third organization by the network and that concepts such as love and affection will be discussed through fairy tales.

Şeref Ateş said, "The fairy tales are as universal as they are local because different societies have the same patterns and same hopes. Tales are important in this sense with regard to enabling interaction between different cultures. A fairy tale bears symbols concerning culture.”

Prof. Dr. Ateş continued as follows: "Tales are very important local culture elements for all societies. They are as universal as they are local. Therefore it is an important transfer tool. Historical and sociological elements items are found even in the fairy tales of societies that have never contacted one another. In this respect, tales strengthen the communication between different cultures. Fairy tales carry crucial cultural codes related to languages, cultures and traditions. I think that you will find all academic facts about fairy tales in this colourful meeting. "

Prof. Dr. Oğuz: We have forgotten to talk while writing

UNESCO Turkey National Commission Chairman Prof. Dr. Öcal Oğuz stressed the importance of fairy tales in every period of human life from childhood to old age.

Pointing out that fairy tales are intangible heritages that must be protected and is the most important narrative tradition that covers all periods of life from childhood to old age, Öcal Oğuz stated that tales are significant for convergence of cultures.

Prof. Dr. Oğuz continued as follows: "Humanity talked at the beginning. Then we learned to write. We deemed it very valuable to communicate through writing. However now we have realized once again that we have forgotten to talk while writing on electronic media. As humanity, we have realized that we need more dialogue, more talking, and making conversation more than ever. When we think what can make us people who talk again, we must see that it can be achieved through stories, fairy tales, legends, and folk songs. "

It will be explained to Turkish and Syrian students as well

UNESCO Turkish National Commission, Gazi University, Altındağ Municipality, Ministry of National Education and Turkish Red Crescent have also supported the "Fairy Tales for All Festival” organized by GPDNet, formed by similar cultural diplomacy institutions and organizations from different geographical regions.

Throughout the festival, talented story-tellers from the Philippines, South Korea, Nigeria, Poland, China, Taiwan and Hungary gathered with the audience at Kabakçı Mansion Culture and Art House, Maya College İncek Campus, Nebahat Keskin Elementary School and Ankara Kızılay Community Centre.

A Culture Bridge of Fairy Tales

In the "Fairy Tales for All Festival" countries shared tales of "Love and Compassion" in their respective national cultures with people from different countries and cultures. The project aimed to strengthen tolerance and consolidating rapport among various cultures through exhibiting and presenting on the international platform the fairy tales  acknowledged as the building blocks of cultures

While the theme of the festival was determined as “Love and Affection” that is the shared emotion and language of the humanity, a story teller from each country told a tale from their respective culture in their mother language not exceeding 15 minutes. During the performances, multilingual booklets specially prepared for the festival in order to ensure that the audience is immersed in tales,  were distributed to fairytale lovers. The method applied for the first time in Turkey with participation of different countries, was also a major experience in terms of fairy tale narration techniques.

Common language of Humanity was Used

In the program countries introduced their cultures through fairy tales: the Philippines with "Manik Buangsi", South Korea with "The Woodcutter and the Angel", Nigeria with "Ekineta", Poland with "The Treasure Under the Bridge", Taiwan, China with "Peace with Rattlesnake: Tale Under the Arbour" and Hungary with "Hedgehog and Black Rooster". Turkey participated in the event with "Magical Table", "Lady Nardaniye" and "Silent Sultan" tales.

In addition, "Love Tales Between Two Worlds" prepared for adults, were narrated by two storytellers in two languages. Nazlı Çevik Azazi from Turkey and Jessica Wilson from United Kingdom were the story-tellers in the performance where musician Faisal Macit accompanied the tales with his rhythms.

Global Public Diplomacy Network

The Global Public Diplomacy Network was established on October 23^rd , 2014 in Seoul by institute representatives who signed "Global Public Diplomacy Institutions Memorandum of Understanding". The aim of the network is to enable culture and public diplomacy institutions operating in different regions of the world to share knowledge in theoretical and practical fields, and for them to make bilateral and multilateral projects. Yunus Emre Enstitüsü is three-yearly term president of the Global Public Diplomacy Network with public and cultural diplomacy institutions as members.