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| Istanbul, the city of seven hills, celebrated the "European Capital of Culture 2010" title Saturday night with events in seven different venues. The celebrations began in Saturday evening with an official ceremony at the Halic (Golden Horn) Congress Center attended by Turkish President Abdullah Gul, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and ministers from 20 countries. Erdogan who addressed the official ceremony said all layers of Istanbul which served as a capital to Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman Empires had traces of history. "I salute everyone: from Emperor Constantine to Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror, from Sultan Suleyman, all the way to Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who have, since its foundation, ornamented Istanbul like an embroidery, and contributed to its beauty," said Erdogan. Opening ceremony was followed by 65 minute stage performance titled "Istanbul Magic" at the Halic Congress Center, created and directed by choreographer Yekta Kara. The performance depicted the multi-layer cultural structure of Istanbul through a blend of poetry, dance music, and sounds and footage from the city. After the performance, Erdogan and Gul pressed the button to give start to the huge fireworks and visual show covering a 1 square km area. The magnificent show amused spectators. Audio-visual shows, D.J. performances and concerts were held within the scope of celebrations all over Istanbul. World wide renown French fireworks and visual effects company, Group F staged fireworks and audio-visual show in both European and Asian sides of Istanbul. Taksim hosted Group F's "Fire Theatre", a 45 minute audio-visual performance of acrobats while Kadikoy was the venue of the group's "Balloon Theatre". Turkish Popstar Tarkan gave a concert in Taksim square while Nil Karaibrahimgil gave a concert in Beylikduzu, Mercandede in Sultanahmet and rock band Mor ve Otesi in Kadikoy. Residents of Istanbul poured into the the concert venues despite the cold weather. Many museums and places including Sakip Sabanci Museum, Asiyan Museum, Sadberk Hanim Museum and Yerebatan Cistern Museum, and Dolmabahce place were open to visitors till midnight. 8,000 people worked in organization of the celebrations which cost 8.5 million Turkish Liras. -EUROPEAN CAPITAL OF CULTURE- "European Capital of Culture" is a city designated by the European Union for a period of one calendar year during which it is given a chance to showcase its cultural life and cultural development. The programme was launched in the summer of 1985, with Athens being the first title-holder. Istanbul qualified to be the "European Capital of Culture 2010" on 11 April 2006 along with Hungarian city of Pec and German city of Essen. Conceding the view of European Parliament and approval by the Council of Cultural Ministers of the European Union on 13 November 2006, Istanbul announced as the "European Capital of Culture for 2010". Istanbul maintains a distinguished position among the metropolises of the world with its unique geographical location and a cultural heritage of thousands of years. |