“What does the new Sanliurfa feel like? It’s like sitting down at a table filled with lots of different dishes. Even though the food is all different colors and none of it matches, your senses and appetite come alive. Sanliurfa today is such a cultural mix, filled with different traditions, ideas and cultures. We’re just like a big salad! Maybe green doesn’t go with red, and red doesn’t go with purple, and purple doesn’t go with yellow, but the salad looks beautiful.”
Şadi Bilal, Turkish Language Teacher
“I remember the first few days that I spent in Turkey. Everything was totally foreign, but at the same time so attractive. I was surrounded by faces I’d never seen before and I knew I wanted to be part of this community – not as a refugee, but as a citizen. I worked hard on this. I studied the language until I could speak like a local and eventually I became a Turkish citizen. I’m proud of what I’ve achieved. But listening to Mr Şadi, I realise that integration doesn’t mean changing who you are. Each of us brings something to this beautiful cultural mix that is Sanliurfa.”
Haşim Ferhanfeyad, Volunteer at the GAP Youth Association