“Evening of ashure” took place in the city of Plovdiv

The Turkish community in Plovdiv in cooperation with the House of ethnic groups organized a special “Evening of ashure” on 21^st of October (Friday). The event was organized for a first time in the city under the hills and was on the idea of Ahmed Pehlivan – a member of the Advisory Board to the Foundation “Together” which works for the preservation of the ethnic tolerance and uniting the different communities to the cultural life in the city. Ashure is known as a “dish of peace” among all nations. It is believed that this is the oldest known recipe for a dish in the history, and the global gastronomy recognizes this tasty dessert as a cultural and gastronomic heritage of the Turkish nation. Its name comes from the Arabic word عشر (ashra) for the number ten and is related to the tenth day of the first month of Muharram according to the Islamic calendar. The messages of the “Day of ashure” are for peace, solidarity, understanding, compassion, tolerance and humanism in the entire world and thus the dish which must be prepared on this day is called “dish of peace”.

“Evening of ashure” was organized for a first time in Plovdiv and the event was honored with the presence of the Consul General of Turkey in Plovdiv Birey Yılmazsoy, the commercial representation and the social activities at the General Consulate, the Regional Mufti of Plovdiv, representatives of the Regional Administration, the major municipality and of representatives of all ethnic communities that are members of the House of ethnic groups in Plovdiv.

The House became an art gallery with the presentation of a photo exhibition which shows different periods of the existence of the mosque “Magbul Ibrahim Pasha” in Razgrad. This year marks 400 years since the construction of the building which is a cultural monument of a local and national significance and is included in the catalog of UNESCO as the third largest mosque on the Balkans.

At the end of the evening all attendees regardless of their origin and religion were treated with ashure.

The photo-exhibition was available for the residents of Plovdiv and the guests of the city from 21^st till 28^th of October.