Türk Günü, a Turkish-European cultural celebration, is to be held this Saturday in Berlin. Among the list of participants is Sertab Erener, last year's winner of the Eurovision Song Contest and the most recent Turkish representants, ska band Athena, who finished on a very respectable fourth place this year.
The celebration aims to show the relatedness of the Turks with Germany and Europe and to promote tolerance and integration. “We want to prove that a lot is done already in terms of integration”, Mr. Saut Bakir from the organising commitee said. 180.000 people of Turkish origin are living in Berlin, which makes the German capital the biggest Turkish city outside of Turkey. With the two popular Eurovision acts, Bakir hopes to attract more German visitors to the celebration, which is held in its third year.
The motto of the festivity is “We are Europeans”. It starts at noon with a procession to the Brandenburger Tor, to be followed there by six hours of musical performances, ranging from rock, folk and pop to a folcloristic dance show. TRT is going to broadcast parts of the show live. Athena and Sertab Erener are expected to perform between 17:00 and 18:00 CET.
Next Monday, 24 May, Athena will be guests of Stefan Raab's show TV Total (Pro Sieben, 22:15 CET). They are going to perform their song For real live and talk with Stefan Raab, who wrote the German entry, about their experiences at the Eurovision Song Contest.
