April 23 Turkish National Sovereignty and Children's day in Ottawa

By Aleks Simrooglu

OTTAWA - Turkish Community of Canada celebrated 23rd of April, Turkish National Sovereignty and Children's Day in high spirits at Ottawa's St. Elias Centre. 200 guests, including Hon. John Baird, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, and MPs Mauril Bélanger, David McGuinty, Royal Galipeau and Maurice Vellacott and Ottawa MPP Yasir Naqvi, enjoyed the wine and cheese reception, while entertaining themselves by making bids for the auction items presented.

As people took their seats and gourmet Turkish appetizers were being served, Ontario's most famous broadcaster and humanitarian Max Keeping started his greetings for the night. "Your leader had the vision to focus on children in his time" he said. "Look now, hundred years later, children are still not in great shape". He talked about 300,000 children under 18 being recruited by non-governmental military organizations, and children in Africa who lose their parents when they are about 4 years old. When Mr. Keeping spoke about the loving care of Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) for our children he was presented a check of $ 5000 for CHEO by the organizers of the event. He thanked Dr. Kevser Taymaz and the Turkish community for supporting a great cause and he passed the microphone to the Ambassador of Turkey, Rafet Akgünay.

His Excellency Rafet Akgünay spoke about the historical significance of the day, the birthday of modern Turkey, April 23rd, and said "Turkish Grand National Assembly played a central role in meeting the determination of the people to uphold our pluralist democracy, secular system and the rule of law as well as advocating universal values in and around Turkey." He thanked to Canadians that joined to the fundraiser: "Your presence is really encouraging for us in our quest to enhance our relations between our two countries" and asked to "continue to act as a bridge of goodwill between Turkey and Canada" to Turkish Canadians. Lastly he thanked the volunteers and the Ottawa's Turkish Community for organizing the event: "For me, this initiative of yours does not only show the Turkish tradition of charity but also symbolizes first and foremost the strength of the friendship between our two countries."

It was Hon. John Baird that came on stage after the Ambassador to make a short statement regarding the significance of the day: "This is a special way to mark the 90th anniversary of the birth of democracy in Turkey. Indeed Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's dedication to children upon the declaration of the new national parliament recognized their importance in society and served to symbolize a new beginning for the country and its people."

Next person on the stage was Member of the Parliament representing Ottawa South David McGuinty. He said that this was an important event as "children are standing on the shoulders of the world" and that "Turkish Canadians are showing great commitment to CHEO and SOS Children's Village with this event and they should be proud."

Member of the Parliament Maurice Vellacott from Saskatchewan said that he was honoured to participate in this event: "The children's connection with this celebration is wonderful, from a Children's Holiday to a Children's Hospital. We hope this event will be bigger and better every year."

Member of the Parliament of Ontario, Yasir Naqvi spoke on behalf of the Premier of Ontario, Hon. Dalton McGuinty: "On behalf of the Premier, I want to thank Ottawa's Turkish community for loving our children and supporting our children's hospital."

As the speech were wrapped up, the celebrations started with a folk dance show of Turkish Canadian children, followed by a fashion show by CANTAS Boutique, one of the sponsors of the event. When Mick Armitage Band came on stage it was time to dance.

When it was time to raise money for the SOS Children's Village, Dave Smith, Ottawa's beloved auctioneer, entrepreneur and philanthropist came on stage. Precious items and paintings as well as a dinner for 12 with the Turkish Ambassador were auctioned. Turkish artist Zeynep Nazan Ergincan's painting titled Tulips was sold for $650. The night ended with a draw for an airplane ticket to Turkey which one of the lucky guests won.

May-June 2010