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Edmonton Turkish Festival Cancelled In Wake Of Attempted Coup

The festival was set to begin on Saturday.
An elderly man mourns during a funeral ceremony for a killed Turkish police officer in Ankara, Turkey, July 18, 2016. REUTERS/Baz Ratner
Baz Ratner / Reuters
An elderly man mourns during a funeral ceremony for a killed Turkish police officer in Ankara, Turkey, July 18, 2016. REUTERS/Baz Ratner

The Edmonton Turkish Festival has been indefinitely postponed in the wake of an attempted military coup in Turkey.

The decision was announced on the festival's website on Saturday just hours before the event— which features Turkish food, crafts, music and dance — was set to begin.

“We don’t think it is right to celebrate at any level while our country is having an horrific incident," organizer Ibrahim Cin told Global News.

On Friday the country was in chaos as the Turkish military reportedly tried to overthrow President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Jusitce and Development Party.

Cin's family lives far from the violence, but his wife's family is in Istanbul, one of the centres of the attempted coup.

"This morning I cried too much with my wife. You feel so powerless and you cannot do anything. It's like you don't have legs and feet and you're just by yourself here," he said in an interview with CBC News.

Cin told the Edmonton Journal he hopes the festival can be held once the political situation calms down. In the meantime, the festival's food is being donated to members of the local Turkish community.

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Attempted coup in Turkey

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