The European Day of Jewish Culture will be marked on Sept. 7 in İstanbul's Galata neighborhood, which used to be a major residential area for the local Jewish community in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Speaking at a press conference about the event in the Schneidertempel Art Center, which was originally a synagogue built by İstanbul's Ashkenazi community, İvo Molinas, the spokesperson for the Jewish community and an editorial writer for the Şalom newspaper, explained that the aim of this day will be to share Jewish culture and heritage. "There are various walls between communities and, unfortunately, the walls in Turkey have been rising in recent years. But communicating with one another and coming to know the other is a strong way toward peace. When you don't know the other's culture, tradition and life, naturally you are scared of them. The more you don't know, the more you get anxious and alienated from those people," Molinas said, adding that he hoped this day would contribute to tearing down such walls and strengthening the love and communication between Turkish society and Jewish people.

The European Day of Jewish Culture, which was initiated in Europe in 1996 and came to Turkey in 2003, brings together around 150,000-200,000 people across Europe every year for concerts, performances, exhibitions and conferences. The organizers for this year's events to mark the date have chosen the theme of music, Molinas said. "This year's theme displays Jewish identity through music. There will be concerts of Turkish-Sephardic music, Klezmer music, religious hymns from synagogues and Maftirim hymns, which are sung in classical Turkish melodies," Molinas explained, recalling that Sephardic Jews constitute 90 percent of the Jews living in Turkey, following their expulsion from Spain and Portugal and arrival in Ottoman territories, while the other 10 percent is comprised of Ashkenazi Jews who migrated to Turkey from central Europe. "Their music is quite different. Sephardic music involves largely Spanish and arabesque melodies, while Ashkenazi music is more like central European music, but both are affected by Turkish and Ottoman classical music."

Veteran Jewish musician Yinon Muallem, who combines his abilities as a composer with his experience as a percussionist and synthesizes influences from traditional Turkish, Sufi, gypsy and Klezmer music, will also perform a concert for the day with other important musicians, such as Cem Mansur, Cihat Aşkın, Renan Koen, Anjelika Akbar and Tuluyhan Uğurlu.

One of the other interesting activities scheduled for the day will be a conference hosted by Mesut Ilgım, who has been researching Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's 1933 University Reform and the contribution of German-Jewish scientists to Turkish universities after their escape from Hitler's Nazi regime in Germany. "This year is also the 75th year of this important event and I am happy to join the European Day of Jewish Culture to tell about these German-Jewish professors and their contributions to Turkish universities," Ilgım said at the press conference.

A new facet of the day's activities will be a traditional Jewish wedding ceremony held in the Neve Shalom Synagogue, İstanbul's biggest synagogue. During the day, the 500th Year Foundation Jewish Museum of Turkey, the Neve Shalom Synagogue, the Ashkenazi Synagogue, the Italian Synagogue, the Ottoman Bank Museum and the Schneidertempel Arts Center will be open to all visitors. Since the day falls within the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, there will be a fast-breaking dinner (iftar) in a tent in Galata square in the evening.

Todays Zaman