Seferihisar joins four other cities in Sister City International Program
Published on Page 12 of the July 10, 2013 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Marty Cheek
In Morgan Hill Life’s last issue we detailed the Sister City agreement between Morgan Hill and the city of Seferihisar in Turkey. Here is the complete interview with Tunc Soyer, the mayor of Morgan Hill’s latest Sister City partner.
In May, various Morgan Hill residents including Councilwoman Marilyn Librers and unofficial “ambassador of good will” Bernie Mulligan visited Seferihisar and participated in a ceremony to establish the Sister City relationship between the two communities. Recently,
Morgan Hill Life did an online interview with Soyer to learn what his Turkish town is like. Here is that interview:
The Morgan Hill contingent that visited Seferihisar raved about its beauty and the friendliness of the people. Please describe your city and what makes it unique as a community.
Seferihisar, located on the west coast of Turkey on the shores of the Aegean Sea, has been a cradle of many civilizations. The first civilization was founded around 2000 B.C.E. at Teos antique city. Greeks, Persians, Romans, Mongols, Byzantines, Seljuk’s and Ottomans have been residents of this area and have left their distinctive marks on the land and its culture. Serving as a hub, Seferihisar was an important commercial and cultural center of the Aegean region. The first Actors Union in the world was founded in the city of Teos, which was the cultural and intellectual center of the Aegean in its prime. We are aiming to make Seferihisar a cultural center again by developing bonds between various cultures and cities around the world. We believe world peace and prosperity can be obtained by bringing different cultures together and giving them a chance to know each other.
If Morgan Hill residents visit Seferihisar, what would you suggest they include in their itinerary?
Before giving any particular directions I would like to say that wherever they visit they will be met by warm hospitality. And delicious food! We have a unique cuisine specializing in sea food and regional herbs. I would advise visitors to visit Teos Antique city. Even though most of the city is still underground, they can see the archaeological works and visit the Temple of Dionysus/Bacchus, the god of wine, and the ancient port of Teos.
We have wonderful beaches in Seferihisar. In fact, we have a shoreline that is about 49-kilometers (30-miles) long. I would advise visitors to enjoy the sea and maybe go fishing with local fishermen. We have a producers’ market in Sığacık and the town center where only products that are made locally can be found. In these markets, the women of Seferihisar serve homemade delicious baklavas, dolmas and other local foods. Seferihisar is like a big mandarin (oranges) garden so if you come in the spring you will be greeted with millions of mandarin flowers. And if you come in winter, you can pick the famous Seferihisar Mandarin from the trees and enjoy them.
If you haven’t been to California yet, do you have plans to come and visit Morgan Hill? And what might you like to experience during your trip here?
I haven’t the chance to visit California yet but I but I’m planning to come as soon as possible to visit your lovely town. I’m especially interested to meet a lot of people to get to know your culture, traditions and of course enjoy local food. I am also eager to see El Toro!
What unique cultural events does the city of Seferihisar hold?
Most of our citizens make their living by producing mandarin oranges. Every year we celebrate this crop with a mandarin festival where various mandarin products – such as jam and marmalade – are made and served to the visitors in November. Another annual event is the Seed Swap Festival, which was brought about by a new law which enabled the sale of local seeds. This law endangered the existence of hundreds of locally grown fruit and vegetables. The Seed Swap Festival enabled farmers, who have been using the same techniques to preserve seeds for hundreds of years, to swap their seeds among themselves. This gave them the opportunity to obtain the local seeds that they want and the seed garden that was made as a result of the festival will ensure the seeds are passed on to future generations. Another local cultural event is Yanar Night, which is celebrated by the young girls of Seferihisar in which they eat fried salty dough which has an object in it that foretells their future.
