The Maraş Rose on the KAYES III Congress Participation Certificates
The Maraş Rose found a place on the participation certificates of the 3rd Kahramanmaraş Management, Economics and Politics (KAYES) Congress as a result of the collaboration between Euroasia Socio-Economic Research Association and Kahramanmaraş Maturation (Olgunlaşma) Institute.
The Maraş rose is a type of rose that blossoms in the dead of winter in bright red in Kahramanmaraş and represents the liberation from the French occupation in 1920 as a pattern on cross-stitches made by the women of Kahramanmaraş. Prof. Dr. Hasan Reşit Tankut, a historian and a politician, who was born in Maraş in 1891 and passed away on February 18, 1980 describes the Maraş Rose the best: ““The February 12th Rose” that blossoms in the dead of winter in bright red, like blood drops on the snow, along with the joy of independence in the land of Kahramanmaraş whose people are lovers of freedom, smells such sweet that the scent scatters around to announce to the whole world the inheritance of its color from the blood of the martyrs.”
The (KAYES) Congress that was organized in collaboration with the International University of Sarajevo brought the two cities of rose, Kahramanmaraş and Sarajevo, together. The scars of bombshells thrown during the siege of Sarajevo between 1992-1996 and the blood of martyrs that were left on the concrete resembled a rose and this rose was called “Sarajevo Rose.”
For the memory of the common fates and hopes of the cities of Kahramanmaraş and Sarajevo, the Congress participants were presented participation certificates whose front side has the Maraş Rose that was remastered by the Kahramanmaraş Maturation (Olgunlaşma) Institute for the next generations, and back side carries the story of the Maraş Rose.
In his statement, Nisvet Hrnjić, the Minister of Economy of the Central Bosnia Canton and one of the participants in the 1st Special Panel of the Congress said: “The design of the certificate is very nice and meaningful. The response of these two cities, who shared the same fate, to the enemy to be the same is very revealing, reflecting the same culture and faith. During the Ottoman Empire, there were many Bosnians in the government at different levels. For instance, only from Travnik, the capital of our Canton, we sent 5 Prime Ministers (Grand Vizier) to Istanbul, the capital of the Empire. There are Turkish citizen-Bosnians who are living in many cities across Anatolia. Bosnia and Turkey are two inseparable pieces. I believe that this Congress will be of the benefit to both countries. I thank to ASEAD and the sponsors for organizing the Congress.”
In his statement, Prof. Dr. İbrahim Örnek, the chairperson of ASEAD, said that Bosnia and Turkey are two countries which are bound tight together with history, culture and faith; that he appreciated those who participated in the Congress from Bosnia and Herzegovina; that they will be following up on the issues that were determined at the Congress; that they wanted to bring the two cities of rose together on the participation certificate; that having the cultural values of Kahramanmaraş on participation certificate and other certificates and documents would better demonstrate those values. Prof. Dr. İbrahim Örnek added: “Inclusion of the Maraş Rose on the certificates given by the offices that represent Kahramanmaraş, such as Office of the Kahramanmaraş Governor, municipalities and Metropolitan Municipality, would add value and meaning to the document; we thank Mrs. Mutlu Aslantürk, the Director of Kahramanmaraş Maturation (Olgunlaşma) Institute and her team at the Institute for their support on this design.
In her statement, Mutlu Aslantürk, the Director of Kahramanmaraş Maturation (Olgunlaşma) Institute said: Maturation (Olgunlaşma) Institutes have a deep-rooted past and play an important role to uncover cultural values and pass those to the next generations. We are very pleased for ASEAD placing the Maraş Rose, one of our Institute’s works about Kahramanmaraş, on the Congress participation certificates. We are open to suggestions from other non-governmental organizations for the purpose of increasing popularity of the cultural values in the society.