Our university continues its pioneering work to preserve and internationally promote our cultural heritage. Two special "Composed Mawlid Mercy Nights," organized in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey, will meet audiences in the Balkans.
These programs will present unique examples of classical Turkish music and invite you on a cultural journey with documentary screenings on the lives of Süleyman Çelebi and Hâfız Kemal Batanay.
Plovdiv, Bulgaria – September 2, 2025
The evening in Plovdiv, organized in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey and our university, with contributions from Vakıf Katılım, will begin at 6:00 PM and hosted by Bulgarian National Radio (BNR). The program will begin with a documentary screening on the lives of Süleyman Çelebi and Hâfız Kemal Batanay. Following this, a 1956 composition by Hâfız Kemal Batanay based on Çelebi's work, Vesîletü'n-Necât, will be performed. The evening will conclude with a prayer recited for the citizens who lost their lives in the earthquake on February 6, 2023.
Varna, Bulgaria – September 3, 2025
The following day, a concert organized in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey, our University, and the Varna Regional Mufti's Office will begin at 6:30 PM at the Millennium Event Center. Similar to the Plovdiv program, a documentary screening and selections from the Mevlid will be presented to the audience; the evening will bring the depth of classical Turkish music and the spiritual richness of the Mevlid to Varna.
About the Composed Mevlid
With the decision made by UNESCO in 2021, the "600th Anniversary of the Passing of Süleyman Çelebi" was included among the 2022 UNESCO Commemoration and Celebration Anniversaries. The Presidential Circular No. 2022/6, dated June 2, 2022, aimed to promote Mevlid, a shared cultural value in many countries, particularly in the Balkans and Central Asia, on an international scale.
Süleyman Çelebi's Vesîletü'n-Necât was composed in 1956 by Hafız Kemal Batanay, a calligrapher, composer, and one of the late representatives of our classical arts, and was introduced to Turkish music. The Mevlid-i Şerif, consisting of 12 verses, is composed in 89 makams and 10 different rhythms, and consists of a total of 1049 lines of notes. Two hymns and sections from five verses from the work will be performed for the audience on both special evenings.
