Union of Turkish World Municipalities (TDBB) provided financial and participatory support for the 513th Ayvaz Dede Festival, which was held with a ceremony held in Bosnia-Herzegovina on June 25, 2023.
The ceremony held this year was attended by Turkey’s Ambassador in Sarajevo Sadık Babür Girgin, members of TDBB Bursa Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Alinur Aktaş, Şehzadeler Mayor Ömer Faruk Çelik, Selçuklu Mayor Ahmet Pekyatımcı, Karatay Mayor Hasan Kılca, İnegöl Mayor Alper Taban. Many guests from different parts of Republic of Turkey and Bosnia and Herzegovina attended.
Thousands of people attended the parade of 285 horsemen in Prusac and the concert of the Ministry of National Defense Janissary Band. The festivities came to an end with the noon prayer after reading the Qur’an and praying.
Bosniaks accompanied the Janissary Band, which performed “Sarajevo Grade Moj” and “Sehidski Rastanak” in Bosnian.
Travnik Mufti Ahmed Adilovic said that they protect the tradition that they consider very important. Stating that claiming their homeland is also protecting their identities, Adilovic said, “Recently, we have seen an increase in efforts to divide our homeland and separate our people. The enemies of Bosnia and Herzegovina are trying to get what they want in different ways. These efforts are becoming more and more obvious and more dangerous. “We will not allow them to destroy our homeland, drive us out and lead us to extinction,” he said.
In addition to the financial support of this year’s ceremonies by TDBB, the traditional clothes of the equestrian groups carrying the banners from different regions were provided by the Selçuklu and Karatay Municipalities.
Who is Ayvaz Dede?
Akhisarlı Ayvaz Dede from Manisa, one of the Khorasan’s mystics who came to Bosnia and Herzegovina from Anatolia seeking guidance like Sarı Saltuk, came to the mountain in the town of Prusac (Akhisar), where there was a drought more than 500 years ago and which hosts festivals today, and prayed there for 40 days and 40 nights.
It is narrated that Ayvaz Dede, who prayed for the water to the region where the people suffered from famine and the animals perished from thirst, in his dream saw two rams colliding with each other and when he woke up, he found the split mountain and the flowing river in front of him. After the incident, as the region got water and the drought ended, the people of the region, who heard about this miraculous event, converted to Islam.
