Rumi events end in Konya

KONYA - Anatolia News Agency

The Şeb-i Arus ceremony that was held on Dec 17 was the last series of 10-day Rumi events in Konya, the home of Rumi. DHA photo

Events held to mark the 738th Rumi Reunion Anniversary closed with Şeb-i Arus, or reunion night, on Dec. 17 in the Central Anatolian province of Konya.

The evening ceremony began with a Sufi music concert by Ahmet Özhan and was followed by protocol speeches and whirling dervish dances by the Konya Turkish Sufi Music Group. Proceedings concluded with a prayer.

The Şeb-i Arus ceremony was the last in a series of events which began Dec. 7 in honor of the 13th-century poet Mevlana Jalaladdin Rumi. The closing night was attended by Jordanian Prime Minister Awn Khasawneh, Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, Deputy Prime Ministers Bülent Arınç and Bülent Bozdağ, EU Minister Egemen Bağış, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, Constitutional Court head Haşim Kılıç, Judicial Court head Nazım Kaynak, CHP deputy leader Gürsel Tekin, parliamentarians and local and foreign tourists.

Later on, Khasawneh, Arınç, Bağış and Davutoğlu visited the Mevlana Museum in Konya.