The Anglo-Turkish Association
of Academics & Professionals
(in collaboration with Caravansary)

Presents

the 3rd Seminar of its 2005-2006 series
Turkey's EU membership:
European Governments or European Peoples to decide?

“SUFI PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE AND INFLUENCES IN TURKEY”
concluding with an instrumental recital on the ney (reed flute)

Speakers:

Raficq Abdulla, MBE, lawyer, interpreter of Rumi and Attar, broadcaster and writer
Muniser Unver, teacher and ney player

Date & Time: 6 July 2006, 6pm for 6.30pm start

Venue:

Room H216, Second Floor, Connaught Building, London School of Economics,  Houghton Street (off the Aldwych) London WC2 (N.B  Access via main LSE entrance in “Old” Building, Houghton Street, off the Aldwych, then via corridor on the second floor of “Old” Building: the front entrance to Connaught House, Aldwych, is closed in the evening – see map below)

The nearest tube stations: Temple, Holborn

Entrance Fee:
ATA members: Free, Students: £2.50, Others: £4.00

“SUFI PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE AND INFLUENCES IN TURKEY”

Political and economic aspects of Turkey’s potential membership to the European Union are being discussed widely in the media, conferences and in daily conversations. This seminar series aim to approach the issue from the angle of similarities and differences between cultures.

At our January 2006 seminar (How Europeans perceive Turkey and the Turks) we asked participants which topics they wanted ATA’s seminar series to cover. One of these was the different faces of Islam as understood and practiced in Turkey.

We thought a look at the globally recognised philosophy of Rumi would be one way of meeting this request and invited two speakers to (shed some light on and) improve our understanding of Sufism.

Our speakers will touch upon Sufi philosophy in general, what it means for day-to-day living for its global followers and for the Muslims and others in Turkey. The evening will end with a ney recital by Ms Unver and a get together in a nearby venue.
 
The seminar is timely in taking place just before the Sufi Music festival (28-31 July 2006) organised by our collaborators Caravansary. Caravansary is a cultural and educational organisation, which aims to foster greater awareness and experience of the music, arts, spirituality and cultures of the Silk Road. There is further information on Caravansary at www.caravansary.org. The Sufi Music Festival is taking place as part of the Muslim Cultures Festival (www.muslimcultures.org).

ATA was founded by a group of Turkish students, academics and professionals in London in 1994. The diversity of members’ backgrounds and interests has increased in time, as the number of its members has gone up. Today, we have members from various professions including law, medicine, banking, art, as well as university students from Turkey. ATA is based in London, but membership is open to anyone interested in our aims and activities, regardless of country of residence.

• To gather academics and professionals from the UK and Turkey under the same roof, and to create a platform for discussion on social, political and academic issues that are of concern both to the UK and Turkey.
• To support Turkish students in the UK in their search for job opportunities and career prospects through ATA Careers Programme.
• To bring together Turkish speaking professionals and students together through its Role Modelling Project implemented at the Turkish supplementary schools.
• To provide a friendly and social environment for students, academics and professionals in the UK through various social activities such as picnics, music nights, and dinners. Members are encouraged to participate in all social events, and always welcome to make suggestions about any ATA activity.

SPEAKERS
Raficq Abdulla was born in 1940 in Durban, South Africa. His father, a landowner and businessman, was an Indian whose ancestors came from the Hyderabad in South India, and his mother, a medical doctor, was of Malay parentage. Educated at English prep and public schools and Oxford University, he practised as a corporate lawyer and is now Secretary to Kingston University, London. He describes himself as a secular Muslim, a devotee of all the arts and especially poetry, a lover of pleasure, and a traveller in this life. He has received an MBE for his community work, especially ecumenical work between Muslims, Jews and Christians.
"It dawned on me that there wasn't a single History. There wasn't a single answer to anything. Every event was someone's story. I was taught the English version of Waterloo, but there was also a French version, the officer's version, the foot-soldier's version. So there could be no certainty."  Raficq Abdulla
"Suddenly we're aware of the utter contingency of our lives. The music stops and there's silence. Deus Absconditus. But at the end of the day it's the truth. You don't know, I don't know. We have to live with that not-knowing." Rafiq Abdulla

Muniser Unver – “Neyzen”, teacher

The ney, one of the oldest types of flute, is found across the Middle East, but is traditionally a male instrument. Unver explains: "They told me that it was a difficult instrument for women to play because their chests weren't big enough, but I said 'Well, I want to play it!'". Unver was already hooked on performance and music from her first recording for Ankara Radio at the age of seven, and so attended the Ankara State Conservatoire studying piano, she studied classical Turkish and Mevlevi music under private tuition.
"When I perform I love it! I feel that I'm not old, but I'm young and flying!" says the defiantly sprightly ney player and teacher Munise Unver. Sixty-three years old and extremely proud of it, Unver was brought up in Ankara and Istanbul in a musical family. "My father was a musician, and musicians were always coming and practising in our house."
Unver came to the UK in 1968 because two of her English students decided that they wanted to continue their classes in the UK, and asked Unver what they should do. "We have an expression, 'Whether you stay here, or whether you take me there it makes no difference, but I was joking, and they took me seriously!" Planning only to stay six months, and then only a year, Unver married and has lived in London ever since.
Although she has mostly concentrated on teaching "because I don't want to take what I know with me" Unver has also performed with a number of bands, and currently plays with the Nihavend Ensemble. Laughing about the youth of the rest of the group she comments "I am easily the oldest - I can go to the British Museum you know!" Ultimately, Unver cannot imagine giving up music because "I think music gives you life - it's as important as water."