Turkey: Introducing Falun Dafa at Youth and Sports Day Festival in Mersin

The Commemoration of Atatürk (the founder of the Republic of Turkey) Youth and Sports Day is an annual Turkish holiday celebrated on May 19.

Mersin, a port city in southern Turkey, invited Falun Dafa practitioners to participate in the two-day festival on May 18-19, where they set up a booth, distributed information about the meditation practice, gave out paper lotus flowers, and demonstrated the Falun Dafa exercises on stage.

Practitioners demonstrate the Falun Dafa exercises at the two-day festival

During the two-day event, hundreds of visitors took information about Falun Dafa, learned the exercises, and asked about the group exercise site in Mersin.

On the first day of the festival, the mayor’s wife went to the booth and asked about Falun Dafa. She was very interested and bought a Falun Gong book to learn more about the meditation and spiritual discipline.

Festivalgoers learn the Falun Dafa exercises

Many associations and foundations, such as Atatürk Thought Association and Tema Foundation, participated in the festival. They came to the Falun Dafa display and learned the exercises together.

A young girl learns the fifth exercise, a sitting meditation

Many middle and high school students who performed at the festival also learned the Falun Dafa exercises.

Azra, Gülcan, and Yasemin learned all five Falun Dafa exercises on the first day. They returned the next day and did the exercises from start to finish.

Azra, Gülcan, and Yasemin

Following the festival, a city representative organized a weekly Falun Dafa exercise instruction session for the public, and practitioners taught the first group of learners on the Mersin beach that same week.

Three young men pose for a photo with a practitioner

Practitioners doing the meditation, the fifth Falun Dafa exercise, on stage

Spectators watch and follow along with the Falun Dafa exercise demonstration