As part of the 12th International Tulum and Kemençe Festival held in Rize this year, Ukrainian dancers presented a special dance performance to express their protest against the war in their homeland. The Ukrainian children, who fled the war and sought refuge in Turkey, long for the conflict to end so they can return to their country as soon as possible. During the dance, the background sounds of bombs and sirens drew attention, and after the performance, 8-year-old Milana Savchenko couldn't hold back her tears as she said in an interview with journalists, "I'm very scared. Our country is going through a lot of problems."
"Living under sirens is unbearable"
Natalia Karaca, an English and French teacher from Ukraine who came to Turkey with the children, emphasized that children should not live under the threat of sirens. She said, "We came here from Ukraine with the children during the war. That's why we want the children to be free from the war. Children have rights. They have the right to live without war, to have fun, to receive education. Living under sirens is not the way to do it. Children suffer the most. No one knows what the future holds. Our children are our future. We want the siren sound in our dance to be heard by the whole world, not just Ukrainians. This situation is affecting children's psychology. It affects everyone's psychology. Living under sirens is unbearable. Living under bombs is unbearable. Our children are still living, despite the intense war, but everyone wants to return to their own land. We did this to save the children. We don't want our children to hear these sirens. We did this dance for that purpose. My friends lost their husbands. I was a teacher there, and my student died there. Our children will save this world. Everyone will hear these siren sounds, and we will also have peace."
"I don't want war, I want peace"
11-year-old dancer Stanislav Lukyanenko expressed his desire to have fun in his own country by saying, "I don't want war, I want peace. I want to go to school. I want to have fun in Ukraine. I love Ukraine very much."
