Edmonton Turkish Festival delayed after failed Turkey coup

Edmonton's Turkish Festival is being postponed indefinitely to give its organizers and volunteers time to contact loved ones in Turkey.

Two paper notices quivered in the breeze atDr. Wilbert McIntyre Park Saturday, the only indication a public two-day celebration had been planned there.

News of the country's attempted military coup broke Friday, just asvolunteers in Edmonton made final preparationsfor the weekend's festivities. Organizers saidthey called offthe event with less than 24 hours notice.

"We didn't want to make any celebration while our country is having a hard time," saidIbrahimCin, one of the organizers.

"There are people in our community who have loved ones in Turkey and they are worried about them, so we don't want to be hard on them."

Cin's family lives in Izmir, hundreds of kilometres away from most of theturmoil. But his wife's family is in Istanbul, one of the cities hardest-hit by the night's violence.

Since Friday, more than1,400 people have been wounded andabout 265 others are dead, according to Turkish authorities.

"I came home last night and saw my wife watching the news and crying," Cin said Saturday. "I start feeling, at that moment, the tension."

This morning I cried too much with my wife. You feel so powerless and you cannot do anything. It's like you don't have legs and feet and you're just by yourself here.- Ibrahim Cin

After several frantic calls to Turkey, Cin said he finally reached family in both cities and learned everyone was safe.Still, he said it was a restless night.

"You want to do something.You want to help outbut you have no power," he said. "You feel that pain in your stomach and you cannot do anything. You are safe. I feel safe here. However, knowing that so many people in Turkey do not havethe same opportunity, it is really saddening.

"This morning I cried too much with my wife. You feel so powerless and you cannot do anything. It's like you don't have legs and feet and you're just by yourself here."

Cin saidhe hasn't yet heard of any deaths or injuries involving members of Edmonton's Turkish community. Nevertheless, he added, it felt wrong to go on with the Turkish Festival.

"There are so many people losing their lives," he said. "This is not a good time to do a celebration at any level."

@ZoeHTodd