Australian Turks to attempt world record for longest Halay

NEWS/GLOBAL

Turks in Sydney, Australia, will today be making an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the largest Halay dance – a traditional line dance in Turkey. Organised by the Australian Turkish Advocacy Alliance, over a thousand people are expected to lock hands for the dance at Hyde Park, in the city centre, at 1.30pm.

Dance teacher Gökden Kılıç, who runs the Sydney Turkish Folk Dance Ensemble, is one of the principal organisers of the record-breaking attempt and says everyone is welcome. Kılıç was recently recognised by the Sydney Turkish Chamber of Commerce for his ongoing efforts to celebrate and share Turkish culture with the wider Australia public. In a video promoting today’s Halay event, he invites the entire community, “To come together in a spirit of love, fraternity and peace.”

The world record is currently held by dancers in Antalya, who performed the largest Halay on 19 April 2009. A total of 904 people took part in the attempt, organised by Aras Cargo, one of country’s biggest courier company, to celebrate its 30th anniversary. 

Today’s Halay dance will form part of a larger day of action, as Australian Turks also march on the New South Wales Parliament to demonstrate against the motion passed last May recognising the massacre of Armenians in Turkey during World War I as a “genocide”.