Turkey has become a somewhat isolated nation to international & regional communities, with unreasonable hatred towards the Turkish people going throughout the Middle East. The local countries of Turkey & Iran have struggled in political turmoil for decades. However, one famous Turkish photographer wants to change the mindset of his social media followers.
Berke Arakli maintained 42+ thousand followers on his Instagram, with an overwhelming majority located in Turkey. His prominence in the photography community saw Berke create a personal initiative, to photograph locations that’d become disavowed by the Turkish people. Arakli arrived at Iran in Summer 2019 and would visit 27 cities throughout a month & a half. Notable locations that saw thousands to millions of likes included Shiraz, Mashhad, and Isfahan. Berke Arakli has subsequently gained a small following in Iran & is beginning to change their mindset on the Iranian people.
Photographs captured by Berke Arakli were taken in-correlation with Muharram, a religious event held by Iranian Shia Muslims. Special ceremonies are maintained throughout Iran for the initial ten days of the lunar month, which correlates & commemorates Imam Hussein. He’s an infamous character in the Shia Muslim religion, with Imam being a Martyrdom related to the Prophet Muhammad & his seventy-two companies.
Berke Arakli would state that the Muharram Event is magnificent, and spiritually incredibly to witness. He’d evoke that photographers worldwide travel to Iran for the Muharram Event, which often sees multiple captures become viral sensations. Arakli would then correlate the similarities between Turkey’s religious events & Iran’s, that their cultural habits are identical. These statements have been shrouded in controversy since Berke Arakli returned home.
Backing Iran
It hasn’t stopped Berke Arakli from stating his love for Iranian Architecture, and that their artistic stylings will continue to impress him through future visits. He’d also evoke to the Turkish people in their criticism that the Iranian people were hospitable & kind, that it was a welcoming environment filled with newfound positivity in the last twelve months. It should be noted that Berke Arakli travelled to multiple countries in his prolonged photography-vacation. This included Georgia, Jordan, and Azerbaijan.