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Sira Night, Sanliurfa: A piece of Turkish culture
As soon as I step under the series of stone arches, I feel like I am riding on a musical wave. Deep voices hum on a rhythmic interval. String instruments strike the high and low notes. On both walls hang photo-frames. Illuminated by the chandelier, a mini model of the beehive houses of Harran grace the walkway. I walk into the heart of the restaurant Cevahir Han or Cevahir Inn — nerve-centre of a musical Sira Night in Sanliurfa city of south-eastern Turkey. Sanliurfa is an ancient Mesopotamian city, one of the oldest settlement of the world, continuously inhabited by the Elbans, Akkadians, Babylonians, Hitites, Arameans, Assyrians, Persians, Macedonians, Romans,…