The fifth annual festival of the Cilo Mountains and Sat Glacier Lakes National Park was held in the eastern province of Hakkari at a height of 4,135 meters, offering trekking, paragliding, swimming and mountain biking activities for mountain climbers and nature lovers coming from various cities.

Hakkari Governor Idris Akbıyık spoke at the festival in Cilo-Sat Lakes, stating that nearly 15,000 people took part in this year’s festival, showing a dramatic increase in the number of participants each year.

"Hopefully, we will organize more professional and more crowded festivals in the coming years," the governor said.

Stating that life in Hakkari is getting better in every aspect and the eastern city’s mountains will no longer be known for violence and terrorism, the governor remarked that they are organizing snow festivals, symposiums and various activities in the city.

"There is art, festivities and entertainment in Hakkari from now on. Children, women and men of Hakkari continue their lives happily and blissfully, and participate in every field of art, sports, health and education, just like the people of Istanbul, Antalya and Ankara. I would like to thank the municipality, the governor’s office staff and the mountain climbers’ association that supported us. Some of our valuable artists are also joining us at the festival. I welcome them. We will have fun with competitions, shows, canoeing and climbing activities and much more for two days."

After the speech, the art ensemble of Hakkari Municipality sang Kurdish songs. Akbıyık and the participants of the festival danced to the music.