Kenan Özkan, 40, who works at the Mersin Metropolitan Municipality Disabled and Health Services Department, has been preparing for the 2th Wheelchair Dance Turkey Championship for about 4 months, saying "his goal is to become the champion of Turkey". In the championship to be held in Antalya on July 9, Özkan's colleague Kübra Melike Saçıkara will be a partner. Despite his walking disability, Özkan, who has won the championship in many branches, will show a dance performance for the championship this time.
Özkan and Saçıkara are preparing to compete at the Center for Disabled Life
Özkan, who participates in many activities in the Youth and Sports Club under the Metropolitan Municipality Youth and Sports Services Department, has first places in competitions such as weightlifting, rowing and wheelchair running. 40-year-old Kenan Özkan, who works at the Metropolitan's Barrier-Free Life Center, is currently preparing for the 9th Turkish Wheelchair Dance Championship, which will be held in Antalya on July 4 by the Turkish Physically Disabled Sports Federation. Özkan, who is rehearsing the song “Indila-Dernière Danse” at the center where he works, is accompanied by his colleague Kübra Melike Saçıkara in the same unit.
“I said 'Can I do it' on a whim and started doing it”
Kenan Özkan, stating that he established his first connection with dance thanks to basketball, said, “With the opportunities given to us by Mersin Metropolitan Municipality, there were good competitions in basketball. A friend of ours was also dancing there. I was enthusiastic about him and said, 'Can I do it,' then I started by saying 'I can do it'”.
“I love dancing at weddings and discos”
Stating that his interest in dance has increased in the last 2 years, Özkan said that they also performed at the Congress and Exhibition Center in this process. Emphasizing that he likes to dance, Özkan said, “I had an interest before. I love dancing at weddings and discos. Our Mersin Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Vahap Seçer also gave us this opportunity. Thanks to him, we have come this far,” he said.
“The goal is to be the champion of Turkey”
Talking about his goals and the process regarding the championship to be held in Antalya, Özkan said, “I will participate in this competition with my Melike partner, if God permits. We created the records, we participated. It turned out positive. The goal is to become the champion of Turkey, to wave our Turkish Flag. I would like to thank Vahap President for giving us this opportunity. He gives us the opportunity, and we achieve the impossible.”
“I became Kenan Özkan's partner voluntarily”
Kübra Melike Saçıkara, a special education teacher at the Break House within the scope of the Metropolitan Municipality Disabled and Health Services Department, stated that she has been professionally interested in dance for 4 months and said, “We have been working for 2 months. My partner and colleague Kenan Özkan was an athlete and had great success before. He said that he wanted to participate in the competition. I became his partner voluntarily to support him.”
“The important thing is that I can reflect that feeling with my partner”
Adding that they can participate in the competition from all over Turkey, in which individuals with wheelchairs and their partners will take part, Saçıkara said, “We wanted to participate in this competition as the representative of Mersin Metropolitan Municipality Youth and Sports Club. The goal is to return with first place. But the most important thing here is that I can reflect that feeling with my partner.”
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