ARAMAIC WATCH: Songs in Hebrew, Syriac, etc. figure in a Turkish play.

'Ashura' to be cooked and performed on stage
Monday, January 7, 2008

ISTANBUL – Turkish Daily News

Muharram, the first month of the year according to the Muslim calendar, will be greeted with the play "Ashura" during which the traditional ashura desert that is made from various kinds of fruit, beans and cereal will be prepared and shared with the audience.

[...]

Ashura depicts the story of of those people, languages and religions that have been forced to migrate for many centuries for the sake of creating a �homogeneous� society on the lands of Anatolia, and were thus left scattered all over the world. It tells us of the migration routes through songs that were sung in 12 languages.

Ashura contains 25 songs in Greek, Hebrew, Syriac, Turkish, Armenian, Arabic, Kurdish, Zaza (accent of Kurdish) and Sephardic languages. The play aims to draw attention to the reality that Anatolia, with its different ethnic groups and cultures is beyond the definition of mosaic; it is more like an ashura.

[...]

I'm not sure what "Sephardic" is.

UPDATE (8 January): A couple of readers have e-mailed to suggest that Sephardic is Ladino.