South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was awarded the Fethullah Gülen Peace and Dialogue Award during the seventh annual Ubuntu Lecture and Dialogue Awards ceremony held in Johannesburg on Wednesday evening.The awards were organized by the Turquoise Harmony Institute, a dialogue center inspired by the prominent Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen to promote mutual understanding and exchange between people from different cultures and religions.Archbishop Tutu accepted his award from Hüseyin Hurmalı of the Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV), of which Gülen is the honorary chairman. Holding a speech after he received his award, Tutu said: “Wonderful thing to have a complexion like mine; you don’t realize when I am blushing. Adam could not be fully human on his own. We are programmed to be interdependent. I learn how to walk like a human being by imitating other human beings. We are fundamentally made for complementarity. A person is a person by other persons. To harm other is to harm oneself. ”
Underlining the importance of efforts that Turkish volunteers are expending to improve Ubuntu in South Africa, Tutu ended his speech with the words: “We have resources; it is an abomination if a child of this nation goes to bed hungry. Wake up, South Africa, to realize your potential.”
Tutu is a South African social rights activist and retired Anglican bishop who rose to worldwide fame during the 1980s due to his efforts against the South African apartheid regime. Tutu was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984; he also worked as the chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission established in 1995, and known not only for his efforts to reinforce peace within South Africa but also as an aspiration for universal peace and struggles against dictatorial regimes around the world.
The Fethullah Gülen Peace and Dialogue Award is bestowed upon outstanding individuals or organizations that are seen to have made noteworthy contributions to dialogue, peace and harmony in the society.
Turkey’s first private Arabic station starts to broadcast
Hira TV will also feature Samanyolu TV, which has been broadcasting programs in Arabic for almost 20 years. Hira TV CEO Yusuf Acar said the new channel’s target audience is families, adding: “Through cultural and scientific TV programs, we will appeal to all Arab people, including both children and adults. In addition, we will broadcast lectures from Fethullah Gülen, a Turkish-Islamic scholar.”
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Board members of Nejashi Ethio-Turkish International Schools recently paid a courtesy visit to the newly elected Ethiopian President, Dr. Mulatu Teshome, in his presidential office. A former ambassador of Ethiopia to Ankara, Teshome warmly received the board members of the schools, which have been operating in the country for nine years, currently with 1,300 students […]
The Muslim Cleric Who Fell in Love With Democracy
Gülen say, “The principles and form of government that form the basis of democracy are compatible with Islamic values. Consultation, justice, freedom of religion, protection of the rights of individuals and minorities, the people’s say in the election of those who would govern them…[are] principles espoused by both Islam and democracy.”
Gülen says prefers staying longer in US to avoid ‘harming positive things’
16 June 2012 / TODAYSZAMAN.COM Turkish and Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen has said he prefers staying in the US longer to avoid damaging positive developments in Turkey in a first public response to Turkish prime minister’s invitation to Turkey. “If [my return] halts positive developments in Turkey, [I prefer] staying here if my lifespan allows […]
Turkish businesswomen building orphanage in Burundi
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Writers, journalists gather to discuss media’s role in social cohesion
TUĞBA MEZARARKALI, DİYARBAKIR/TURKEY Prominent writers, academics and representatives from various media organizations gathered on Saturday in the Kurdish-populated province of Diyarbakır to discuss the role of the media in promoting social cohesion. The workshop, titled “Social Cohesion and the Media,” was organized by the Medialog Platform, an industry advocacy group connected to the İstanbul-based Journalists […]
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