Fethullah Gulen and Gulen Movement Discussed at German Symposium

Date posted: June 22, 2013

The Intercultural Dialog Association in Cologne organized a symposium titled “Fethullah Gulen who Encourages the Dialog Studies”. At a weekend in Cologne, many academics, members of the parliament, representatives of some NGO’s, Turks and Germans attended the symposium.

Ejder Sabanci, the chairman of the Intercultural Dialog Association in Cologne made the inaugural speech addressing academics from across Europe and Turkiye.

Bredehorst, the director of Social Integration in Cologne Metropolitan Municipality said there are 180 nations who live in the city. Bredehorst said, “Turks may know Fethullah Gulen very well but there are people who criticize him. We have seen that many groups have prejudices against each other. To overcome this obstacle there should be activities of clarification. ”

The first presentation on Fethullah Gulen was delivered at the symposium by Dr. Bekim Agai, of Halle University, who holds a doctoral dissertation on Fethullah Gulen and has been doing research on contemporary Islam in Western Europe and Turkiye.

Dr. Agai said Fethullah Gülen has become a prominent scholar around the world as a man who had a classical Islamic education and then developed a contemporary educational model.

Cemal Ussak who is from Turkiye, is the vice president of the Foundation of Journalists and Writers and said Fethullah Gulen has become an instrument to change the attitudes, feelings and thoughts of others.

Professor Klaus Otte who made the final speech at the symposium said, “Thanks to the dialog, everyone has an experience on God. We all should deepen to the understanding of Quran, Bible, Torah and the holy tablets in Asia.”