To Turkey and Back!

Sen. Loretta Weinberg
Sen. Loretta Weinberg


Date posted: August 15, 2011

Senator Loretta Weinberg*

After a couple of hiatus weeks, I’m back for a quick “let’s catch up” diary.

Spent 11 exhilarating, exhausting and exciting days in Turkey with a group led by Levent Koc from the Interfaith Dialogue Center in Newark which name describes their mission. Levent is a man of infinite patience and intelligence who knows his country of origin very well. Our travel companions were my colleague Assemblyman Gordon Johnson and his wife, Jackie along with a small contingent of young college professors from Rutgers which included a woman from India; another from Greece; a third Muslim woman from Morocco, and a young couple from the midwest. Eclectic to say the least. But we got to know one another quickly and bonded over the marvelous Turkish food.

Turkey is a grand country with a great respect for its antiquities while forward looking to the future. There’s building going on all over with a growing economy. We went from Istanbul to Ankara to meet with representatives of the new government, which had just taken office some six weeks before. The highlight meeting for me was with the new Minister of Social Policy and Families. We discussed common problems and solutions for domestic violence; women and their families’ access to health care; education of children among others. We toured a new university run by the Gulen Movement, visited a television news station, which broadcasts throughout the country, and of course made a stop for a little shopping at the Spice Bazaar and the Grand Bazaar.

We cruised on the Bosphorus Sea; stayed in a primitive (by my standards) cave hotel in Cappadocia and viewed its amazing rock formations and underground cities; walked the ruins of a great Roman city in Ephesus; visited mosques great and small; saw the Jewish museum in Istanbul; and were entertained for dinner by 4 different families who treated us to exquisite cuisine and warm welcomes. We saw Rumi’s Tomb and met his 22nd generation granddaughter. Stopped at a cafe on the Mediterranean and traveled between the two continents touched through Istanbul. (Yes, one part of the city is in Asia and the other in Europe.)

It was quite a wonderful adventure with a great group of people. Thank you to Levent and his assistant, Mevlut, along with the IDC for the invitation and for the whole experience. If only the understanding we reached as just one tiny group could really grow and multiply! Just a fervent wish.

* Sen. Loretta Weinberg is a state senator from New Jersey

Source: Blue Jersey , Monday Aug 01, 2011


Related News

Abundant accusations [against Hizmet], little evidence

The Turkish media – or what is left of it – has already found Fethullah Gülen guilty of the coup attempt on July 15. When challenged about the evidence, the most common reply is “Come to Turkey and see” or “Everyone in Turkey thinks this way.” This almost unanimous opinion is not a coincidence, and it does imply a monopoly over the Turkish media rather than any objective fact.

Putting Foolish Labels: “Gulen Charter Schools”

A recent article on Leave Charters Alone grabbed my attention about charter schools, their relative accomplishments within their short history and the baseless attacks on these schools some of which have been deliberately labeled as Gulen Charter Schools. Author starts his/her article with an allusion to the recent movie (Waiting for Superman) about charter schools: […]

Turkey deports former EU official for alleged Gulen-ties

The Turkish authorities prevented a former EU official from entering its territory. Joost Lagendijk, a former EU parliament member and EU rapporteur, was deported from the Sabiha Airport in Istanbul on Sunday.

Bolu municipality builds road inside Hizmet affiliated Fatih College’s garden

The Bolu Municipality, Turkey, having previously closed down two schools belonging to businesspeople affiliated with the faith-based Hizmet movement in early July, has now constructed a road inside the garden of Fatih College, a high school, despite the fact that the school is surrounded by empty plots of land and no residential area exists around the school.

Guests Rub Elbows With Senators, Mayors At 2012 Greenville Dialogue Dinner

TRIPP MESSICK,  GREENVILLE, S.C. Close to one hundred guests turned out at the Embassy Suites in Greenville Monday night for the 2012 Dialogue Dinner, entitled “Empathy: Walking in Another’s Shoes.” Guest speakers included Dan Waldschmidt, CEO of Waldschmidt Partners International, S.C. Senator John Wesley Matthews, and Furman Professor A. Kadir Yildirim. Towards the end of […]

Bad temper

Things are not going well in this country, which is governed by the interpersonal relations of nepotism. The relatives of ruling party figures are praised and offered important positions. Lies, slanders, insults, threats and blackmailing…

Latest News

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

University refuses admission to woman jailed over Gülen links

In Case You Missed It

Turkish NGO in Cambodia Denies Links to Terror

Buhari’s wife hails culture

Turkey’s development agency spying on Gülen followers in Latin America

Why are they becoming terrorists?

Man killed in Yalova over sympathy for Hizmet movement

Turkmen Alevite Association and Kimse Yok Mu distribute aid to 1840 families in Ramadan

Fethullah Gülen’s brother laid to rest amid grief

Copyright 2023 Hizmet News