A festival in Houston: Silk road festival

Beril Dedeoglu
Beril Dedeoglu


Date posted: October 16, 2012

Beril Dedeoglu / October 12, 2012

The Syrian crisis has turned the social transformation process in the Arab world into well-known inter-state tensions. As of today, when talking about possible ways to resolve the Syrian crisis, we only mention states and their policies. Great powers have strategic expectations regarding the Syrian crisis. However, this crisis also has a “human” aspect.

While the armed conflict continues to ravage the country and the region, one can’t expect to forget about states and their strategies; but when the time comes and the reconstruction process begins, the human aspect will have to be put at the center.

Mutual relations between two countries’ governments are not sufficient to explain why these two countries are on good or bad terms. It is true that if the peoples of these two countries feel they are close, it will be difficult for the governments to have bad relations for long. The contrary is also true: It is difficult to establish an enduring alliance with a country that your citizens don’t trust. That’s why looking at events only through the governments’ perspective can be enough in the short term, but it can be misleading in the long run.

There are, thankfully, people who believe that rapprochement between peoples is the only guarantee for lasting cooperation between countries; like those who organized the Silk Road Festival last week in Houston, Texas, for example.

The festival’s aim was to bring together people from countries situated along the historic Silk Road for two major reasons: first, to organize a joint social event with Turkic-speaking countries, and second, to contribute to Turkey’s public diplomacy effort in the United States, particularly in Texas. Through this festival, many US officials, decision makers and lobbyists have been contacted in order to reduce preconceptions about Turkey and to make political investments for the future.

The first step of the political investment is to enable Turks living in the US to become organized. The festival has proven that, compared to a few years ago, Turks are better organized in this country. The second step is to make American-Turkish organizations more visible and influential in US public opinion. The third step is to enable these organizations to be seen as valuable interlocutors by US decision makers when it comes to making a decision in the White House or in Congress about Turkey or about Turks who live in the US.

It seems that Turkish organizations in the US are already very efficient in 11 states, and they have started to get concrete results. The main goal is, of course, to make Congress adopt a friendlier approach toward Turkey.

These organizations try to develop civil society initiatives in order to have an influence over decision makers. What is important is that these organizations are not introverted, and they believe it is necessary to have Americans from different origins on board, too. Besides, they don’t really care if the Americans they work with are Republicans or Democrats.

It would be far better if all these efforts had been put in place decades ago, so that we would now already have well-established channels of dialogue between Turkish and American citizens, and politicians in both countries would have to take this into account when they make their decisions. Well, of course, it is better late than never. It is comforting to see that the seeds are being planted now: It is an assurance that we’ll benefit from them one day or another.

These social initiatives will reinforce mutual dependencies between countries and make the decision makers think about sociopolitical consequences while adopting foreign policy positions. The Silk Road Festival in Houston made us think once again how civil society can shape a nation’s future. The organizers deserve to be congratulated.

Source: Today’s Zaman


Related News

Think Twice on Turkey: Erdogan’s Purges Are a Warning to Washington

“Whatever the merits of the government’s claims about the movement’s role in the coup, which Gülen himself denies, the speed and scale of the dismissals make it clear that many of those affected by the purge are caught up in it not because there is clear evidence of their involvement in the coup but merely because of their perceived association with the Gülen movement.”

Niagara Foundation Ohio Award Ceremony gathers a large attendance

Niagara Foundation, active across 11 states in Midwest, held its annual award ceremony on November 5th in Columbus, Ohio. Aimed to promote education and dialogue, the foundation’s annual event drew a large attendance of prominent guests including assembly members, academics and religious figures. Serkan Aykan, Niagara Foundation Ohio director, delivered the opening address of the […]

Youth address global poverty in Gülen Institute’s essay contest

Hundreds of young people from around the world pondered the issue of global poverty and proposed potential solutions based on their own research and experience in an international essay contest launched by the Gülen Institute, a US-based civil society organization.

Dr. Reuven Firestone Interviewed by Muslim Turkish Movement “Hizmet”

Rabbi Reuven Firestone, Ph.D., Professor of Medieval Judaism and Islam at the Jack H. Skirball Campus of HUC-JIR in Los Angeles, was interviewed by a Muslim Turkish Movement called Hizmet, which means “service.” Hizmet is active in interfaith dialogue in Turkey and many other countries, and has built private and charter schools in many countries, […]

Millions of people have asked for interview with Gülen

We realized it was not only millions of people in Turkey but also the world who were paying attention to what Gülen had to say. The interest in the Gülen interview also confirmed the universal dimension and vision of the Hizmet movement.

Turkish gov’t planning slaughter of jailed Gülen followers in staged riot, lawyer claims

The Turkish government is headed for mass killings of people jailed over alleged or real links to the Gülen movement, in a staged riot in Silivri prison, a lawyer representing a former police chief imprisoned as part of a crackdown against the movement claimed, underlining that he is worried about the lives of his clients.

Latest News

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

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

In Case You Missed It

Don’t be fooled by Hizmet conspiracy theories

New Book – Hizmet Means Service

Another AK Party deputy, Muhammed Çetin, resigns in protest

Donate your qurban, bring joy to families in need

President emphasizes importance of domestic peace for development

UNESCO Global Monitoring Report and Turkish Schools

Teacher who lost sanity under detention remains jail despite doctors’ reports

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News